April 28, 2026 – Design Review Board – Video & Transcript
April 28, 2026 - Design Review Board
all right good evening it's uh seven o'clock and the design review advisory board uh is meeting
and we have um a few items i was basically looking through here robin to find my agenda
and yeah i printed it now i don't know where it went so uh maybe you can help me with that
i think that the first order of business is to go over the uh i believe it was to go over
this application can you see it on the screen ah thank you perfect oh so we have to uh ask
if there's any public comment from anyone i don't think there's anybody watching but
there are a few people i assume there for the application okay so no public comment
the um so i have the review of the meeting notes which should uh i didn't realize i put that next but that's fine uh it shouldn't take too long it was a very short meeting where we just uh approved the last meeting notes before us yeah they're fine with me february 17th
no so i move that we great no i move that we approve the meeting minutes for february 17th 2026 okay
um yes okay and uh i'm just making notes here uh let's take a vote on that robin yes tanya yes and myself yes so it's a three zero zero approval of the meeting notes so now we can move on to the 21 constituent road which is uh going to be renamed uh restored name of townhouse uh for signage there's actually it's more than just signage it's uh lighting and there's a little landscaping in the back uh i would like to discuss everything that we usually discuss um now you said there are people uh in the audience there are people uh kristen lipson has her hand raised okay do you want to bring them on is that what you think is uh or just uh answer that question yep kristen's on robbie brought her over kristen is there anybody else that's waiting that is with your team um hello uh if there is a camille shapeler and a julia lloyd um more i'm sorry julian camille if i'm butchering your last names but they are also with my team julie is there but not travis blake is not with your team oh yes yes travis is okay what was the first name um the other one um um if she travis is camille also joining
well i'm just taking uh i have to be able to write the meeting notes and list who was here so that's all so yes um myself uh kirsten lipson i'm the owner of the property and of the the business um julia lloyd moore and that's um my name is julia lloyd mohr she is with my architect and branding firm jta short for joe the architect um travis blake is also with jta he's one of the architects on the team and then um camille
last name shappler s-c-h-a-p-p-l-e-r um so there's another i.t person if you see that see camille joining um she's also with jta okay having a hard time joining the meeting i'm just going to send her resend her the link thanks julia um i i'll just uh say i took a uh fairly thorough look through all the drawings um i appreciate uh your being so um uh you know having so many drawings for us to review it's much more informative to have those kind of things so thank you so much julia and i appreciate your those kind of information uh but if you would like to give us a quick uh review of what your presentation is and then we can comment after that certainly um well thank you all for your time tonight and it's nice to to virtually meet you um as i mentioned my name is kirsten lipson and i purchased this property earlier this year in january and we are in the process of restoring it converting it to a boutique cafe and bistro called townhouse cafe and bistro it the name hearkens just like so much of the aesthetic and the intention of this project back to the building's history as as the first site of the as the site of the first town secular town hall in wayland they were called townhouses back in the 1840s hence the name townhouse um so this uh building is currently if you're unfamiliar with this building it's also known as the collins market building it's part of the wayland historic district and it was converted in the 1980s and 1990s to office space for the last several years it's been about three quarters vacant it is four office units inside so we are converting it to a we're adding a full commercial kitchen um we'll be adding a bakery a bar an outdoor patio as well as seating throughout downstairs and upstairs both for a mix of takeaway dine-in during the weekdays from tuesday to friday it'll be 7 30 a.m to 3 30 p.m on the weekends it'll be more 8 a.m to 8 p.m with a more robust offering a full brunch menu afternoon tea as well as dinner service on the weekends we've um been through we've been doing our tour of all the town approval boards so we received our special permit for operating a restaurant since it is business uh zone a in november of last year we received our site plan approval and outdoor dining approval in january from the zba and then we went to the historic um district commission um last month in june and received their approval on the designs uh my my team here today camille travis and julia um have been working diligently we've went been to the wayland history museum um and really tried to use historic precedent as the inspiration um to restoring and breathing new life into this building so it can be a community hub um the signage in particular uh the townhouse up under the um the triangle is directly reflective of the when collins market used to be there with the individual wood lettering letters um the cafe and bistro over the entrance um also first is the exact footprint of the latest tenants sign as well as historically the collins market also had a sign there um and then we'll be adding the freestanding sign um very much in line with not only its not immediate neighbor but two two doors down neighbor as well as several other buildings in the historic district um so that it can catch the uh vehicular traffic can can see it um at as safely as they pass by all of the lighting is nothing is lit from within it's all external lighting very uh minimal as well as keeping in mind we do have one residential neighbor um that we've been working on closely with to make sure that everything is very minimal and as unobtrusive as possible.
