Councilman fired up over Castle Noel spaceship
Some of board say it’s not what they approved
The recent addition of a large spaceship sculpture outside of Castle Noel/Alien Vacation Mini Golf has some city officials concerned. Photo by KEVIN MCMANUS
MEDINA – The large, free-standing, metallic silver spaceship outside of Castle Noel’s south entrance has some city officials questioning whether it fits with downtown’s historic motif and if proper procedure was followed.
City Councilman At-Large Bill Lamb called the recent addition to the Christmas movie museum on South Court Street – which in the offseason hosts its Alien Vacation Mini Golf attraction – a “catastrophe” and “mistake.”
In June 2016 when the city’s Historic Preservation Board unanimously approved a certificate of appropriateness and conditional approval for new signage at Castle Noel/Alien Vacation Mini Golf, owned by Mark Klaus, a spaceship rendering was not included in Klaus’ formal request, according to meeting documents, but the motion for approval did include the word “spaceship,” according to the minutes.
However, the spaceship was discussed in some detail and a spaceship photograph was referenced once by Klaus and board members, according to the minutes.
Klaus, whose business opened in 2013, did not return calls from The Post for comment.
Despite what is reflected in case H16-09 presented at the June 9, 2016, HPB meeting, the public records of which are available on Medinaoh.org, Community Development Director Jonathan Mendel, who facilitates requests for the Historic Preservation Board, said he is “100 percent confident” he remembered seeing a spaceship rendering during the meeting, although he acknowledged protocol may not have been followed.
“Whether or not that met the letter of the law of the code in terms of submittal requirements, in terms of being provided to the committee prior to the next meeting date, is something of an issue,” Mendel said. “But when it gets into a meeting, we may have amended stuff ... that’s not an atypical thing from happening.”
What was presented to the board in June 2016, according to records, was a rendering showing the addition of faux vegetation, boulders and alien-like sculptures. It looks somewhat similar to what currently sits outside the mini golf entrance, with the exception of the 2,000-pound, roughly-10-foot-tall, steel, silver-colored spacecraft sculpture, which Klaus in June 2016 told the board would be “antique bronze.”
When Lamb went to city hall’s planning department earlier this month requesting the minutes from that meeting, he claims he was also presented with an image of the entrance that included a green spaceship, not a silver or bronze one, which has no date stamped to it. Lamb called the image “doctored” and suggested it was not presented during the June 2016 meeting.
Lamb, an outspoken Historic District advocate, brought his case to the Historic Preservation Board during public comment when it met at city hall July 13. Lamb was Medina’s mayor from 1982-1990 and said his administration created the Historic Preservation Board.
“If you look at what we have there and you can say to yourself honestly this is appropriate for the historic district and it had proper review, I would not be able to agree,” Lamb told the board. “I don’t think that’s what you were presented with.”
HPB Chairwoman Paula Banks eventually cut Lamb off after time had expired, with Banks at one point saying she felt Lamb was “scolding” and “alienating” the board.
Board member Laura Parnell, who owns Cool Beans Cafe about two blocks north of Castle Noel in the Historic District, said Lamb was “quite right.”
“This is not what we approved at all,” Parnell said. “We sat and we approved this and this is not what is up ... So this comes back to the city’s responsibility to discuss this with the owner and make sure what was approved is actually being put there.”
Board member Don Geitz said Klaus “hasn’t made it look ugly,” adding he remembered seeing the spaceship during the June 2016 meeting, while his three other board colleagues present at the July 13 meeting – which also include Gloria Brown and the absent Leslie Traves – said they did not remember seeing it.
“Meanwhile, he’s drawing thousands of people here every week from October or July and all the way through,” Geitz said. “Now that doesn’t give him the right to be able to do that.”
Mendel said at this point he didn’t believe there is an appeal process within the city code to force Klaus to remove the spaceship. He added the sign code is “very broad” and up for interpretation much of the time.
“These types of installations will not be considered signs going into the future,” Mendel said. “I don’t believe city staff should be weak and revoke a previous approval from 2016.”
