Davenport design board leaves some business owners frustrated

Font Size:

By Tory Brecht | Tuesday, September 02, 2008 |

The 24-hour grocery store, Stop & Shop, along third Street in Davenport is just one of the stores where the front will be changed to go along with the new guidelines. (Larry Fisher/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo

Related Media

Downtown Davenport Design Guidelines

Buying a 123-year-old building that sat derelict for nearly two decades on a deserted downtown Davenport street corner took a leap of faith from restaurateur and bar owner Frank Berner.

The longtime west-side business owner knew he would face myriad challenges converting the structurally sound, but increasingly dilapidated, building at Ripley and 2nd streets into the restaurant named Sippis Fine Food & Cocktails that he and his wife envisioned.

What he didn’t count on were the bureaucratic hoops he would have to jump through with the city’s relatively new Downtown Design Review Board.

The nine-member, mayor-appointed board formed in August 2007 to evaluate and approve or deny facade changes, signs, new buildings and other developments. Its job is to enforce the city’s downtown design standards and overlay district regulations, which also were created last summer.

Berner said he likes the overlay district concept and appreciates that design standards are in place to improve the aesthetics of downtown. But the review board came across as a bit overzealous and hard to deal with for a small business owner, he said.

“They were pretty critical of the decor of my patio,” he said.

Everything from the dimension of his tables, the material of his chairs and the style of flower pots he wanted to use were questioned, he said.

“They even asked what kind of flowers I wanted to plant. They wanted us to put in planters and move the fence, and that was much less cost-effective.”

Although the board did compromise on some issues — including the use of vinyl siding and the construction of a wooden deck and staircase that the board members thought wasn’t “historically compatible” — the process took weeks and cost money, Berner said.

“I like suggestions, I don’t like being mandated to do something,” he said. “A small business owner could go broke before they open or at least lessen their chance of survival. I wasn’t rehabilitating the building to what it was before, I was renovating it for a new use.”

Darrin Nordahl, the city planner who works as a staff liaison between the design board and applicants, acknowledged that business owners and regulators don’t always see eye to eye.

In addition, Nordahl said, most of the members have not served on committees before and “there were bound to be some growing pains and hiccups.” Most of the members of the board are downtown business owners themselves, several with architectural and landscaping backgrounds, he said.

“We all want downtown to be better, and we want small merchants coming in here,” Nordahl said. “But we want them to also understand there is a different aesthetic we want down here, which is one of permanence and quality workmanship.”

The review board encourages — and sometimes requires — businesses to use natural and historically compatible materials such as stone, brick, wood and iron, Nordahl said. However, it also takes cost and other factors — such as an owner like Berner who is breathing new life into a long-vacant building — into context.

Dick Davidson, a new board member whose law office is downtown, said it’s imperative to be flexible.

“If we’re going to have a successful downtown, the businesses have to be able to attract customers,” he said. “We can’t stick to theories to the detriment of a businesses’ ability to attract customers. I don’t want to see a bunch of ugly things added to downtown, but on the other hand, there has to be sufficient leeway to have signage and storefronts that can attract customers. There is a lot of middle ground.”

Joe Erenberger, who owns a strip of businesses in the 200 block of 3rd Street, is hoping that middle ground can be reached as he moves forward with an ambitious facade and sign improvement plan. He plans a $300,000 or so renovation to the Coffee Dive, Source Bookstore, Stop and Shop grocery and Glass Heritage businesses, all housed in a building he owns.

His relationship with the design board, like Berner’s, started off a little rough.

“From an outsider’s perspective, coming in, it seemed to be a pretty unfriendly process at first,” he said. “They seemed to slow things up and were very demanding about what materials we used, the colors we wanted to use and other issues. They gave us a 60-page book with rules in it.”

But the most difficult aspect was the time issue, he said.

“They have to understand that as a business owner and a property owner, my time is very limited,” he said. “I don’t have time to truck over to meetings all the time.”

Erenberger took his concerns to 3rd Ward Alderman Bill Boom. The alderman, Erenberger said, set up a meeting with Gary Carter — vice president of DavenportOne and a member of the design board — and things have been smoother since then.

“They have been real helpful and are helping me push this through,” he said.

Still, there are elements of the design standards that irk him and that he thinks could keep other small business owners from investing in the downtown.

For example, Erenberger said he would like to replace the single-pane windows throughout the building with more energy-efficient, cost-effective vinyl frame Pella windows. But he can’t, because they’re not compatible with the design standards.

It’s frustrating, he said, because he knows that the current look of the block is “cobbled together and doesn’t have very attractive signage.” But the criticism sometimes outweighs the advice from the design board, he said.

“The rules are important, but they need to assist me in meeting the rules and doing it in a timely manner,” he said.

Nordahl said the board members have had “philosophical discussions” about the proper balance between regulation and lenience.

“The guidelines are intended to maintain, strengthen and enhance downtown,” he said. “We’ve actually denied very few requests. I’m guessing only two or three. Our intent is not to hinder, our intent is to help.”

Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.

DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MEMBERS

Here are the current members of the Downtown Design Review Board and their occupations:

John Gere, chairman, architect

Greg Larrison, vice chairman, architect

Greg Lundgren, president of Ryan Companies

Dick Davidson, attorney at Lane & Waterman

Rebecca McCarley, architectural historian

Sandra Doran, landscape architect

Robert Hickman, downtown business owner

Dana Wilkinson, interior designer and president of Paragon

Gary Carter, vice president of DavenportOne