We will be adding a patio in the back as I mentioned with screening around it again to block the noise from the neighbors. We are also to be ADA compliant we are adding a walkway to the back door given the historic nature and the just architectural limitations of the front entrance. We are adding two rear entrances in the back one of which will be ADA accessible. The walkway that we're adding to the back will be at a slow two percent grade to accommodate that interiorly. I know it's out of the scope of this but just so you have a full context. We will be adding a lift as well. As well as an ADA compliant bathroom downstairs and upstairs. The all x additional exterior modifications are really just to restore it all in keeping with the current historical look look and feel but just it has been there's quite a bit of deferred maintenance that is this building has undergone so just trying to breathe it bring it back up to to snuff. JTA team anything else that you want to add as we start overview? Great can I ask a question? Yes please. About the ADA access
you also added there's a lift up and down stairs is that inside the building? That is inside the building and it's a platform lift so it's separate from the staircase. Okay and but there's only there's only one ADA access or are there two at the patio side? Can you correct me if I'm correct me if I'm wrong I think one has the full turning radius and the other it's more of a service entrance but I don't think it meets the full. Yes yeah. Okay just curious. And both of those are in the rear again to minimize the historic disruptions. Okay I don't know whether are my Tanya whether you have had a chance to look at the hard copy of the drawings or no so guys if you could present it on the screen the elevations I think it would help yeah so it was very descriptive overview but to back it up with his drawings I have a full set I've seen the whole thing and there's so much I think uh I can put the bus through those yeah great don't spend a lot of time but just give uh yeah yeah so this is the signage are you familiar with the um with the building yes yes okay so you know um so you can see the the townhouse at the top actually I think if you go to um uh you can go through a couple of the pages we have the the details here but you can see um this is a rendering and then on the next page you can see it next to um the historical uh reference there you go yeah no I think it's done very appropriately at this point and then the um uh there's a close-up of the cafe and bistro there for the the second uh secondary sign and then that freestanding sign townhouse you know I'm going to change my mind a little bit because I have a few comments as we go through these that are that are um like as we go page by page uh rather than have to flip through it all over again um I think it'll save time and energy to uh let me make my comments if you go back to the first one uh first photo or the drawing the drawings the elevation of the that one yeah so the only comment I have on this one is uh and this is just now the other question I should have asked you first is are you going before any more boards are you are you have we have the open gov portal but I'll need to include this and the historic and the um zba hearing and then you're done um for and then then we'll have the actual sign permit application after that to the zba um it's so the the zba hearing will be the approval for it but then there's actually like a sign permit with that the fabricator will put together through the open gov portal but I'll need to include the zba decision as part of that I'm glad you brought that up because um Annette Lewis on the planning board pointed out and I wanted to pass it on and when you look at this elevation and and the whole package of signage um the zba and and um historic probably should be shown all of the signage including the menu and the menu on this page for example is really not shown um but at some point I think the easiest thing would be if I were doing this just tally up on maybe the cover page a list of all the signs and uh the square footages they're they're not shown on any of these pages but uh it is down at the end although the the square footage for the menu sign is not there but there is a list because I went and added them all up oh great sing my math again and and the historic um commission didn't see all of all of this okay oh and and Annette's point was only that you know they should be showing everything and if they weren't shown enough then they should be shown that's all not like I mean I think we're all really excited that you're doing this and we're all very much in favor of what you're doing uh so here's the list oh I didn't see that okay
there's no no total so for the menu it's missing yeah I think you need to just show the tally it's easier to track because the point is are you over or under the 40 square foot maximum the zba they're right at 40 except for the menu case okay and and that's up to you to decide whether you want to ask for a variance from them on that okay uh that was that was uh that was uh so then next elevation image that one with the colors it would be really helpful to the zba if you show them you're saying green wood and gold letters gold I think is you can get away there are many shades of gold but um it'd be if you can be more specific and say what the exact measurement more color is or whatever brand you're buying um you know with its name and number uh that would be really helpful
um I think it was a pantone color uh references on some of the pages
yes thank you Julia okay great yeah so um we are in the process of getting um some RFQs from sign companies so part of that would be um you know the the gold especially would be either vinyl or would be hand-painted lettering um so we would just need to secure a vendor before that gold color specifically is um decided as for the green um that is going to be a match to the repainting of the shutters and the trim work um which we're doing our best to match historical precedent um but again that color hasn't quite been decided yet we have rough Pantone matches but obviously Pantone colors aren't paint so we have a start on that and we can get more specific um probably before the May 12th uh meeting we just don't we just don't have that tonight yeah think of this as a prep for the zoning meeting it's not something I'm not going to ask you to come back and and do that I'm just sort of pointing things out that would help uh them thank you make decisions yeah I appreciate it and we did as part of our visit to the um historical society they actually have old color swatches um and so that is where we're um and I think the ones are right now that dark green so we're trying to both match between that and the the historical swatches that they have great so I'm sorry you can you can go now too the next comment I have is on the one that showed the uh cafe bistro sign oh so yeah I think here this one yeah um this one I was a little concerned about the uh the way it's rendered on this the question is uh how high is that sign in relation to your trim and you basically what you may want to do is kind of section through that and think through how that sign relates to the molding and the bottom of the trim and my recommendation would be in your architecture can decide what they want to do you know like a half inch reveal at between at the top and bottom between the um you know the existing trim so that it doesn't hang below the trim for example or overlap with the molding at the top uh it's just it's a good idea to show that detail to the zba and um Camille do you know if I believe this is the exact we're replacing the exact footprint of the most recent sign but um i think that would be a good detail to call out yeah yeah we can definitely develop that for the zba meeting great and Tanya and Robin you know jump in anytime that oh you can now presume you can proceed I guess well the illumination is on this page too I'm sorry yeah so uh so I think this is also um a point where it would help if you had the actual make and model And you have not shown the lighting. Well, there's lighting up there in the photograph. But you have not shown how that bracket lighting will look mounted above, unless I just can't see it in that rendering. This is sort of the closest there is to having it right here. Yeah, I saw that. But it doesn't show where it's going to be mounted in relation to the sign on the actual elevation. It's very subtle. They are there. They're sort of blending in with the facade. Yeah, if you could see. And this is just a rendering. Okay, that's all you have to say. Yeah, and I think on page 28, you can see from the other angle. But again, the name of the game is to be as blending as possible. Yeah, it's very, it's, you just see the bar there. You're in the bar up here. I do now. Yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad you got it covered. That also shows the menu. Oh, yeah. That would be the one to show the historic.
Yes, they have. They have seen that.
Okay. And that also you can see from the the Sene there that replaces the previous signs. Yeah.
Is this for us to hitch our ponies to? It's actually a that is an authentic. Because there are some historical pictures with horses and buggies out there since it's been since the 1840s. And that hitching post is from my family's old home in Melrose from the 1700s. Oh, nice. Very nice.
When is your potential opening day?
Looking hopefully before Labor Day. We are working on getting the updated scheduling. The building permits looking like hopefully. By end of next week. And so, yes, hoping before Labor Day.
