At issue at Wellington’s Architectural Review Board meeting on Monday, Sept. 24 were the proposed architectural designs for the new GSB Law building to be developed in the Binks Commercial Center on Binks Forest Drive, just south of Southern Blvd., as well as two homeowners requesting to have their houses painted colors not on Wellington’s approved color chart.
The presentation for the GSB Law building was given by Mayerling Boscan of AW Architects Inc. The new building will be the future of the Wellington-based law firm Gonzalez, Shenkman & Buckstein P.L.
Boscan stated that design professional Wilbur Muro worked carefully to create both an architectural design and color elevations that fit within the current Binks Commercial Center buildings. The board agreed and approved the design unanimously in a 6-0 vote.
However, when it came to exterior home colors, cocoa berry won board praise, but oregano spice proved to be concerning.
The owner of a home on Meadow Wood Drive successfully petitioned the board to have his home painted cocoa berry. The color — which senior planners Kelly Ferraiolo and Olga Prieto said was previously on the approved color chart — proved so popular with the board that after unanimously approving its use on the single property, the board further voted 6-0 to once again add cocoa berry to the approved list of colors.
Board members had less than pleasant commentary for the color oregano spice. The home in question is on Wiltshire Village Drive and is currently painted the unapproved color in violation of village code.
Board members Miguel Alonso and Roger Grave de Peralta were both familiar with the property and did not like it. In discussion with staff, they struggled to find a solution that could improve the look of the house without forcing the owner to have to repaint the entire structure.
The homeowner was not in attendance, despite repeated notifications from Ferraiolo and Prieto.
Board Chair Ron Shamash was particularly harsh about the color and said that he had driven by the house to inspect it for himself. Following remarks and interaction with the staff and board, a solution could not be found, and the house color failed to win approval.
Alonso, who voted against approving the house as is, lamented the fact that the homeowner would have to repaint the house within 90 days to be compliant with the code.
Vice Chair Tom Wenham introduced a resolution to defer the item until the Architectural Review Board’s next meeting with the hope that the homeowner would be in attendance. The resolution passed 5-1, with Shamash dissenting, as he did not think additional time or discussion would change his opinion on the color.
Oregano spice will be on the menu again when the board next meets on Wednesday, Oct. 17. In addition to a second vote on the Wiltshire Drive property, Ferraiolo and Prieto informed the board that another property owner would be petitioning the board to keep oregano spice on an already-painted house that is also currently in violation of village code.
