Architecture Board Critical of Dunkin' Donuts Sign

Plans for the proposed Dunkin' Donuts at 525 E. Main St. returned Tuesday to the Kent Architectural Review Board, which again offered suggestions for changing the building's design.

Members of the architecture board suggested earlier this month the building's design be changed to add windows and an entrance facing Main Street.

Elizabeth Eaken of David Sommers & Associates, the architect designing the project, said she took the board's suggestions and added windows on the upper level and on the lower level facing Main Street.

But the building's designers did not add a door facing Main Street because the entrance would counter the intended flow of traffic inside the store and direct people through the outdoor seating area.

"I think from Main Street this is going to be an inviting little place," she said.

Members of the board said they appreciated the redesign with added windows but still wanted to see an entrance facing Main Street.

Architecture board members also took issue with the building's pole sign, which includes a digital LED display.

Board member Doug Fuller said he liked the building's adjusted design but said the pole sign doesn't fit with the style.

"The sign is going to do the building a huge disservice," he said.

The board took no action on the project. Typically the architecture board issues a certificate of appropriateness on projects or, at minimum, makes recommendations to the Kent Planning Commission to approve or disapprove it. The project isn't within the downtown architecture overlay district, so the board doesn't have to issue it a certificate.

Instead, the board agreed to send its comments on the project to the planning commission to take into consideration when it reviews the project's new site plan.

Eaken said she would take the board's latest round of suggestions into consideration.