Port commission pans tweaked townhouse plan

It’s back to the drawing board for the nine townhouse units planned to be built along East Jackson Street in Port Washington’s marina district.

Just a week after the Design Review Board approved the plan, the Plan Commission sent the project back for further revisions last week after members expressed concerns about overcrowding the site and the lack of architectural details on the building, which is planned to be built at the base of the Jackson Street bluff between the bike trail and Light Station staircase.

Plan Commission member Mike Ehrlich, an architect, said the site is an important one that deserves the attention officials are giving it.

“It’s really important to get it right because this is such a unique location,” he said. “I think you’ve done some nice things, but I do think you missed a couple of opportunities. 

“To me, aesthetically you lost the detail. I can’t support this right now. I think there needs to be more work done. I know you have an awful lot of opinions on this and it’s like herding cats, but I feel like we’ve taken a step backward.”

Ehrlich said that the revisions, which were made to respond to comments by the Design Review Board and commission, resulted in a “blocky” building.

“I worry this has become too plain Jane,” he said. “I worry we’ve lost some of the contemporary elegance.”

Plan Commission member Tony Matera said his concern is that the large building is squeezed on the site.

“We’re all in agreement it’s a good plan but it needs tinkering. I like this design,” he said. “But I think it’s one unit too much.”

He suggested turning the building into an eight-unit structure and making each larger to offset the cost difference.

That would not only allow some breathing room on the site, Matera said, it would also allow space between the staircase and the building and permit the architects to add windows to that side of the structure.

“It looks like you could touch the building from the stairs,” Matera said. “(People) want to be able to use those stairs and not feel intrusive.”

Commission member Eric Ryer concurred, saying the building is “a little too much for the lot.”

But architect Vaishali Wagh of Continuum Architects told the commission that the number of units is dictated by the finances of the project.

“In order to make this project happen, these are the numbers we need,” she said.

Ald. Mike Gasper, who represents the area in which the building would be constructed,  said he believes the 210-foot-long structure is just too big. 

“I’m not sure that it really fits in,” he said. He suggested the architects vary the design of the building for each unit, giving the structure the feeling of having expanded over time as architectural styles changed.

That’s a difficult thing to do effectively, Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and development, said.

The architects have created a repeating pattern along the front facade that gives the building a cohesive look and symmetry, he added.

Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven added that the building is being constructed on a street that slopes, meaning each unit will be at a slightly different elevation. That may help break up the facade, he said.

Gasper also asked that the sidewalk be set back as far as possible from the street and the terrace widened, saying this would allow for plantings that could make Jackson Street more attractive to motorists and pedestrians.

Gasper, who noted that the project may inspire the owner of the neighboring property to the west to develop his land, also suggested that the staircase also be rebuilt to meet ADA guidelines.

Wagh told the commission that the architects “find ourselves being pushed in two directions” and when they make changes to please one group they upset the other.

“What is it everybody will be really happy with?” she asked.

The commission directed Harris to put together a memo compiling the items it considers important for the project and to forward it to Wagh. 

The revised building, site and operations plan is expected to be reviewed by the commission when it meets Thursday, March 19.