At its latest meeting on October 12, the Pacific Palisades Design Review Board (DRB) reviewed signage and exterior plans for Subway, Starbucks and Maison Gerard, the new French restaurant on Swarthmore Anyone who has a business or is starting one in Pacific Palisades is required to meet with the DRB (which was officially empowered by the City of L.A. in 1985) to gain approval for construction or remodeling plans concerning the exterior of the owner’s building and business signs. When the new Subway franchisee moves west on Sunset from his second-floor space in the post office/Chabad building to the space next to Starbucks, he wants permission to remove two historic green-and-white awnings over the windows. The DRB wants them replaced. Subway owner David Askari and his father Bruce, a nuclear engineer on sabbatical from NASA Ames Research Center, received permission in their lease from building owner TOPA Management Corporation to take down the awnings. ’Why hide such a beautiful transom?’ Bruce asked the DRB at its meeting. The window in the historical 1924 building is a half-moon shape, with several different-sized panes of glass. It is about 14 feet above sidewalk level. ’You could almost go without any artificial light,’ Bruce said, noting that that by using less artificial light, the store would use less energy. Rick Mills, who chaired the meeting, took an informal poll of the five board members, who were not convinced by the energy-saving argument. One said, ‘I can’t approve of a sign without the awnings going back up.’ Mills noted, ‘The use of awnings on all arches having windows or glass doors [in the Business Block Building] was supposedly approved years ago, per Susan Oakley, a past Board chair. This is consistent with the fact that all 38 such arches have awnings except for Tivoli, which has been there for 23 years. Per Susan, they should have had an awning, but it is not clear what happened.’ When Bruce Askari asked why there couldn’t be a change, he was told, ‘Individual tenants have to go with the precedent.’ Another member added that if Bruce wanted to remove the awning, ‘TOPA would have to take all the awnings off the building because we look at the building as a whole.’ ’I don’t want to be a bad neighbor,’ Askari said. ‘But I also don’t think we should be trapped in what we did 80 years ago, especially with energy issues.’ DRB members also objected to the Subway sign because they felt it was too large and too colorful. The Askaris noted that other businesses on the block have colored signs, such as Bank of America with red and blue, but one member said, ‘This sign has yellow.’ Mills was queried after the meeting about Subway’s logo, which is green, yellow and white. ‘In most cases, corporations have variations on logos and colors to accommodate local community design standards,’ he wrote in an e-mail to the Palisadian-Post. ‘Where a corporation is firm on it, the DRB has limited power, but we still can impact size, placement and lighting.’ After it was apparent the board was not going to approve awning removal or signage, both parties agreed to work together in order not to delay the opening (scheduled in six weeks). The DRB will review Subway’s amended application on Wednesday, October 26, at 7 p.m. in the Chamber of Commerce office on Antioch. The meeting is open to the public. Starbucks designer Elizabeth Hughes presented a professional rendering of new patio furniture, faux 12′ by 12′ tiles and a moveable trellis box that will be placed on the patio between Starbucks and Subway. The Board approved changes, but asked that table umbrellas, which currently have Starbucks in small white lettering, be replaced with umbrellas that don’t have the store’s name. Finally, Cosimo Pizzulli, representing Maison Giraud (in the former Dante’s location), told the DRB the restaurant was ready to open, but the City would not conduct its final inspection until the restaurant had sign approval. The board members attending the meeting’Mills, Suart Muller, Kelly Comras, David Hibbert and Murray Levy’approved the non-illuminated sign. ’We’re going to open as soon as we have the sign-off,’ Pizzuli said.
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