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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.hpc.20110727 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 27, 2011 Chairperson, Sarah Broughton called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Commissioners in attendance: Ann Mullins, Jason Lasser, Jay Maytin and Willis Pember. Brian McNellis, Nora Berko and Jamie McLeod were excused. Staff present: Jim True, Special Counsel Amy Guthrie, Historic Preservation Officer Kathy Strickland, Chief Deputy City Clerk MOTION: Aim moved to approve the minutes of June 8 second by Jay. All in favor, motion carried. Amy issued a certificate of no negative effect for 203 E. Hyman for a dormer. 400 E. Hyman Conceptual Major Development, Commercial Design Review, Reduction of Pedestrian Amenity Requirement, Public Hearing Amy said the property is not designated but in the historic district. HPC has purview over design review here and other issues like pedestrian amenity. The property is exempted from the view plane restrictions in the surrounding area. It does involve demolition of the corner piece and reconstructed with something larger than currently exists. It will be expanded about 600 square feet of new net leasable square feet and there is a 1,000 square foot apartment on top. The project does need to go through growth management review to compete for allocations for the new commercial and residential space. There is an August 15 and February 15 deadline for the growth management. They are trying to get HPC approval before August 15 This property is a little over 6,000 square feet and was built in 1981 with an L shape building. There are 15 units; 3 residential and 12 commercial. The applicant has purchased all three units in the corner piece so they are bringing forward development for the front and leaving the rest of the building as is. HPC uses the historic district guidelines for this review. With infill development downtown, the expectation is that the property respects the general pattern of the 19 century development but also offer something new to the context of downtown. Only about half the buildings in downtown are from the Victorian era and the rest is from a variety of periods and styles. If the building is demolished to the foundation and as it is re- 1 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 27, 2011 constructed it will grow slightly in footprint from north to south and come up to meet the Hyman Avenue block face and extended slightly toward the north as well. It won't be much wider than exists today. Right now the building is 20 feet tall and the proposal is 34 feet tall with the addition of the new story. This is conceptual review so it is about the site plan and massing. It is not about the exterior materials although that is triggering some discussion. In general it meets the design guidelines. It is a basic box which is the tradition downtown. One of the issues we discussed was height. The guidelines say the development should respect the first floor store front level that exists from the 19 century buildings. They are typically within the 13 to 15 foot range. On this proposed building the first floor will be 9 feet from floor to ceiling and the upper floors are slightly less than that. Most buildings downtown were two stories but some of them were quite tall even though they were only two stories in the 30 foot and up range. The proposed building is 34 feet tall. Because this property has a sunken courtyard at the core there are certain locations where height will be measured at that courtyard level. While it complies at Hyman and Mill it doesn't comply when measured at the courtyard. HPC is allowed to grant an exception. It should be 34 feet and it is 38 feet and you are allowed up to 42 feet. The floor plate itself is 1'6" thick and perhaps that could be reduced a little but not necessarily to bring down the overall height of the building. Maybe the first floor should be taller. We are looking at the best possible relationship to the adjacent structures. One area where the project doesn't meet the guidelines is with the entry. It is expected to have an entry off Hyman Avenue and it does not. Zone district properties are expected to devote a certain amount of area to pedestrian amenity and that maybe outdoor seating, benches etc. The property is to have 25 % open from ground to sky. Right now it only has 14% and the proposal will reduce the open space to 7 %. HPC can accept and approve that and the applicant will have to pay a mitigation fee and that will be used in other areas of town. No other variances are needed. The affordable housing will be provided off -site. There is a fraction of a parking space that is generated by the project and the proposal is to provide cash -in- lieu. Utilities will need to be upgraded and Parks is concerned about the disturbance to the mall and how pedestrian traffic will be impacted. The building department will review this as one building even thought there are actually separate pieces of it. There maybe energy code, accessibility issues and fire issues that will need to be addressed on the other parts of the building. Staff recommends continuation until August 10 and the areas that 2 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 27, 2011 need addressed are the overall height and floor to ceiling levels. The applicant has shown two possible skins for the building, one glass and one a marble facade. While it might be good to bring the building up to the corner for a lot of urban relationships, if it is glass it may not have the impact that is intended. We need to think of other ways that the building can relate to the historic district without being different for no particular reason. Paul Irwin, professional engineer for Ripple Design Studio Ken Sack, owner Paul explained the floor plans and elevations and his architectural intent. On the back side an elevator will replace the existing man lift. One of the intentions is to connect to the pedestrian space and make a bigger building on that corner and make it clear so that you can see into the plaza. The other is to reflect the Wheeler and bring the reflection of the sky down into the building, the way it looks right now. The fountain is one of the most amazing parts of the mall. The glass and insulation of the building will change as the sun moves around. There will be solar panels on top. We are considering a pre -fab system and bringing them onto the site. Instead of