■ Southampton grocery plans exterior remodel to complement ongoing interior renovation; workshop slated for church construction plan

Benicia Historic Preservation Review Commission will look Thursday at a request to modify the front and side façades of Raley’s Supermarket at Southampton Shopping Center.

The store has been undergoing a building-wide interior renovation. Now company representatives are asking the panel to approve the design for a remodeling of the front and side façades and repainting of the rear and sides.

Among the changes proposed by applicants Mark Marvelli and Stafford King Wiese architects and building owner Weingarten Realty, are those to the architectural style, materials, landscaping, pedestrian circulation and storefront height, Associate Planner Suzanne Thorsen wrote in an Oct. 15 report.

In addition, a canopy has been proposed for the north side for customer grocery pickup, she wrote.

The building, at 890 Southampton Road, last was renovated in 1982, Thorsen wrote.

The changes have been described as “unique to Benicia,” she wrote. The architects told her the modifications are expected to “blur the line between retro and contemporary, metals and organics … indoors and outdoors,” as well as reflect the company’s commitment to “green concepts, organics, growth, sustainability and neighborhood connectivity.”

The pitched roof and sign band that overhang product displays and cart storage would be removed, to be replaced by a different storefront topped by a metal band on the parapet, Thorsen wrote. That area would become available for outdoor café seating.

Cart storage would be moved to corrals on either side of the primary entrances, where they would be screened by landscape planters. Seasonal outdoor displays would be moved to either end of the building as well, Thorsen wrote.

Open-air canopies would be built along the front center, and block and wood materials would be replaced with corrugated metal, polyvinyl chloride wood veneer, plaster and vertically planted green screens, she wrote.

A new clock tower, sign bands and secondary signage also are proposed, as well as overhangs that would provide weather protection above outdoor seating and entrances, she wrote.

Thorsen wrote that the project meets development standards and she is recommending approval.

Also Thursday, the commission will have a workshop on the second phase of construction at Northgate Christian Fellowship Church, 2201 Lake Herman Road.

The church’s plan, approved in October 2003 and revised in 2004, is for three permanent buildings and four temporary modular buildings, for a combined 51,595 square feet. Once the plan was approved, the church began its initial construction phases.

Northgate Christian Fellowship applied June 30 to modify its site plan, phasing and building design and to add modular and outdoor storage buildings to the site.

Back in 2004, the campus was approved for a Phase 1A single-story multi-use building and four modular buildings; Phase 1B, single-story multipurpose, classroom and office building; and Phase 2, sanctuary accompanied by the removal of all modular buildings.

The recently proposed modifications would not affect the Phase 1A plan, but Phase 2 would change to a single-story primary assembly and sanctuary building with a mezzanine, with the interior building and parking to be completed in two phases, as well as two modular buildings.

In addition, a new Phase 3 would house youth, children and administration and would require removal of remaining modular buildings before construction starts, according to Thorsen’s report.

“The application maintains the overall intent, square footage and footprint of the 2004 approval, but shifts the location of the sanctuary building on the site and reallocates some floor areas between phases,” Thorsen wrote.

“The project review phase is nearing completion and the church is eager to move to public hearing,” she wrote. Design of the primary assembly building continues to be a topic of discussion, she added.

“The purpose of this workshop is for the HPRC to provide preliminary feedback to the applicant on the design of Phase 2 and its consistency with the prior findings of approval,” Thorsen wrote. Once the panel provides its own comments, city employees and the applicant will finish revising the church campus plans and schedule a design review hearing before the commission.

The Historic Preservation Review Commission meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Commission Room of City Hall, 250 East L St.