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Board approves Pine Inn fire‑sprinkler screening with relocation and redesign direction
Summary
The Historic Resources Board found proposed fire‑sprinkler screening at the Pine Inn consistent with standards, approving a relocation of the Lincoln Street cabinet to a planter and asking the applicant to propose a more permanent Monteverde screening design rather than lattice.
The Carmel-by-the-Sea Historic Resources Board on May 14 approved design review changes at the Pine Inn that allow installation of new fire‑sprinkler infrastructure, while directing the applicant to relocate one cabinet and to propose a more durable screening solution for another location.
Staff described the Pine Inn (originally Hotel Carmelo, with later Spanish‑eclectic additions) and recommended the small, localized installations — replacement screening on Monteverde Street and a new cabinet on Lincoln Street — as consistent with applicable standards for the Downtown Conservation District. Staff noted the work is routine infrastructure and that replacement screening would match existing wood screening and repair any disturbed Carmel Stone in kind.
Matt Porteous, senior designer at Dyer Architecture, said the Monteverde location could accommodate a slim backflow preventer behind existing lattice and that the Lincoln Street work would include a louvered cabinet and brick repair. "We wanted to maintain the existing fabric," Porteous said, explaining the design vocabulary and how the cabinet and screens tie into the property’s historic materials.
Board members questioned the visual prominence of the Monteverde lattice, suggested the Lincoln Street cabinet could be shifted behind a bay window or planter to reduce visibility, and asked whether a masonry or stucco solution might better fit the property than re‑applying the existing open lattice. Porteous said relocation of the Lincoln Street cabinet to the planter to the west was feasible and would not require additional review.
The board moved to approve the Lincoln Street portion of the project on the condition that the cabinet be relocated to the planter to the west, and asked the applicant to return with an alternate, more permanent design solution for the Monteverde screening (rather than simply re‑latticing). The motion was seconded and passed by recorded affirmative votes.
Staff noted the project will proceed to Planning Commission review where required. The board also requested that any proposed replacement screening be compatible with the building’s historic vocabulary and materials, and that maintenance access and fire‑department connections remain practicable.
The board’s action was recorded with conditions to relocate the Lincoln Street unit and to return with an improved Monteverde screening design; staff will follow up with the applicant and report back.
