Owner gets after-the-fact COA

Despite being upset that she did not have the information she needed before making changes to building in downtown Portland, a business owner has gotten her wish.
Christina Bishop, owner of Cute As A Button, added wooden letters to the front of her 212 N. Meridian St. business before her Certificate of Appropriateness was approved.
However, members of the Portland Historic Preservation Commission voted Wednesday to let Bishop keep the letters up, as long as she puts a wooden frame around them. Downtown Portland Historic District Design guidelines state that letters cannot be put directly on a building.
Commission members reviewed several COA applications for Bishop on Wednesday. But, before they voted on any of the applications, Bishop explained why she added the lettered sign to the front of the building before applying for a COA.
Bishop said she had spoken to city officials and the chamber of commerce before she put up the letters and no one told her she needed an approved COA before the work could begin or that the letters wouldn’t fit into the district guidelines.
She said that she wasn’t contacted by any members of the historic preservation commission before she added the pastel wooden letters or while the letters were being put up.
Bishop said she was also upset about a Sept. 16 story in The Commercial Review, about a Sept. 15 historic preservation commission meeting. At that meeting, commission members said Bishop did the work without an approved COA, violating the guidelines.
On Wednesday, Bishop said she painted the letters in pastels to match the sign at her current salon at 218 N. Meridian St. She plans to have both locations open and have a spa, hair replacement, photography and crafts.
Commission member Don Gillespie suggested that Bishop frame the letters in wood, so they look more like a sign.
Joe Jarzen, who serves as an advisor to the commission, said, “You need something behind those letters to make it pop a little more.” Commission member Christy Corle suggested white barn wood be used. However, Bishop said she didn’t want to remove the letters at all.
Jarzen suggested that she put a white wood frame around the letters, and the commission members agreed.
Bishop also submitted COA applications for lighting for the letters, to add a wooden covering to the side and front of the building, to add wooden shake shingles to the awning and to add decorative concrete at the entrance of the building.
She asked to put lighting below the wooden letters that would shine up on the letters. Commission members decided this was appropriate and approved the COA.
She also asked for a new COA for the south side of the building. The previous owner, Larry Iliff, was issued a COA in December to replace rusted, metal siding with wood composite siding. However, Bishop said she didn’t want to replace the metal siding with the wood composite siding, also known as Hardie Plank. She said it would look pieced together because it comes in large sections, rather than strips.
“It looked like trailer house paneling to me. No thank you,” Bishop said.
If she had wanted to replace the metal with the wood composite material, the COA would have just been changed to her name and would not have needed to go before the commission, Jarzen said after the meeting.
Bishop asked the commission Wednesday night if she could cover the side and front of the building with log siding or used barn wood.
Commission members agreed that the log siding would not be appropriate. However, they asked Bishop to get prices for the barn wood, a wood composite similar to the Hardie Plank and wood clapboard siding and submit them to commission members. The commission members will then review the materials individually and give her an answer.
Board members also voted Wednesday to allow Bishop to cover her awning with the wooden shingles and to add the concrete in front of the front door, since it wouldn’t affect the building.[[In-content Ad]]