Great. The only other comments I had is there. Since I guess. Skipping over my original solution. Was. You have a side elevation. That shows the townhouse. The sign. That's in this picture, but you're showing it from the other side is a. An architectural elevation. Somewhere. You know, these numbered. Yeah, right here. Yeah. That one. I think that's the best place to show. Again, for zoning sake. The setback from the property line. Because these zoning bylaws have a distance. I think it's 15 feet from the property line. And if you're going to ask for a variance there. You need to show them what the dimension is from the face of that sign. To the property line. Now, do you. So we are already non-compliant with the setbacks. Given the parcel. Size. I think they'll understand. They'll have to. Come up with a. A variance that they allow. Well, or is it great. Forming condition. They won't make you move the building. If that's what you're. No, but is. Grandfathered in because. There isn't a sign out in front of the building. Is there. No, but it's. It's a sign. Yeah. It's a sign. It's a sign. It's a sign. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a sign. I don't know. I'm not presently, but if you actually go up to that. The site plan. Oh, a couple pages before. That was from the. Right. Yeah. Right there. There is actually. A proposed sign. And almost. Yeah. I see that plan. Is another place where you should show what your proposed dimension. So you can ask the place where it'd be clear. So this one is from the, this one's from. This one's from the 90s, but we did add, and I apologize, I sent it to Anina later today, but we do have, I think it's, it is essentially page, page 42, yes, it's page 42 with the sign place, because this one actually has the bike rack on the other side as well. So we have, we've updated page 42 with the sign placement. Well, good. And I think that the other, while we're on this page, I had a little comment on this as well. And unless you're going to show a separate landscape plan, you could have this serve as a landscape plan, call out the plants and the species, so that ZBA has feedback on that. Do you know what the surface material is of the patio and any other paved surfaces, whether it's existing or new, should call it out? Yes, the patio and the walkway are new, but they are under the threshold that triggers any conservation committee review. And we did review all the surface material with the historic board. Great. But we'll, I can add a specific call out, because I don't think we highlighted here. I don't think we, we knew that the ZBA needed to, to see that. On the landscape plan, can you tell me a little bit more about that? Because that, Anina had not mentioned that as something, because we haven't, we don't have those details. We always review some landscaping as well. So it's just a matter of calling out the plants. And in general. We're updating the design guidelines so that it actually incorporates what conservation has recommended that we, wherever possible, we highly recommend use of native species, not invasive ones.
And I think, do you also have to go to planning, planning board for your outdoor dining? We've already been, we actually did the, they opted to have the ZBA do our outdoor dining. And site plan review. And so that we did in January and got. Okay.
It's very exciting. Yeah, we are excited to, to bring this to life. Now the, the landscape plan, I'll check back with Anina, because we, we are not as far along on that since that was, we were tackling that later. So that might have to be a separate application.
Well, they'll ask you. So if you can be prepared to tell them at the ZBA, they, they should ask if, and it could be a simple boxwood or something like that, which is a, it's what that looks like. And I think, you know, then you're on your way. You can see from the existing photos, which I think are at the end.
It is definitely. Yeah, they're on page 32 and 33. Definitely needs a little TLC in this respect. So excited to work. I've worked with Merrifield before.
They've done great work and also exploring Lynch to, to help zhizh it up. Nice. That's great.
So the. We kind of skipped over what I was trying to get that Tanya to be able to see all the sheets, if we've skipped past any, I think it's important for Tanya to see whatever we skipped over. Yes, I'll just go back up and start coming down again.
And the original Collins Market sign that was there I, I have and that will be leveraged inside as. I was wondering if you were able to find that because I saw it for sale years ago. Yeah, I had it in an antique store right down the road. And I wished I had a use for it. I really wanted to buy it. Yeah, they, it's hanging up in the building right now. So I had that. I had that as part of the sale. Fantastic. When you show the signage, I would also recommend you call out the font name and size of the lettering on every side. It's a very exciting project. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, absolutely. You know, the structure, the status you put very well together. So it looks bring. So we could. Thank you. Have a. A great, great team assembled. Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank you. Great. I like the name. Yeah. Yeah. And actually the, the rooms that you see here. Especially on the second floor because of the structural necessity. so that, you know, as you can see here, there's French doors that are open. We've added archways with pocket French doors, so they can be discrete spaces for smaller events, or they can be open to create a more cohesive feeling on the second floor, but all of the names are actually derived from periods in the building's history. So you see the library there. It was the site of the first free public library in Massachusetts. The study, it was the site of a schoolhouse for a while in the 1850s. The marketplace, in honor of both Collins Market, and then before that, when it was Level Market, and then the switchboard, it was the site of the first telephone switchboard in Wayland. That's fantastic. I love it. Pulling from all the celebrating its many chapters. It's great. Brilliant. Thank you.
We look forward to seeing you next time. We look forward to having you all once we open our doors. We will definitely visit. Any other questions on the plans?
I don't think I have any others, but let me leave through just quickly in case I had... I know you didn't ask this, but just, I know it has been asked by the other boards. We are not intending on having seating on the upstairs balcony at this time. We're just restoring it. But, but not kind of bringing that up to, to code. I know the, the railings are much, much lower than normal standards. So just wanted to preemptively get ahead of that. The capacity of the balcony is not calculated for the amount of the people, number of the people that you want to sit there. I thought that the floor of the balcony looked like it had a bit of a precarious angle to it. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Just. Pure for decoration. Yes. Yes. I think that's wise not to use it. That's great. I am really impressed.
Any of our members have any other comments? No, I think it all looks great. Do you want to make a motion?
Sure. I recommend that the design review board recommend approval of the project as we've seen the plans today.
Yes. Do you want to vote on it? Sure. Aye. Aye. Aye. All right, so it's all in favor. We'll write that up this week.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Good luck. Thank you. Thank you. Good luck. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Bye bye. Bye.
Okay. Bye bye.
Got it.
Okay. So, Okay. Okay. The next item on the agenda is probably the... It's the design review guidelines. Yeah. Now, I sent you guys a copy. I don't know if you got them. Yes, I got it.
Just a draft.
Progress, basically.
