A hue hullabaloo is going to round two. After one meeting failed to bring a resolution, a battle over a shade of green house paint called Sprite Twist will resume in June before Wellington’s Architectural Review Board.
Sprite Twist has nothing to do with beverage brand names or something you’d be served with a straw poolside. The issue is whether the board should approve a new shade of green paint for the village’s officially sanctioned palette of exterior building colors.
The dust-up began with a complaint from another resident about a house sporting a relatively fresh coat of paint on Horseshoe Trace.
Village staff described the color as “a soft bright crisp clover green with a Kelly Green undertone.” The staff found it “similar” to others in a limited selection of approved colors, but not exact.
The homeowner and her representative said at a board meeting Wednesday, May 24 that they were not aware they needed to get the particular color approved when they painted the house. They chose one they liked and thought it was consistent. That’s when the complaint showed up.
“When we received the complaint, we were very surprised, because we see a lot of those bright colors in the neighborhood, right around the house,” said Victoria Amador, representing Rosa Tejeda, who owns the home. “It’s definitely a low blow, but here we are.”
Comparing it to the spectrum of what’s already out there in the village’s streets, Amador said, “We shouldn’t be here tonight.”
Attitudes varied on how mean the board should be to this shade of green.
If the board does not approve Sprite Twist as an official color, it effectively sentences the homeowner to the hassle of further fighting the village or eating the cost of repainting, on top of the original painting expenses.
If the board approves the color, sidestepping a harsh outcome for the homeowner, it opens up using the same color to anyone else in the village.
Board Member Miguel Alonso said he drove by the house on a cloudy and rainy day and did not find it a problem. “I don’t mind the color,” he said.
Board Chair Stacy Somers said she spent about two hours driving by the house and others.
“My thought is it is a little more on the brighter side, in comparison to everything else that’s right around in that area,” Somers said.
Board Member Jeff Browning said that the home does stand out.
“When I first went down the street, that house is about in the middle, and right away, it’s like ‘boom’ to me,” he said.
Browning said he understood that some people believe the neighbor’s complaint had something to do with the homeowner’s Latin heritage, but he denied that was in any way related to the issue before the panel. “You used a color that wasn’t approved,” he said.
The board voted to gather more information, which could include additional drive-by viewings, before its next meeting, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, June 28.
In other business:
• The Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant near the Mall at Wellington Green won permission for a revamped gray-and-black paint scheme and signs a bit bigger than previously allowed to promote greater visibility. The eatery’s makeover comes a little more than 11 years after it opened at the State Road 7 location. At staff’s recommendation, the approval required use of white lighting as opposed to illumination in a particular color.
• The board approved a detached shade structure that does not match the design of a principal house structure on Big Cone Court. The mostly wooden backyard structure, 12 feet by 24 feet, is largely screened from public view in a pool area behind the house. The panel required enhanced fencing and landscaping as a condition of approval.
• Solara at Wellington, built in 1991 with 320 residential units in 16 three-story buildings on Polo Gardens Drive, received approval for a revised exterior color scheme of grays, deep greens and black. That would replace the current red, tan and green color scheme.
