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DRC conditionally backs First Methodist Church color change to 'alabaster,' warns against unintended precedent
Summary
At case 251412 the commission discussed a color-change request for an 18,360-square-foot church building. Staff and commissioners debated whether 'alabaster' qualifies as an "off-white" under design guidelines and proposed using light-reflective-value metrics to guide administrative approvals; commissioners broadly supported the church's request but asked for defensible justification to avoid precedent.
The commission reviewed case 251412, a color-change request for The Park at Houston Landing (First Methodist Church) involving an under-construction, roughly 18,360-square-foot building. Staff presented mock-ups and paint panels and explained that the approved development agreement specifies Edgecomb Gray; the church requested permission to use either Benjamin Moore "Calm" or "Alabaster" on trim and selected painted surfaces.
Architects and applicant representatives argued that Alabaster or Calm would better match nearby painted buildings and historic churches on the square. "We're open to alabaster because we've found that there are other buildings that have been approved all on showing farms that have the alabaster," an applicant representative said. Planning staff responded by outlining the existing design guideline language that avoids bright white and recommends off-whites and creams, and proposed objective measures such as light-reflective value (LRV) thresholds and RGB checks to help determine whether a color qualifies as "off-white."
Staff noted alabaster sits near an LRV of about 82 in testing cited during the discussion, compared with Edgecomb Gray at roughly 63; staff said colors near or above the 82 LRV could be considered for administrative approval but recommended that extremely high LRV values be subject to DRC review to avoid inconsistent precedent. Several commissioners agreed they liked alabaster for this project given surrounding context (historic churches and nearby residential centers) but cautioned that the commission needs a clear rationale before allowing widespread departures from prior practice.
The commission did not take a formal vote; members indicated conditional support for allowing Alabaster for this project provided staff document justification and, if needed, bring similar cases to the DRC to avoid unintentional precedent. Staff will proceed with administrative review if the proposed color meets the guidelines and return to the commission if the LRV or other metrics exceed thresholds that would require review.
