Another balcony may be coming to an upper-floor apartment on Main Street.
Concord’s planners are now looking at these applications as the beginning of a trend, which has caused them to think about setting down some guidelines for the future.
Hearing a proposal last week for 66 N. Main St., planning board Chairman Richard Woodfin said, “I want to kind of take this as the first of what I anticipate as many balcony applications we’re going to see out on Main Street over the next 10 years or so – and maybe take a step back.”
“That’s unfortunate for you, but I think it’s something I want to take a look at from the city’s perspective,” Woodfin initially told the developer, although the application would eventually be approved in a 5-2 vote.
The board directed City Planner Heather Shank to come back with a recommendation on how best to achieve consistency and predictability with balconies as applications roll in, whether it be through design guidelines or a change in the ordinance.
But because that process could take several months, Jonathan Halle of Warrenstreet Architects asked for board members to make a decision on the application for Dora Hinxhia’s apartment renovation based on the current rules.
They gave their okay for a 5-foot-deep balcony with glass railings to span the northernmost set of four windows on the top floor above Northway Bank.
Halle had sought to alter those four skinny windows into two French doors, but he adapted his design at the request of the Architectural Design Review Committee, which insisted that he not change the historic 1873 brickwork.
Because the balcony will extend over the sidewalk – a city-owned right of way – it will still need approval from the city council.
Many of the brick buildings along Main Street are more than a century old and notable for their flat facades. While upper-story windows have featured awnings in the past, lasting installations such as balconies are a new arrival.
“The redevelopment of Main Street has really spurred all of it,” Shank said. “None of it would be happening if we didn’t have our beautiful new Main Street that everyone wants to be a part of.”
The latest proposal followed a few months after the first splash of balconies were installed up the street at Remi’s Block. That spot is named for developer Remi Hinxhia, Dora Hinxhia’s brother, who finished his reconstruction of a long-blighted building right on the heels of the Main Street Project’s completion.
“The first domino was Main Street,” Shank said.
The Remi’s Block balconies inspired strong responses for and against. Critics said they looked like “shark cages” because of their metal construction and vertical balustrade design.
That reaction was partly fueled by the fact that their real appearance differed in design from what was shown to the planning board and Architectural Design Review Committee during the approval process.
Remi Hinxhia had to return to the planning board just weeks before his 2½-year renovation was complete for an after-the-fact approval – and he got an earful for the unexpected change.
“What happened at Remi’s Block is a separate issue from what’s being proposed here,” Halle noted, but the board specifically said in its approval that the architect should return if any aspect of the design should change.
When it came to the latest proposal, Halle said the 42-inch-tall, ¾-inch glass railing was chosen to be inconspicuous.
“The approach here with the balcony is that we just want it to go away. We don’t want to create something that is trying to be a reflection of the period of architecture that was there, but something a little more contemporary that disappears,” he said.
Most board members said they liked the design and wanted to support development of residences upstairs on Main Street.
The application at hand “doesn’t seem to me to be unlike something that we might encompass with whatever guidance we come up with down the road,” noted Vice Chairwoman Carol Foss.
Halle said Dora Hinxhia is converting the upper floor of the 66 N. Main St. site into a three-bedroom apartment with a living room on the northern side, where the balcony would be. She’s hoping to start construction as soon as next month, he said.
The windows there are tall and arched at the top, about 34 inches wide, Halle said, which is “enough that I can make a single leaf with a 180-degree hinge, so she could open all four of those to her living room.”
Board members asked that the balcony’s deck be painted as close to the red of the bricks as possible.
Going forward, Shank said it might make sense to host a joint meeting of the planning board and Architectural Design Review Committee – with input from the public – to consider the future of balconies on Main Street.
Susanne Smith-Meyer, one of the planning board members who opposed the balcony, said, “Not unlike solar panels, the city now has to decide how are we going to treat these things down the road, if we really want them at all.”
As a reminder, leaf collection begins today.
Residents can place leaves and grass clippings in biodegradable bags or rigid containers by the curb by 7 a.m. on the days of their usual trash and recycling collection.
More information is at concordnh.gov/leafcollection.
The city will celebrate Arbor Day on Friday at Rollins Park.
The Arbor Day Foundation named Concord as one of 3,400 Tree City USA communities this year. The city will be presented a flag at the 11 a.m. event at the South End park in recognition of its status.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)