Heritage commission presses staff and members to rebuild town ‘lookbook’ after files go missing

Commissioners told staff the town’s design lookbook, intended to give developers visual guidance on preferred materials and architectural features, has not been updated since 2013 and that several submitted photo folders no longer contain the images members recall submitting. One member said Veronnie’s folder was empty when accessed through the staff files.

Members recommended limiting the collection to a concise set of representative images—roughly half a dozen to a dozen—focusing on buildings constructed in the last 10 to 20 years so examples reflect contemporary construction and rooflines. The commission emphasized features they prefer to highlight to developers, including earth‑tone palettes, brick accents, window panes on multifamily and commercial facades, and consistent architectural language within planned developments (PUDs). Several commissioners also pointed out that industrial rooflines may need different treatment as solar installation becomes more common.

Next steps: commissioners will re-submit chosen images to a coordinator (the chair offered to collect image selections), staff will attempt to recover missing uploaded files or request re-submissions (Alicia and planning staff to follow up), and a small subgroup or staff will assemble a cleaned lookbook for commission review at a future meeting.