The new restaurant is being built out.
The Newtown Borough Council Chambers on State Street. File photo.
Credit: Brett Duffey/NewtownPANow.com
A proposed canopy at the Brick Hotel’s soon-to-be-open new restaurant became one of the most closely contested historic preservation issues this year in Newtown Borough.
Council members earlier this month weighed a recommendation from the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) against public support for the restaurant investment and the needs of its customers.
The application concerned a new canopy for Donatelli’s at the East Washington Avenue location that previously was home to Rocco’s at The Brick before it closed during a dispute.
HARB recommended denying the canopy while recommending an awning at the entrance that would match the others on the building.
The council had already approved the proposed awnings, but the canopy led to a much longer discussion.
Some council members argued that the canopy should be approved, saying it did not damage the historic building itself.
“The canopy, no matter what anybody thinks of it, some people like it, some people don’t like it, but the canopy should be approved, not denied,” said Councilmember Kris Bauman.
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Council Member Josh Phillips took the opposite view, saying the size of the canopy would alter the streetscape and the historic character of the area because it extended from the building toward Washington Avenue.
Jim McAuIiffe, Chair of HARB, explained that the board considered the canopy as part of the building’s overall facade. He said members looked at its shape and concluded that it began to dominate rather than remain secondary to the historic structure.
“We just thought overall everyone thought it was inappropriate,” McAuIiffe said.
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HARB also favored an awning that would maintain what McAuIiffe called the “rhythm of the openings” on the building.
He said the canopy divided the yard into sections and noted that a possible freestanding pavilion had also been discussed preliminarily, although it was not part of the application.
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Resident Rose Wuenschel said she liked the canopy and its continuation of the awnings, because it replaced a temporary tent with plastic walls that had been in place for five years.
David Oxley praised improvements to the property and asked the council to consider how its decisions could affect businesses investing in the community.
Madeline Jones, who said she represented both sides of the transaction for the upcoming Donatelli’s restaurant, spoke in favor of the improvements.
She said the owner had put substantial time, money and effort into the building and that the quality of the work appeared excellent to her. She also said the property looked substantially better than the previous plastic tents.
Despite that support, the council ultimately voted to follow HARB’s recommendation.
The initial vote produced a tie, after which Mayor Tara Grunde-McLaughlin said she wanted the applicant to work with HARB on a smaller entrance canopy.
“We want you to succeed,” said the mayor, who cast her first vote to break a tie since being voted in.
Grunde-McLaughlin explained that she was persuaded by HARB’s unanimous decision and the reasons behind it.
She voted to deny the application, with the suggestion that a shorter canopy could still provide an entrance without overwhelming the historic building. The motion then passed 4-3.
Dining and Cooking