And the time is... Well, I'm glad we were able to incorporate your Wisconsin photographs. I think they're really appropriate. Yeah. Well, it's funny. I just noticed there are pictures on page eight of the dentist's office by the old Whole Foods. And it looks so different this week than it did at the time this picture was taken. It's almost like we should replace it with a new picture. Yeah, we could if we wait long enough. Oh, it looks completely different just now. They did a lot of work on it this weekend. It looks much better. But they have bookings in August. They're planning on being open in August. Really? They have weddings booked in August. That's amazing. I didn't notice they had an incredible number of cars out there as soon as the weather broke. Yeah. And they're usually there all day Saturday. And then sometimes on Sundays, too. Well, would you think that we could show this as a before and then show an after? Or do you think it's not really... It's not really necessary. I think... No, it's actually a very good practice to show before and after. Yeah. Encourage people. Yeah. Maybe somebody goes to the new Dunkin' Donuts can take a picture of the dentist's office. Yeah. As they step out, they're looking right at it. Yeah. And then there was a real estate office, too. Yes. It was Century 21 for a long time. Or Coldwell Banker. Yeah.
Do you have any other comments? I didn't really have a chance to look at it too much because I couldn't find it when I was looking for it. I have a few, but the next page after the one you just mentioned, I have a couple of them. After the dentist's office. Do you want me to put it up on the screen?
You don't need to. If you can, that's great. Yep. So that's the dentist's office. Yeah.
So this is the next page, which is page nine. Yeah.
And what's the next one after that?
The one with Oxbow. Yeah.
So Anina was thinking that maybe each IDOD or district could have its own page. I think that there are some districts we don't really have enough to show, you know, take a whole page worth. But I suppose in this case, there are two here. There's three and four. If we were to make a whole page, then I think that there are other details on this Oxbow that define the New England village style in terms of massing, texture, color, pitched roofs. There could be a number of things you just point out. And when you point them out, I think then developers can kind of get the idea of what it does. What it takes to make a, you know, more traditional looking styled building. Yep. Just a thought. Yep. How do you feel about, you know, Anina's idea of making, putting more pictures and having each district? I think more pictures are helpful. And for like the roadside business district, as small as it is, you've got the old Lees farm stand and the assisted living that's behind it, which are good examples. Yeah, I think you're right. Okay. So, I mean, the. We can take it that direction. Yeah. I mean, the Islamic center is not necessarily applicable because it has cultural significance and they get to do their own thing. But the farm stand and the assisted living, I think, give a good feel. You know, they've got that little barn there and everything. Yeah, the barn's really cute. I like it. In general, the more pictures the better because it gives visual and always more descriptive than the words. Yeah. Well, it's been saying, yeah, 30 and 27 is a bit of a wasteland, trying to think of what's down there that's worth a picture. Well, you've got, you've got the restaurant down there, the villa. Yeah, they just fixed that up. Well, that's not, I don't know that that's, because that's Plain, that's, that's on Plain Street. Is that in that district? Oh, is it on Route 30? No. No, it's on Plain Street. And it's, it's on Route, it could, you could read it almost as on Route 30 down by Mel's, but it's further away. Yeah, okay. But they just rebuilt the bank down there at that intersection. And for a bank, it's not horrible. There are a couple of also sort of housey looking buildings down there. And Donilon's not horrible. I mean, it's an okay example of a small grocery store, I guess. Yeah. It's, yeah, actually, I think Donilon's, there are some parts, the original buildings really have nice character, and then they just kind of junked it up after that. Yeah. So we could do that, we'll, we'll come back to you with that. Yeah. Suggestion. Boston Post Road and Old Sudbury Road. It's funny that, you know, that one we're looking at right now. I've driven by it, you know, for 30 years. And until we started defining the New England style, I'd never thought of it as a particularly interesting building, but it actually meets what we're defining, you know, the pitched roof and the decorative trim, all that stuff. And it really does fit into this character that we're trying to maintain. Yeah, it'd be nice if they didn't have their, I understand it, they must get just beaten by the sun. But they have to. Yeah. But they have their windows all, you know, shaded all the time. Oh, they're blocked out, yeah. This is a problem with New England style, you don't have overhang protected from sun. Yeah. It is limiting, yes. Well, and I think you could maybe have, if the house wasn't, if the building wasn't so close to the sidewalk, you might have put a porch on the front of that. You know, to be really New England style, it would have a porch, but it's right on the sidewalk. So that's not an option. Yeah. And I, I'd love to check with the historic information. Commission. Yeah, commission, to find out more about the history of buildings like this. It looks to me like it was always built as a commercial property. It was never a house. Yeah. But it maintains that residential look that fits into the neighborhood. Yeah, because of the scale. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. plain in school that's where the villa is that's business a okay okay and that may be an example where we don't give it a whole page yeah we could put two districts on a page in this case for example i think most cases it's fine yeah these are the historic district number 10. it's sort of an odd view to show this building it's from the rear and there are much nicer views of this building road is right on the right there so it's the side of the building well but this building it's the back of the chiropractor's office you know the front side is on 27126 on contiguous road it's a much nicer view and you know the building we were just talking about is is a a nice example instead of the back side of the chiropractor's office yeah what i liked about this and i i don't disagree with you i think we can get a better picture of it but i liked the part of the new england village style is the where they would take a barn and then they'd add another building with a smaller and then a lean-to next to that and this back area does do that i took this angle because of that shadow there's probably a better time of day to take a picture that shows better but yeah isn't the non-technical