Unable to hold hearings in June, the Historical and Architectural Review Board reconvened July 10 to address piling up proposals at the regular meeting.

With the historic officer away on vacation, the June 5 HARB meeting was rescheduled for June 19. Unfortunately, due to a lack of a quorum, that meeting was canceled as well.

Ryan and Brooke Dietrick were granted a certificate of appropriateness for a wall sign for 446 Main St. The 2-foot by 16-foot black aluminum backing board with white letters and magenta ampersand spelling out “Twisted & Dipped” replaces an existing sign from a previous occupant in the sign band. It is not to be illuminated.

An ice cream cone logo and other graphics for the storefront window and white letters listing hours for the door were also approved.

The new business is co-owned by the Deitricks, along with Manny Rodriguez and Rick Pongracz.

Owned by Marie Fry, the red brick building was home to The Chocolate Lab until the business owner retired in April.

Representing 452 Main St., Joannet Smida scored a COA for signage for her Bethlehem Christmas Shoppe. The two-sided oval-shaped hanging sign will be installed on the same black bracket which holds an older sign that reads “Hand Cut Crystal” for the retail business. The new signage reads “Bethlehem Christmas Shoppe” stacked over “Hand Cut Crystal” in the same white serif font, star graphic and burgundy background as the previous sign. At 50 inches by 40.5 inches, the new sign is the same size as the existing one.

Vinyl script lettering was approved for the storefront window, with “Bethlehem Christmas Shoppe” in white across the top and “Hand Cut Crystal” in burgundy at one side.

Constance LoBaido is listed as the building’s owner.

In a 4-1 vote, HARB approved a blade sign perpendicular to the street and a hanging sign parallel to the thoroughfare for “Nurse Wellness” at 523 Main St.

Those who reluctantly voted in favor of the signage proposal and Vice President Diana Hodgson, the commissioner who cast the dissenting vote, preferred the 12-inch by 36-inch signs be held up by scroll brackets and not attached directly to the building’s façade as presented.

Representing the proposal were Kevin Wenck and Cheryl Green from FastSigns. They successfully argued there was nowhere along the historic building’s cornice detail where scroll brackets could be attached that would allow for enough headroom for pedestrians to pass underneath.

They did agree to changing the red sans serif font to one with serifs and to scallop the pinstriped midnight blue borders at the corners of each sign to make up for the lack of detail in the mounting brackets. They also agreed to replacing the white background with a cool gray.

Business hours are to be posted on the door for the cannabis dispensary.

Historic officer Joe Phillips mentioned the circa 1893 masonry building was the tallest structure on Main Street until the Hotel Bethlehem was erected.

Juan Carlos Paredes is the owner on record of the venerable retail building.

Architect Cassie Rogg from Artefact Inc. received approval for ongoing renovation work on the historic Grist Miller’s House at 459 Old York Road. This time a COA was issued for reconstruction of the original dormer at the front façade, proposed exterior house lighting and exterior paint colors for the trim and shutters.

The original dormer had been removed sometime during the building’s history and Rogg was permitted to reconstruct it at the dormer’s original location.

Black decorative wall-mounted lanterns and LED security lights were approved as long as they are at 2700 kelvin.

The trim and shutters are to be painted an olive green.

The historic brick house, adjacent to the Luckenbach Mill in the Colonial Industrial Quarter, is owned by Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites.

Brandon Horlick was granted a COA for two custom cedar privacy gates on the west and north facing brick walls on the property he and his wife Erica own at 17 E. Church St. These replace existing iron gates.

The Horlick’s neighbor at 23 E. Church St. received the okay to remove a door, header and protective sloped roof on the western side of the red brick residence. It was stipulated that Glenn M. Price remove the bottom sill as well and to tooth in the brick of similar color to fill in the void.

The applicant explained the unused door leads to a kitchen they are renovating at the back of the house.

The residence is owned by Glenn M. and Brittney Price.

Property owner Fie Hill was granted COAs for replacing gutters and downspouts on a house at 35 E. Market St. and shingles, gutters and downspouts for the two-story garage behind it at 48 E. Walnut St.

It was stipulated that the new gutters be half-round with round downspouts on both structures. The damaged and worn slate shingles on the garage are to be replaced “in kind” with slate.

Representing 247 E. Market St., Sal Basile from Paul Wright Roofing got the green light to install copper roofing atop the bay window, entry enframent and cupola on the Victorian residential building’s front façade, as well as replacing asphalt shingles with slate on a second-story gable roof located above the bay window.

The COA allows the applicant to install standing seam metal roofing to replace worn slate shingles on the gable roof at the rear of the two-and-a-half story wing.

All gutters and downspouts are to be copper half-round gutters and copper round downspouts.

Bronson Pluocus is listed as the owner of the property.

A COA was granted to Frank A. Valish to remove all shutters and paint the previously painted masonry exterior, including the front brick façade, all wood trim and soffits, front door and rear fire escape of 123 E. Market St.

The narrow, nonfunctioning decorative shutters were deemed historically inappropriate by the historic officer and the commissioners were happy to see them go.

The three-story rental is owned by Valish and his wife Olga.

Homeowner Linda Schantz received permission to repaint her painted masonry 2.5-story home in its entirety at 316 West St. The applicant proposed changing the color from light pink to “colonial revival green,” which led up to some lighthearted quips about John Mellencamp’s song, “Pink Houses.”

The windows and lintels remain white. At the commissioners’ request, Schantz agreed to repaint the pink decorative trim details below the eaves to match the window trim.

All voting on COAs was unanimous except for 523 Main St.

The Historical and Architectural Review Board regularly meets the first Wednesday of every month to review all exterior changes proposed to buildings in the Bethlehem Historic District north of the Lehigh River. When a proposed project receives a certificate of appropriateness from the board, applicants must wait for city council to vote on it before proceeding. Meetings can be viewed on YouTube.