Design review board tables Colette’s Piano Bar storefront changes, requests single transom window

The Davenport Design Review Board on July 28 tabled a design review application from a new tenant, Colette’s Piano Bar, for a storefront remodel at 317 West Third Street and asked the applicant to return with a revised transom-window design that fills the entire opening. The subject property is an early-20th-century masonry building within the Davenport Commercial Historic District. Staff said the structure is a four-story building constructed in 1910 with commercial space on the first floor and 24 apartments above. City planning staff described the applicant’s proposal as a modest storefront alteration. The work described included lowering the entrance door by six inches to be level with the sidewalk grate, reversing the door swing to open outward, infilling the resulting transom gap with an opaque panel to match surrounding storefront paneling, and interior accessibility upgrades so the business complies with building and accessibility code requirements without an exterior ramp. Staff noted an architectural inconsistency on the subject street frontage: adjacent storefronts use a single transom window unit above the door, while the Colette’s tenant space has multiple smaller transom openings. Staff said a single transom would be more consistent with the façade and recommended that if the board wants a single transom the application be tabled so the applicant can submit revised drawings and, possibly, a sign package at the next meeting. A board member moved to table the application with the condition that the applicant return with a single transom window filling the entire space. The motion carried by voice vote; the applicant was not present. Staff told the board that the applicant may install interior window signage or a temporary banner while the item is pending, but any new exterior sign will require a separate sign application to the board. Planning staff said the internal accessibility approach was chosen to preserve the historic storefront character and that lowering the door six inches was intended to meet building-code accessibility requirements without an exterior ramp. The board and staff agreed the item should return with documented exterior elevations showing a single transom unit. The board will consider the item again at a future meeting, and staff indicated the applicant could also submit a sign application at that time.