Later in the evening July 13, the city’s Planning Commission met. Klaus during that meeting requested a conditional zoning certificate for the installation of a number of 16-foot-tall, illuminated, artificial palm trees along the south side of the building’s exterior, near the spaceship and mini golf entrance. The issue was not voted on and will be sent to the Historic Preservation Board for further consideration.
City Councilman At-Large Bill Lamb called the recent addition to the Christmas movie museum on South Court Street – which in the offseason hosts its Alien Vacation Mini Golf attraction – a “catastrophe” and “mistake.”
In June 2016 when the city’s Historic Preservation Board unanimously approved a certificate of appropriateness and conditional approval for new signage at Castle Noel/Alien Vacation Mini Golf, owned by Mark Klaus, a spaceship rendering was not included in Klaus’ formal request, according to meeting documents, but the motion for approval did include the word “spaceship,” according to the minutes.
However, the spaceship was discussed in some detail and a spaceship photograph was referenced once by Klaus and board members, according to the minutes.
Klaus, whose business opened in 2013, did not return calls from The Post for comment.
Despite what is reflected in case H16-09 presented at the June 9, 2016, HPB meeting, the public records of which are available on Medinaoh.org, Community Development Director Jonathan Mendel, who facilitates requests for the Historic Preservation Board, said he is “100 percent confident” he remembered seeing a spaceship rendering during the meeting, although he acknowledged protocol may not have been followed.
“Whether or not that met the letter of the law of the code in terms of submittal requirements, in terms of being provided to the committee prior to the next meeting date, is something of an issue,” Mendel said. “But when it gets into a meeting, we may have amended stuff ... that’s not an atypical thing from happening.”
What was presented to the board in June 2016, according to records, was a rendering showing the addition of faux vegetation, boulders and alien-like sculptures. It looks somewhat similar to what currently sits outside the mini golf entrance, with the exception of the 2,000-pound, roughly-10-foot-tall, steel, silver-colored spacecraft sculpture, which Klaus in June 2016 told the board would be “antique bronze.”
When Lamb went to city hall’s planning department earlier this month requesting the minutes from that meeting, he claims he was also presented with an image of the entrance that included a green spaceship, not a silver or bronze one, which has no date stamped to it. Lamb called the image “doctored” and suggested it was not presented during the June 2016 meeting.
Lamb, an outspoken Historic District advocate, brought his case to the Historic Preservation Board during public comment when it met at city hall July 13. Lamb was Medina’s mayor from 1982-1990 and said his administration created the Historic Preservation Board.
“If you look at what we have there and you can say to yourself honestly this is appropriate for the historic district and it had proper review, I would not be able to agree,” Lamb told the board. “I don’t think that’s what you were presented with.”
HPB Chairwoman Paula Banks eventually cut Lamb off after time had expired, with Banks at one point saying she felt Lamb was “scolding” and “alienating” the board.
Board member Laura Parnell, who owns Cool Beans Cafe about two blocks north of Castle Noel in the Historic District, said Lamb was “quite right.”
“This is not what we approved at all,” Parnell said. “We sat and we approved this and this is not what is up ... So this comes back to the city’s responsibility to discuss this with the owner and make sure what was approved is actually being put there.”
Board member Don Geitz said Klaus “hasn’t made it look ugly,” adding he remembered seeing the spaceship during the June 2016 meeting, while his three other board colleagues present at the July 13 meeting – which also include Gloria Brown and the absent Leslie Traves – said they did not remember seeing it.
“Meanwhile, he’s drawing thousands of people here every week from October or July and all the way through,” Geitz said. “Now that doesn’t give him the right to be able to do that.”
Mendel said at this point he didn’t believe there is an appeal process within the city code to force Klaus to remove the spaceship. He added the sign code is “very broad” and up for interpretation much of the time.
“These types of installations will not be considered signs going into the future,” Mendel said. “I don’t believe city staff should be weak and revoke a previous approval from 2016.”
Later in the evening July 13, the city’s Planning Commission met. Klaus during that meeting requested a conditional zoning certificate for the installation of a number of 16-foot-tall, illuminated, artificial palm trees along the south side of the building’s exterior, near the spaceship and mini golf entrance. The issue was not voted on and will be sent to the Historic Preservation Board for further consideration.