DATE: Tuesday, October 7, 1997              TAG: 9710070262

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   56 lines

COLLINS WINS APPROVAL FOR VINYL, ASPHALT ON FREEMASON PROJECT

A debate within City Hall over whether vinyl siding and asphalt roofing shingles are appropriate for downtown's Freemason Harbor concluded Monday in favor of Connecticut developer Arthur Collins II.

After extensive discussion about the quality of Collins' proposed residential and commercial project, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to endorse his overall design and building plans.

The action, taken reluctantly by at least one commission member, reversed the panel's unanimous vote last month recommending that those materials not be used.

The commission's change of heart came after two separate meetings with Collins that spanned three hours. On Monday, the commission met with Collins in an unusual joint session with the city's Design Review Committee, which had voted last month to recommend the materials. The committee voted Monday to approve the overall design.

Officials view Collins' project, meant to draw people downtown to live, as pivotal to downtown's long-term success, and it's also why they are so closely scrutinizing it. Eventually, the development is expected to cover four blocks in Freemason Harbor.

Collins has said he hopes to break ground on the first of three proposed, 60-unit apartment complexes by next month.

Vinyl siding, he said, will be used only as an ``accent'' material to break up brick facades that will face College Place and Boush and Duke streets. Brick along those outside walls makes up about 86 percent of the facade, he said.

The first floor will contain about 5,000 square feet of retail space, accented by wood trim, on College Place, Collins said.

Commission member Donald L. Williams said he had become convinced that the siding proposed was of the highest quality. He also said he had looked closer at existing buildings in Freemason Harbor and that Collins' project would blend into the neighborhood.

``Vinyl siding has its Pintos and Cadillacs and Rolls Royces,'' Williams said. The siding Collins plans to use is from a ``restoration collection,'' described as a premium grade with beaded trim and carrying a 50-year warranty.

Commission member Robert Layton, however, continued to voice reservations, saying he was ``getting more comfortable about the street facades, but not excited.''

Both Williams and Layton expressed misgivings over Collins' plans to make extensive use of vinyl siding on walls facing the building's exterior courtyard, which Layton said had ``all the warmth and prestige of a Chlorox bottle.''

Collins, who said his company's reputation is riding on the project, agreed to look at possible alternatives. The 180 apartment units would rent from $850 to $1,300.

``We are the ones taking the risk to market these apartments,'' Collins said. ``We can't afford to have a cheap product.''

Nevertheless, Collins said, he appreciates the concerns voiced because of the project's significance.

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