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The Spotswood Building Committee presented an updated design for the proposed apartment building on Spotswood Drive to the Lexington City Council at its meeting Thursday. The new design keeps the same shape as the initial proposed development, but with significant changes to the aesthetics of the building’s exterior.
Council member Leslie Straughan, who was one of the two members of Council on the committee, presented the updated design and gave a report on the meetings she, Vice-Mayor Marilyn Alexander and Lexington city planner Arne Glaeser attended with representatives from Echelon Resources Inc. and the architect for the proposed project regarding the building’s design.
One of the things that was discussed in an early meeting was the roof of the building, and whether or not it would be possible to have a pitched roof instead of a flat one as proposed. The committee was informed that, due to the building height requirements of the city’s building code, the flat roof would be more in line with the city code. In Lexington, the height of the building is measured from the main entrance of the building to the highest point, not from “the entrance to the eaves” as in other localities, which allows for a higher roof. The roof, Straughan noted, will have a 6-foot-tall wall on it to act as a screen of elements on the roof.
Apart from the pitch of the roof, the main discussion points were about the look of the building. The goal, Straughan noted, was to find materials and colors that were “compatible with the neighborhood – the cemetery, homes and buildings next to it – as well as Lexington in general.” The new design incorporates brick into the lower levels of the proposed three-story building, along with several sections of gray lap siding, gray stone and wood lap siding for accents.
“We were pleasantly surprised and liked how they took our comments and put them into practice in the building,” Straughan said. “I really was pleased with how they listened to our input and considered it. They really wanted to work toward something that would appeal to all of Lexington and I think they did a very good job.”
Alexander concurred with Straughan’s feelings on the design, and with Echelon’s willingness to work with the committee throughout the process.
“It’s going to be a little more contemporary than maybe what some people would prefer,” she said, “but I think we have ended up with a pretty good example of what this could be, but we look forward to comments that the public would have.”
Ann Hopkins, of Colonial Lane, spoke during the public comment portion of the continued public hearing on the proposed conditional use permit, objecting to putting a building on the property on Spotswood Drive. She added that, while she appreciates the time and effort that went into the new design, she felt it looked like a hotel, especially with the flat roof.
“If we need the tax money, maybe we can look at some other ways to raise the taxes and not put a building and take up that remaining beautiful space,” she said.
Council will continue the public hearing on the conditional use permit for the proposed development at its March 2 meeting, where representatives from Echelon will be present to answer questions. Mayor Frank Friedman said that he hopes to close the public hearing at that meeting and move to Council’s consideration of the permit.