term for that warts when they just keep adding little things onto the building yeah that's a good term my parents used to always call it and that's the other kind of friend who was an architect they call them concrete warts when they did it with modern buildings yeah the only thing this this view is missing is one of those windows that's going sideways you know you see that in vermont a lot oh yeah like if they put a window here going sideways follow the road rake of the roof that's right yeah yeah and those are found windows they salvage them from an old building and yeah they stick them in any old place well it's probably a window that was on the side of this building outside of that piece when they stuck the other one onto it couldn't bear to throw it away no don't throw anything away yeah um so all right well so do we go around and find pictures at or she really go around taking pictures no i'm doing it okay and um if you if you would like to take a couple of shots you don't want me to eat pictures feel free to help okay but uh um and she rejects quite a few of my pictures i go back for a second and third shot so we'll get there though yeah okay i could i could take pictures of uh this um the restaurant and uh supermarket okay that'd be great okay anything else you want to look at on here today i don't think that's that's really the major part of what um anina and i've been focusing on okay would you like to adjourn that's fine with me i move that we adjourn okay i second that all those in favor yes i i i good night everybody
the um so i have the review of the meeting notes which should uh i didn't realize i put that next but that's fine uh it shouldn't take too long it was a very short meeting where we just uh approved the last meeting notes before us yeah they're fine with me february 17th
no so i move that we great no i move that we approve the meeting minutes for february 17th 2026 okay
um yes okay and uh i'm just making notes here uh let's take a vote on that robin yes tanya yes and myself yes so it's a three zero zero approval of the meeting notes so now we can move on to the 21 constituent road which is uh going to be renamed uh restored name of townhouse uh for signage there's actually it's more than just signage it's uh lighting and there's a little landscaping in the back uh i would like to discuss everything that we usually discuss um now you said there are people uh in the audience there are people uh kristen lipson has her hand raised okay do you want to bring them on is that what you think is uh or just uh answer that question yep kristen's on robbie brought her over kristen is there anybody else that's waiting that is with your team um hello uh if there is a camille shapeler and a julia lloyd um more i'm sorry julian camille if i'm butchering your last names but they are also with my team julie is there but not travis blake is not with your team oh yes yes travis is okay what was the first name um the other one um um if she travis is camille also joining
well i'm just taking uh i have to be able to write the meeting notes and list who was here so that's all so yes um myself uh kirsten lipson i'm the owner of the property and of the the business um julia lloyd moore and that's um my name is julia lloyd mohr she is with my architect and branding firm jta short for joe the architect um travis blake is also with jta he's one of the architects on the team and then um camille
last name shappler s-c-h-a-p-p-l-e-r um so there's another i.t person if you see that see camille joining um she's also with jta okay having a hard time joining the meeting i'm just going to send her resend her the link thanks julia um i i'll just uh say i took a uh fairly thorough look through all the drawings um i appreciate uh your being so um uh you know having so many drawings for us to review it's much more informative to have those kind of things so thank you so much julia and i appreciate your those kind of information uh but if you would like to give us a quick uh review of what your presentation is and then we can comment after that certainly um well thank you all for your time tonight and it's nice to to virtually meet you um as i mentioned my name is kirsten lipson and i purchased this property earlier this year in january and we are in the process of restoring it converting it to a boutique cafe and bistro called townhouse cafe and bistro it the name hearkens just like so much of the aesthetic and the intention of this project back to the building's history as as the first site of the as the site of the first town secular town hall in wayland they were called townhouses back in the 1840s hence the name townhouse um so this uh building is currently if you're unfamiliar with this building it's also known as the collins market building it's part of the wayland historic district and it was converted in the 1980s and 1990s to office space for the last several years it's been about three quarters vacant it is four office units inside so we are converting it to a we're adding a full commercial kitchen um we'll be adding a bakery a bar an outdoor patio as well as seating throughout downstairs and upstairs both for a mix of takeaway dine-in during the weekdays from tuesday to friday it'll be 7 30 a.m to 3 30 p.m on the weekends it'll be more 8 a.m to 8 p.m with a more robust offering a full brunch menu afternoon tea as well as dinner service on the weekends we've um been through we've been doing our tour of all the town approval boards so we received our special permit for operating a restaurant since it is business uh zone a in november of last year we received our site plan approval and outdoor dining approval in january from the zba and then we went to the historic um district commission um last month in june and received their approval on the designs uh my my team here today camille travis and julia um have been working diligently we've went been to the wayland history museum um and really tried to use historic precedent as the inspiration um to restoring and breathing new life into this building so it can be a community hub um the signage in particular uh the townhouse up under the um the triangle is directly reflective of the when collins market used to be there with the individual wood lettering letters um the cafe and bistro over the entrance um also first is the exact footprint of the latest tenants sign as well as historically the collins market also had a sign there um and then we'll be adding the freestanding sign um very much in line with not only its not immediate neighbor but two two doors down neighbor as well as several other buildings in the historic district um so that it can catch the uh vehicular traffic can can see it um at as safely as they pass by all of the lighting is nothing is lit from within it's all external lighting very uh minimal as well as keeping in mind we do have one residential neighbor um that we've been working on closely with to make sure that everything is very minimal and as unobtrusive as possible.
