LAKEPORT, Calif. – An apartment building that sustained major damage in a November fire is slated for repairs and renovations, with the plans to go to the Lakeport Planning Commission this week.
The commission will meet beginning at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
On the commission’s Wednesday agenda is an architectural and design review for the Bel Aire Apartments, located at 1125 N. Main St.
The art deco-style building, which city officials said was constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, was damaged on Nov. 11 by a fire that appeared to have burned primarily on the second floor and on the roof, as Lake County News has reported.
The fire rendered the building uninhabitable, and since November it has been kept closed off to the public.
Jonathan Bridges, on behalf of building owners Mike and Pat McCollum of Sebastopol, has applied for the architectural and design review that the commission is set to consider.
Specifically, the owners want to redesign the exterior of the two-story, 14-unit, 10,720-square-foot building.
The staff report for the meeting explains that the owners want to demolish the existing flat roof and change it to a pitched roof with brown roof shingles.
The renovation plans also call for keeping the existing concrete walls, but covering up or removing the building’s notable art deco fixtures – many of which were damaged or destroyed in the fire – and replacing them with modern trim, according to the staff report.
The owners plan to paint the building and the trim a light tan color called “Swiss coffee.” The report said there are no planned changes to the building’s 12 carports and two uncovered parking spaces in the rear of the building.
Planning staff indicate in the report that the proposed changes conform to city planning rules and design criteria.
Regarding the building’s art deco design, the report notes, “Although there is a significant desire to protect the historical integrity of the downtown area, this building does not reflect the time period or the historical appearance the City is working to preserve. A condition shall be added that the applicant shall provide detailed photographs of the ‘art deco’ elements of the existing building that can be used if any future developer would like to return the building to that ‘art deco’ design.”
Also on Wednesday, the commission will receive an update on the 11th Street Corridor project.
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081419 Lakeport Planning Commission agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd