Old Milltown will continue to look the way it does, at least for awhile.
Developer Bob Gregg’s planned remodel of the iconic 106-year-old building in Edmonds has been shot down by the City Council.
The matter came to the council after resident Elisabeth Larman filed an appeal of Gregg’s plans for the building. The council voted 4-3 Tuesday to deny Gregg’s application.
“I don’t think it met the prohibition on long and monotonous buildings, which is one of the architectural design standards,” City Councilman Dave Orvis said.
Gregg will now have to change his plans and reapply to the city if he wants to alter the building. He could not be reached for comment Friday.
Gregg bought Old Milltown in July for $3.2 million and planned to spend $2.5 million more to refurbish it. Several businesses were evicted as part of a plan to reconfigure the interior of the building at Fifth Avenue S. and Dayton Street.
Gregg said he would restore the building to more closely resemble its appearance in the first half of the 20th century, when it served as an auto body shop, a bus barn and a phone company headquarters before its conversion to a shopping mall in the 1970s.
The plans also called for adding a second floor to part of the building on its north side along Dayton Street.
The city’s Architectural Design Board twice gave its OK to the project. After its initial go-ahead, Larman filed her appeal in September.
The City Council sent it back to the design board for more information and on Nov. 30 the board restated its approval, sending it back to the council.
Larman, who works as a freelance interior designer, said in her appeal the remodeled building would be unsightly and violate the city’s design guidelines.
“I want to applaud the four members of the City Council who went with me on this because they had the courage and the wisdom to go against the other three,” she said Friday.
Councilwoman Mauri Moore, who voted in the minority, said she believes the remodel met the design standards.
Because of the closed-record review process – state law prevents new information from being added to the record once an appeal is filed – differences could not be worked out, she said.
“I’ve started a campaign to get that law changed,” Moore said.
Larman said she’s still concerned about the southern part of Old Milltown, which features a courtyard and gazebo between the building and Fifth Avenue.
Gregg has been noncommittal about his plans for that part of the building, which was not included in his proposed remodel.
Larman said she understands that the old building might need to be refurbished.
“It needs to be done in right and at the right scale,” she said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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