We will be adding a patio in the back as I mentioned with screening around it again to block the noise from the neighbors. We are also to be ADA compliant we are adding a walkway to the back door given the historic nature and the just architectural limitations of the front entrance. We are adding two rear entrances in the back one of which will be ADA accessible. The walkway that we're adding to the back will be at a slow two percent grade to accommodate that interiorly. I know it's out of the scope of this but just so you have a full context. We will be adding a lift as well. As well as an ADA compliant bathroom downstairs and upstairs. The all x additional exterior modifications are really just to restore it all in keeping with the current historical look look and feel but just it has been there's quite a bit of deferred maintenance that is this building has undergone so just trying to breathe it bring it back up to to snuff. JTA team anything else that you want to add as we start overview? Great can I ask a question? Yes please. About the ADA access
you also added there's a lift up and down stairs is that inside the building? That is inside the building and it's a platform lift so it's separate from the staircase. Okay and but there's only there's only one ADA access or are there two at the patio side? Can you correct me if I'm correct me if I'm wrong I think one has the full turning radius and the other it's more of a service entrance but I don't think it meets the full. Yes yeah. Okay just curious. And both of those are in the rear again to minimize the historic disruptions. Okay I don't know whether are my Tanya whether you have had a chance to look at the hard copy of the drawings or no so guys if you could present it on the screen the elevations I think it would help yeah so it was very descriptive overview but to back it up with his drawings I have a full set I've seen the whole thing and there's so much I think uh I can put the bus through those yeah great don't spend a lot of time but just give uh yeah yeah so this is the signage are you familiar with the um with the building yes yes okay so you know um so you can see the the townhouse at the top actually I think if you go to um uh you can go through a couple of the pages we have the the details here but you can see um this is a rendering and then on the next page you can see it next to um the historical uh reference there you go yeah no I think it's done very appropriately at this point and then the um uh there's a close-up of the cafe and bistro there for the the second uh secondary sign and then that freestanding sign townhouse you know I'm going to change my mind a little bit because I have a few comments as we go through these that are that are um like as we go page by page uh rather than have to flip through it all over again um I think it'll save time and energy to uh let me make my comments if you go back to the first one uh first photo or the drawing the drawings the elevation of the that one yeah so the only comment I have on this one is uh and this is just now the other question I should have asked you first is are you going before any more boards are you are you have we have the open gov portal but I'll need to include this and the historic and the um zba hearing and then you're done um for and then then we'll have the actual sign permit application after that to the zba um it's so the the zba hearing will be the approval for it but then there's actually like a sign permit with that the fabricator will put together through the open gov portal but I'll need to include the zba decision as part of that I'm glad you brought that up because um Annette Lewis on the planning board pointed out and I wanted to pass it on and when you look at this elevation and and the whole package of signage um the zba and and um historic probably should be shown all of the signage including the menu and the menu on this page for example is really not shown um but at some point I think the easiest thing would be if I were doing this just tally up on maybe the cover page a list of all the signs and uh the square footages they're they're not shown on any of these pages but uh it is down at the end although the the square footage for the menu sign is not there but there is a list because I went and added them all up oh great sing my math again and and the historic um commission didn't see all of all of this okay oh and and Annette's point was only that you know they should be showing everything and if they weren't shown enough then they should be shown that's all not like I mean I think we're all really excited that you're doing this and we're all very much in favor of what you're doing uh so here's the list oh I didn't see that okay
there's no no total so for the menu it's missing yeah I think you need to just show the tally it's easier to track because the point is are you over or under the 40 square foot maximum the zba they're right at 40 except for the menu case okay and and that's up to you to decide whether you want to ask for a variance from them on that okay uh that was that was uh that was uh so then next elevation image that one with the colors it would be really helpful to the zba if you show them you're saying green wood and gold letters gold I think is you can get away there are many shades of gold but um it'd be if you can be more specific and say what the exact measurement more color is or whatever brand you're buying um you know with its name and number uh that would be really helpful
um I think it was a pantone color uh references on some of the pages
yes thank you Julia okay great yeah so um we are in the process of getting um some RFQs from sign companies so part of that would be um you know the the gold especially would be either vinyl or would be hand-painted lettering um so we would just need to secure a vendor before that gold color specifically is um decided as for the green um that is going to be a match to the repainting of the shutters and the trim work um which we're doing our best to match historical precedent um but again that color hasn't quite been decided yet we have rough Pantone matches but obviously Pantone colors aren't paint so we have a start on that and we can get more specific um probably before the May 12th uh meeting we just don't we just don't have that tonight yeah think of this as a prep for the zoning meeting it's not something I'm not going to ask you to come back and and do that I'm just sort of pointing things out that would help uh them thank you make decisions yeah I appreciate it and we did as part of our visit to the um historical society they actually have old color swatches um and so that is where we're um and I think the ones are right now that dark green so we're trying to both match between that and the the historical swatches that they have great so I'm sorry you can you can go now too the next comment I have is on the one that showed the uh cafe bistro sign oh so yeah I think here this one yeah um this one I was a little concerned about the uh the way it's rendered on this the question is uh how high is that sign in relation to your trim and you basically what you may want to do is kind of section through that and think through how that sign relates to the molding and the bottom of the trim and my recommendation would be in your architecture can decide what they want to do you know like a half inch reveal at between at the top and bottom between the um you know the existing trim so that it doesn't hang below the trim for example or overlap with the molding at the top uh it's just it's a good idea to show that detail to the zba and um Camille do you know if I believe this is the exact we're replacing the exact footprint of the most recent sign but um i think that would be a good detail to call out yeah yeah we can definitely develop that for the zba meeting great and Tanya and Robin you know jump in anytime that oh you can now presume you can proceed I guess well the illumination is on this page too I'm sorry yeah so uh so I think this is also um a point where it would help if you had the actual make and model And you have not shown the lighting. Well, there's lighting up there in the photograph. But you have not shown how that bracket lighting will look mounted above, unless I just can't see it in that rendering. This is sort of the closest there is to having it right here. Yeah, I saw that. But it doesn't show where it's going to be mounted in relation to the sign on the actual elevation. It's very subtle. They are there. They're sort of blending in with the facade. Yeah, if you could see. And this is just a rendering. Okay, that's all you have to say. Yeah, and I think on page 28, you can see from the other angle. But again, the name of the game is to be as blending as possible. Yeah, it's very, it's, you just see the bar there. You're in the bar up here. I do now. Yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad you got it covered. That also shows the menu. Oh, yeah. That would be the one to show the historic.
Yes, they have. They have seen that.
Okay. And that also you can see from the the Sene there that replaces the previous signs. Yeah.
Is this for us to hitch our ponies to? It's actually a that is an authentic. Because there are some historical pictures with horses and buggies out there since it's been since the 1840s. And that hitching post is from my family's old home in Melrose from the 1700s. Oh, nice. Very nice.
When is your potential opening day?
Looking hopefully before Labor Day. We are working on getting the updated scheduling. The building permits looking like hopefully. By end of next week. And so, yes, hoping before Labor Day.