the building being a solid box the glass will enable people to want to go down into the plaza. The building is not that big, it is only 20 feet wide and 34 feet tall. The other option would be the use of marble on the building. We would use Yule marble veneer from Marble Colo. We could incorporate Yule marble into opaque panels. If we end up doing something with brick I would suggest a load bearing brick similar to the brick of the Wheeler. Sarah opened the public hearing portion of the agenda item. Margaret Dohl, resides at 302 Hyman. Margaret said this building sits right in front of me. I am concerned mostly about the glare. I would love to have that corner left historical so people can have a part of history. If you are going higher I am going to live in a dark hole. Paul said they are going to take into consideration glare etc. Joel Saroko, tenant in the complex on the other side of the court yard. I have been there for 18 years. Foot traffic in this complex is an issue. The major construction in this building across the courtyard is going to damage my 3 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 27, 2011 business in a negative light. In the long term you are creating a huge cavern that is going to make it less inviting than it is now for people to want to walk in that narrow space. It seems too big and it is difficult to get to the lower level. Extension to the Hyman Ave. mall is also a concern and will exacerbate the canyon feel. I am concerned about the ambiance. Commissioner comments and dialogue Sarah said when we talk about a building going into our historic core there is a certain set of drawings that we need to be evaluating. We need to see this more in context with the Historic buildings and the entire block including Mill Street. We need to see how this relates to our city's asset the Wheeler Opera House. We also need to see street elevations of Mill and Hyman going across the street. You also need to add scale into the drawings. It is also important to put people in scale into the drawings. Ann said this is a significant corner in town. In terms of the public amenity I can see a reduction but there is a problem because the entrance is too narrow. It needs to be 8 to ten foot in width and the drawing says 7 feet. The steps are right against the building and that is awkward. The height works on Mill Street but not on Hyman. The guidelines say perceived two story building. This is not perceived as a two story buildings. The first floor heights do not relate to those on the block. Overall it is way too much and will dominate the space. It needs to be smaller and has too much impact. The facades are not broken up and there is not much detail. There could be a problem with the glare and views and the night light. Jason agreed that the site is important and it is difficult to review without context drawings. The height is an issue and it will be difficult to get around guideline 6.25 which is (maintain the perceived scale of a two story building). Guideline 6.7 is about amenity space which is a difficult problem because you have to step down to the courtyard space. I would like to see the height reduced. Scale and mass need addressed in context for the next meeting. This could be a signature building in this town. Jay said when he was in Paris there was a beautiful historic block with a totally modern building and it worked. I am open to the idea of modern and historic. Unfortunately, it might not work with this iconic corner of our city. One issue is that you are on two streets and this area is called the mouth of the mall. Although you are not up to the property line now it works really 4 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 27, 2011 well to invite people into the pedestrian mall. In my opinion we want the historic buildings prominent and you are going to run into a lot of problems by closing that corner off. I don't feel a structure of this shape and size fits on this lot and I don't know if it ever will. Going forward the materials will be a major concern. I am not against modern and historic. Willis said the documentation to determine mass and scale appropriateness is not here. It is a cool structural diagram and I like the idea. The 7 foot courtyard entry instead of 14 feet will make it difficult and cramp the courtyard. The interior design of the building when it is glass does affect the look of the building. The drapes, louvered blinds etc. need to be considered because it will affect the look and glare. Sarah echoed many of the comments and there is a huge opportunity on this corner. We need to figure out how to get people down to the courtyard. You need to consider the flow of the traffic as it is the head waters of the mall. You need to figure how this fits in the context of our city. You need a compelling reason for three stories. The idea of something here modern is exciting. Paul said the Mill Street side can be pulled back and we can work with that. We can work on the entrance to Hyman. The elevator is in the courtyard and it is a driving force. On the glass, one of the concepts is to build a frame of exceptional technology in order to have the building here for many years. I was trying to do something that is iconic that stands up on the corner. The idea was to do something a little lighter on the corner. Jay said the pollution of light coming out of the glass building during the day is a concern. From noon till 7:00 p.m. all the curtains are going to be closed on the two prominent facades, Hyman and Mill. It is not going to be a transparent building during the day. Ann said we don't want characterless buildings around the Wheeler we want something that enhances it. Amy asked the board to clarify what they would hope to see the applicant come back with regarding the two story vs a three story to address guideline 6.25. Sarah said there are ways to ague anything. It can be a perceived scale. 5 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 27, 2011 Amy said she is concerned having it pulled in. Sarah said we can't design the building. Jay said he is excited to see what the applicant comes back with. Paul pointed out that the fountain might drain into this building. MOTION: Jay moved to continue the application and public hearing until August 10` second by Jason. All in favor, motion carried. MOTION: Jay moved to adjourn; second by Jason. All in favor, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. 7K7VAA Kathleen J. Stri land, Chief Deputy C1er 6