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2025-09-25 Meeting MinutesDRB September 25, 2025 Page 1 of 3 City of Salem Massachusetts Public Meeting Minutes Board or Committee: Design Review Board, Regular Meeting Date and Time: Thursday, September 25, 2025, at 6:00 pm Meeting Location: Virtual Zoom Meeting DRB Members Present: Chair Paul Durand, Leanne Leftwich, Kate Martin, Marc Perras, Sarah Tarbet, and Catherine Miller DRB Members Absent: Elizabeth Murray Others Present: Stephanie Owens, Senior Planner Recorder: Christine Petryszyn The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm. Roll call was taken. Signs in the Urban Renewal Area 1. 191-211 Washington Street: The Courier Hotel Mackenzie Smith, from RCG, and Justin Sharley were present to discuss the proposal: • Images of the signs were shared and reviewed. • The proposal is for three signs, two are window decals and the other is for an aluminum pan sign to go above the lobby in the brick face, which will be aligned with the other signs along Washington Street. • The decals are their address with the two logos, one to be placed above the transom window on Washington Street and the second to be placed on the door on New Derby Street. • Photos of the building were shared with renderings of the signage shown. • Ms. Leftwich expressed support for the design of the logo. • Mr. Sharkey said the idea was to match the historic Hawthorne building logo. • Ms. Owens noted that based on her calculations, the sign coverage was over 20% of the glass based on her calculations. She said the measurements come from the smallest section of the box around the sign. • Mr. Sharkey said that they could work the sign vendor to reduce the dimensions of the signage. • Ms. Miller suggested the Board consider approving the design but with the reduction in size, with a resubmittal to Ms. Owens. Mr. Durand added that Ms. Owens could approve the coverage. • Ms. Owens added that the address does not count towards the sign allowance. • Rendering of the New Derby Street were also shared. • A cut sheet for the lighting has not been shared because they haven’t decided on lighting yet. • Ms. Leftwich inquired as to whether signage was not considered for the other insets. Mr. Sharkey said they had not considered it. There were no comments from the public. DRB September 25, 2025 Page 2 of 3 • Ms. Miller noted that any changes to windows would need to come back before the DRB for approval. VOTE: Ms. Miller made a motion to approve The Courier Hotel sign as presented, with the lighting removed, and with the logo signs revised to 20% of coverage and to be submitted to Ms. Owens for administrative review and approval. Seconded by Perras. Roll Call: Leftwich, Martin, Miller, Perras, Tarbet, and Durand. 6-0 in favor. Projects in the Urban Renewal Area There were no projects to review. Projects Outside the Urban Renewal Area There were no projects to review. New / Old Business 1. Approval of Minutes: a. August 27, 2025 VOTE: Ms. Miller made a motion to approve the August 27th minutes. Seconded by Perras. Roll Call: Leftwich, Martin, Miller, Perras, Tarbet, and Durand. 6-0 in favor. 2. Staff updates, if any Ms. Owens noted that the SRA meeting for October 8th has been canceled as they did not have any submissions. The new board member on the SRA is Ryan Macione, who is taking over Dean Rubin’s position on the Board. Ms. Owens noted that she received Ms. Miller’s email about the banners and that she would be addressing those. Ms. Miller noted that banners are popping up everywhere with Halloween coming up. She noted that the Pirate Museum and Lulu’s have banners. Ms. Owens noted that it is a temporary situation due to the shade structure project. She said that when the construction is done, the signs and the chain link fence will be removed. Mr. Perras again noted the lack of accessible seating at Barrio, which appears to be a growing problem. There is signage in the middle of walkways. He said he would implore the Disability Commission to look into the issues. DRB September 25, 2025 Page 3 of 3 Ms. Tarbet asked if there was a way to flag the issues and ask people to come before the DRB again. Mr. Durand said that the DRB does not have enforcement ability, but that the Building Department does. Ms. Owens said that she would bring it to their attention again. She said comments have also come into the Mayor’s office about the proliferation of A-frame signs all across the City. She has pulled together information for the Building Department about the issue. Ms. Owens said she reached out to Barrio’s and they said that they did have accessible seating, but she was not sure whether it had been reviewed by the Accessible Disability Commission. Ms. Miller said it looked like their sidewalk had access, but no tables were accessible. Ms. Owens said she would look would look into it. Upcoming Meetings 1. SRA: October 8th - Cancelled 2. DRB: October 22nd Adjournment VOTE: Mr. Perras made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by: Miller. All in favor. The meeting adjourned at 6:22PM. Know your rights under the Open Meeting Law M.G.L. c. 39 §23B and City Ordinance Sections 2-028 through 2-2033