Great. The only other comments I had is there. Since I guess. Skipping over my original solution. Was. You have a side elevation. That shows the townhouse. The sign. That's in this picture, but you're showing it from the other side is a. An architectural elevation. Somewhere. You know, these numbered. Yeah, right here. Yeah. That one. I think that's the best place to show. Again, for zoning sake. The setback from the property line. Because these zoning bylaws have a distance. I think it's 15 feet from the property line. And if you're going to ask for a variance there. You need to show them what the dimension is from the face of that sign. To the property line. Now, do you. So we are already non-compliant with the setbacks. Given the parcel. Size. I think they'll understand. They'll have to. Come up with a. A variance that they allow. Well, or is it great. Forming condition. They won't make you move the building. If that's what you're. No, but is. Grandfathered in because. There isn't a sign out in front of the building. Is there. No, but it's. It's a sign. Yeah. It's a sign. It's a sign. It's a sign. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a sign. I don't know. I'm not presently, but if you actually go up to that. The site plan. Oh, a couple pages before. That was from the. Right. Yeah. Right there. There is actually. A proposed sign. And almost. Yeah. I see that plan. Is another place where you should show what your proposed dimension. So you can ask the place where it'd be clear. So this one is from the, this one's from. This one's from the 90s, but we did add, and I apologize, I sent it to Anina later today, but we do have, I think it's, it is essentially page, page 42, yes, it's page 42 with the sign place, because this one actually has the bike rack on the other side as well. So we have, we've updated page 42 with the sign placement. Well, good. And I think that the other, while we're on this page, I had a little comment on this as well. And unless you're going to show a separate landscape plan, you could have this serve as a landscape plan, call out the plants and the species, so that ZBA has feedback on that. Do you know what the surface material is of the patio and any other paved surfaces, whether it's existing or new, should call it out? Yes, the patio and the walkway are new, but they are under the threshold that triggers any conservation committee review. And we did review all the surface material with the historic board. Great. But we'll, I can add a specific call out, because I don't think we highlighted here. I don't think we, we knew that the ZBA needed to, to see that. On the landscape plan, can you tell me a little bit more about that? Because that, Anina had not mentioned that as something, because we haven't, we don't have those details. We always review some landscaping as well. So it's just a matter of calling out the plants. And in general. We're updating the design guidelines so that it actually incorporates what conservation has recommended that we, wherever possible, we highly recommend use of native species, not invasive ones.
And I think, do you also have to go to planning, planning board for your outdoor dining? We've already been, we actually did the, they opted to have the ZBA do our outdoor dining. And site plan review. And so that we did in January and got. Okay.
It's very exciting. Yeah, we are excited to, to bring this to life. Now the, the landscape plan, I'll check back with Anina, because we, we are not as far along on that since that was, we were tackling that later. So that might have to be a separate application.
Well, they'll ask you. So if you can be prepared to tell them at the ZBA, they, they should ask if, and it could be a simple boxwood or something like that, which is a, it's what that looks like. And I think, you know, then you're on your way. You can see from the existing photos, which I think are at the end.
It is definitely. Yeah, they're on page 32 and 33. Definitely needs a little TLC in this respect. So excited to work. I've worked with Merrifield before.
They've done great work and also exploring Lynch to, to help zhizh it up. Nice. That's great.
So the. We kind of skipped over what I was trying to get that Tanya to be able to see all the sheets, if we've skipped past any, I think it's important for Tanya to see whatever we skipped over. Yes, I'll just go back up and start coming down again.
And the original Collins Market sign that was there I, I have and that will be leveraged inside as. I was wondering if you were able to find that because I saw it for sale years ago. Yeah, I had it in an antique store right down the road. And I wished I had a use for it. I really wanted to buy it. Yeah, they, it's hanging up in the building right now. So I had that. I had that as part of the sale. Fantastic. When you show the signage, I would also recommend you call out the font name and size of the lettering on every side. It's a very exciting project. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, absolutely. You know, the structure, the status you put very well together. So it looks bring. So we could. Thank you. Have a. A great, great team assembled. Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank you. Great. I like the name. Yeah. Yeah. And actually the, the rooms that you see here. Especially on the second floor because of the structural necessity. so that, you know, as you can see here, there's French doors that are open. We've added archways with pocket French doors, so they can be discrete spaces for smaller events, or they can be open to create a more cohesive feeling on the second floor, but all of the names are actually derived from periods in the building's history. So you see the library there. It was the site of the first free public library in Massachusetts. The study, it was the site of a schoolhouse for a while in the 1850s. The marketplace, in honor of both Collins Market, and then before that, when it was Level Market, and then the switchboard, it was the site of the first telephone switchboard in Wayland. That's fantastic. I love it. Pulling from all the celebrating its many chapters. It's great. Brilliant. Thank you.
We look forward to seeing you next time. We look forward to having you all once we open our doors. We will definitely visit. Any other questions on the plans?
I don't think I have any others, but let me leave through just quickly in case I had... I know you didn't ask this, but just, I know it has been asked by the other boards. We are not intending on having seating on the upstairs balcony at this time. We're just restoring it. But, but not kind of bringing that up to, to code. I know the, the railings are much, much lower than normal standards. So just wanted to preemptively get ahead of that. The capacity of the balcony is not calculated for the amount of the people, number of the people that you want to sit there. I thought that the floor of the balcony looked like it had a bit of a precarious angle to it. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Just. Pure for decoration. Yes. Yes. I think that's wise not to use it. That's great. I am really impressed.
Any of our members have any other comments? No, I think it all looks great. Do you want to make a motion?
Sure. I recommend that the design review board recommend approval of the project as we've seen the plans today.
Yes. Do you want to vote on it? Sure. Aye. Aye. Aye. All right, so it's all in favor. We'll write that up this week.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Good luck. Thank you. Thank you. Good luck. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Bye bye. Bye.
Okay. Bye bye.
Got it.
Okay. So, Okay. Okay. The next item on the agenda is probably the... It's the design review guidelines. Yeah. Now, I sent you guys a copy. I don't know if you got them. Yes, I got it.
Just a draft.
Progress, basically.
