HDC Minutes: Solar, Sign, River Work
On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, the Farmington Historic District Commission met in a hybrid session (Town Hall Council Chambers and online) and worked through a tight agenda: one sign, one solar array, one river update, and one training invite. Roll was called: Jim Calciano, Joanne Lawson, Jay Bumbara, Liz Jemsky, and Ted Sanford were present; Cliff Mix, Michelle Phelan, and Henry Pertil were absent. Shannon Rutherford opened the meeting and appointed Ted Sanford and Liz Jemsky as permanent members for purposes of the day’s business. The public notice, dated August 28, 2025, listed two items for hearing: a temporary certificate of appropriateness (COA) for a new hanging sign at 769 Farmington Avenue and a temporary COA for rooftop solar at 93 Main Street. (Full session: meeting video 🎥)
Item 1 — Hanging Sign at 769 Farmington Avenue (Brickyard Walk)
Applicant: Green Pest Control LLC
Principal: Neil Beta
Representative: Nicole Burn (1730 New Britain Avenue, Farmington, CT 06032)
Burn requested a temporary COA for a “modest” hanging sign to help customers find the lower-level rear office in Brickyard Walk. Placement will be beneath an existing sign approved in 2022 and not visible from Farmington Avenue (Route 4), only from the rear parking lot and Brickyard Lane.
Specifications (as presented):
- Dimensions: 48″ wide × 7.5″ high × 1.5″ deep (≈ 360 sq in)
- Material/Finish: High-density urethane; Benjamin Moore water-based exterior paint; sealed with clear polyurethane
- Illumination: None
- Mounting: Two black eye hooks and black chain link (consistent with existing sign hardware)
- Clearance: Hangs at ≈ 105″ above the recessed area; retaining wall is 67.25″; standard pedestrian clearance cited at 78″; pedestrians use the stairs—not the recessed area below the sign—limiting conflict
- Design: Rounded corners; white background; Green Pest Control logo in green/black; sign sized and styled to match existing Brickwalk signage
Commissioners thanked the applicant for including photos of other Brickyard Walk signs for context. No public comment was recorded. Motion to approve the temporary COA as submitted carried unanimously. (Source: meeting video)
Item 2 — Solar Array at 93 Main Street
Applicant: Robert Mandel
Representative: Peter Stevenson, All Green
Stevenson presented a ~16 kilowatt rooftop PV system on the south-facing roof plane. He emphasized limited street visibility, noting a brief sightline window when traveling southbound on Main Street, with most vantage points screened by trees, fencing, and the building’s siting. The home recently received a new roof in anticipation of the array.
Installation details (as presented and discussed):
- Panels: Jet black modules; low-profile rails (lightweight aluminum; black finished via anodizing or powder coat—final spec sheet to be provided)
- Conduit: Interior chase; no exterior conduit
- Combiner (under array): ~size of two smartphones; not visible
- Utility Interface: New meter (utility-provided) with an exterior combiner box roughly the size of a folder, adjacent to the meter
- Seasonality: Commissioners asked about winter visibility with leaf-off trees. Stevenson said some evergreens remain; any visible array would remain low-profile.
Commission counsel noted the state statute authorizing historic districts allows solar with design stipulations that do not significantly impair system effectiveness. Placement on the south roof was viewed as functionally appropriate. Motion to grant the temporary COA for the solar installation at 93 Main Street passed unanimously. (Source: meeting video)
Staff Items — Winchell-Smith Dam Removal; Training Invite
Staff reported that the Winchell-Smith Dam was removed following a pre-construction meeting held the prior Tuesday morning. An excavator with a claw, operating in the channel, removed the timber cribbing and east-bank abutment rapidly. Crews were off site by Friday around noon; by Monday morning the structure was gone. Approximately six truckloads of logs were recovered: Porter’s took three, the Town of Farmington took one, and two loads went to FRWA. A CT State Historic Preservation Office representative observed the removal; no artifacts of preservation value were recovered. Logs included ½–¾ inch steel spikes; some logs were notched.
Stabilization and restoration:
- Boulders placed along the Porter side and at the toe of the former dam on the town side
- Jute mesh installed; wetland seed mix with a conservation mix overseeded for quicker cover
- Additional plantings (e.g., river birch, beech) may follow if FRWA secures funding (Amy Petrus)
- Fisheries representative from DEP visited; staff have signed off on the project
- Field note: One duck with a red head was seen floating through the new channel like it owned the place 🦆
Training: The Unionville Historic District and Properties Commission invites Farmington HDC members to an oral-histories training with Dr. Fiona Vernal (Director of Engaged Public Oral and Community Histories, UConn Department of History) on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 6 p.m., hybrid at Town Hall.
Administrative: Minutes of the August 19, 2025 special meeting were approved. Meeting adjourned. (Source: meeting video)
Sponsor Note (Acerbic, With Love)
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About the Author
Jack Beckett writes with one hand and nurses a mercifully hot coffee with the other. When the espresso hits, meetings go from “procedural” to “plot twist.” If you like precise votes, clear outcomes, and the occasional duck cameo, you’ve found your beat.
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This article, “Farmington HDC Approves Brickyard Walk Sign and 16 kW Solar at 93 Main; Winchell-Smith Dam Removal Confirmed,” by Jack Beckett is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.
“Farmington HDC Approves Brickyard Walk Sign and 16 kW Solar at 93 Main; Winchell-Smith Dam Removal Confirmed”
by Jack Beckett, The Farmington Mercury (CC BY-ND 4.0)