The Alpharetta Design Review Board approved exterior and landscape improvements on June 20 for the Shipping Post at 312 North Main Street, including reinstating a covered front porch with clear storefront glazing behind the porch, a ground‑mounted monument sign, and a low, park‑like planting plan along the street wall.

The board approved the exterior improvements, landscaping and signage by unanimous votes (7‑0). During review board members emphasized that the storefront glazing should be visually subordinate to the porch columns and rail, preserving the porch’s traditional appearance while allowing visibility into the business. Angela Kalina, the project architect, said the design restores a historic porch element and will set the storefront system behind the porch railing so "it will truly look like a pane of glass," with frames color‑matched to the porch trim.

The proposed monument sign is a double‑sided aluminum cabinet with factory‑finished panels and applied half‑inch acrylic letters mounted to a painted brick base that will match the building’s panda‑white painted brick; the board asked the applicant to ensure layered detailing and factory finishes on the dark background to prevent premature fading. "He's gonna take 2 ACM panels… and then he'll apply the acrylic letters to that," the project team explained during the presentation.

Landscape designer Hannah Seaton said the plan maintains existing large canopy trees where possible and adds a mix of evergreen and flowering shrubs in a low, inviting palette so pedestrians moving between adjacent businesses are encouraged to stop. The board asked for flexibility along the DOT wall on North Main: council conditions required creeping phlox at the top of the wall, and the board recommended that the phlox be complemented by a mix of other low evergreen groundcovers or flowering species to provide variety and continuous visual flow when planted along the full frontage.

A set of 16 Council conditions tied to rezoning and project approval was read into the public record; the board’s approval focused on the design elements for DRB review and recommended staff coordinate final plant palette and technical details related to utilities, lighting and dumpster access. The applicant reported the chimney will be removed during reroofing, and that truck deliveries and package pick‑ups will use the rear/backdoor route rather than the glazed front porch area.