And the time is... Well, I'm glad we were able to incorporate your Wisconsin photographs. I think they're really appropriate. Yeah. Well, it's funny. I just noticed there are pictures on page eight of the dentist's office by the old Whole Foods. And it looks so different this week than it did at the time this picture was taken. It's almost like we should replace it with a new picture. Yeah, we could if we wait long enough. Oh, it looks completely different just now. They did a lot of work on it this weekend. It looks much better. But they have bookings in August. They're planning on being open in August. Really? They have weddings booked in August. That's amazing. I didn't notice they had an incredible number of cars out there as soon as the weather broke. Yeah. And they're usually there all day Saturday. And then sometimes on Sundays, too. Well, would you think that we could show this as a before and then show an after? Or do you think it's not really... It's not really necessary. I think... No, it's actually a very good practice to show before and after. Yeah. Encourage people. Yeah. Maybe somebody goes to the new Dunkin' Donuts can take a picture of the dentist's office. Yeah. As they step out, they're looking right at it. Yeah. And then there was a real estate office, too. Yes. It was Century 21 for a long time. Or Coldwell Banker. Yeah.
Do you have any other comments? I didn't really have a chance to look at it too much because I couldn't find it when I was looking for it. I have a few, but the next page after the one you just mentioned, I have a couple of them. After the dentist's office. Do you want me to put it up on the screen?
You don't need to. If you can, that's great. Yep. So that's the dentist's office. Yeah.
So this is the next page, which is page nine. Yeah.
And what's the next one after that?
The one with Oxbow. Yeah.
So Anina was thinking that maybe each IDOD or district could have its own page. I think that there are some districts we don't really have enough to show, you know, take a whole page worth. But I suppose in this case, there are two here. There's three and four. If we were to make a whole page, then I think that there are other details on this Oxbow that define the New England village style in terms of massing, texture, color, pitched roofs. There could be a number of things you just point out. And when you point them out, I think then developers can kind of get the idea of what it does. What it takes to make a, you know, more traditional looking styled building. Yep. Just a thought. Yep. How do you feel about, you know, Anina's idea of making, putting more pictures and having each district? I think more pictures are helpful. And for like the roadside business district, as small as it is, you've got the old Lees farm stand and the assisted living that's behind it, which are good examples. Yeah, I think you're right. Okay. So, I mean, the. We can take it that direction. Yeah. I mean, the Islamic center is not necessarily applicable because it has cultural significance and they get to do their own thing. But the farm stand and the assisted living, I think, give a good feel. You know, they've got that little barn there and everything. Yeah, the barn's really cute. I like it. In general, the more pictures the better because it gives visual and always more descriptive than the words. Yeah. Well, it's been saying, yeah, 30 and 27 is a bit of a wasteland, trying to think of what's down there that's worth a picture. Well, you've got, you've got the restaurant down there, the villa. Yeah, they just fixed that up. Well, that's not, I don't know that that's, because that's Plain, that's, that's on Plain Street. Is that in that district? Oh, is it on Route 30? No. No, it's on Plain Street. And it's, it's on Route, it could, you could read it almost as on Route 30 down by Mel's, but it's further away. Yeah, okay. But they just rebuilt the bank down there at that intersection. And for a bank, it's not horrible. There are a couple of also sort of housey looking buildings down there. And Donilon's not horrible. I mean, it's an okay example of a small grocery store, I guess. Yeah. It's, yeah, actually, I think Donilon's, there are some parts, the original buildings really have nice character, and then they just kind of junked it up after that. Yeah. So we could do that, we'll, we'll come back to you with that. Yeah. Suggestion. Boston Post Road and Old Sudbury Road. It's funny that, you know, that one we're looking at right now. I've driven by it, you know, for 30 years. And until we started defining the New England style, I'd never thought of it as a particularly interesting building, but it actually meets what we're defining, you know, the pitched roof and the decorative trim, all that stuff. And it really does fit into this character that we're trying to maintain. Yeah, it'd be nice if they didn't have their, I understand it, they must get just beaten by the sun. But they have to. Yeah. But they have their windows all, you know, shaded all the time. Oh, they're blocked out, yeah. This is a problem with New England style, you don't have overhang protected from sun. Yeah. It is limiting, yes. Well, and I think you could maybe have, if the house wasn't, if the building wasn't so close to the sidewalk, you might have put a porch on the front of that. You know, to be really New England style, it would have a porch, but it's right on the sidewalk. So that's not an option. Yeah. And I, I'd love to check with the historic information. Commission. Yeah, commission, to find out more about the history of buildings like this. It looks to me like it was always built as a commercial property. It was never a house. Yeah. But it maintains that residential look that fits into the neighborhood. Yeah, because of the scale. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. plain in school that's where the villa is that's business a okay okay and that may be an example where we don't give it a whole page yeah we could put two districts on a page in this case for example i think most cases it's fine yeah these are the historic district number 10. it's sort of an odd view to show this building it's from the rear and there are much nicer views of this building road is right on the right there so it's the side of the building well but this building it's the back of the chiropractor's office you know the front side is on 27126 on contiguous road it's a much nicer view and you know the building we were just talking about is is a a nice example instead of the back side of the chiropractor's office yeah what i liked about this and i i don't disagree with you i think we can get a better picture of it but i liked the part of the new england village style is the where they would take a barn and then they'd add another building with a smaller and then a lean-to next to that and this back area does do that i took this angle because of that shadow there's probably a better time of day to take a picture that shows better but yeah isn't the non-technical term for that warts when they just keep adding little things onto the building yeah that's a good term my parents used to always call it and that's the other kind of friend who was an architect they call them concrete warts when they did it with modern buildings yeah the only thing this this view is missing is one of those windows that's going sideways you know you see that in vermont a lot oh yeah like if they put a window here going sideways follow the road rake of the roof that's right yeah yeah and those are found windows they salvage them from an old building and yeah they stick them in any old place well it's probably a window that was on the side of this building outside of that piece when they stuck the other one onto it couldn't bear to throw it away no don't throw anything away yeah um so all right well so do we go around and find pictures at or she really go around taking pictures no i'm doing it okay and um if you if you would like to take a couple of shots you don't want me to eat pictures feel free to help okay but uh um and she rejects quite a few of my pictures i go back for a second and third shot so we'll get there though yeah okay i could i could take pictures of uh this um the restaurant and uh supermarket okay that'd be great okay anything else you want to look at on here today i don't think that's that's really the major part of what um anina and i've been focusing on okay would you like to adjourn that's fine with me i move that we adjourn okay i second that all those in favor yes i i i good night everybody