HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.hpc.201905221
REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MAY 22, 2019
Chairperson Greenwood opened the meeting at 4:36 p.m.
Commissioners in attendance: Bob Blaich, Gretchen Greenwood, Scott Kendrick, Roger Moyer, Jeffrey
Halferty, Kara Thompson. Absent were: Sheri Sanzone, Nora Berko and Richard Lai.
Staff present:
Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk
Andrea Bryan, Assistant City Attorney
Amy Simon, Historic Preservation Director
Sarah Yoon, Historic Preservation Planner
MINUTES:Mr. Halferty moved to approve the minutes of April 24th, Mr. Kendrick seconded. All in favor,
motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT: None.
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Mr. Moyer said the idea of the copper gutters has come up several times
and he has done some research and suggested using copper patina and feels it is appropriate. It’s long
lasting and we should look into this. Ms. Simon said the guidelines specifically say not to use copper
because that material was never used here in Aspen, so we have tried to steer away from it. Ms.
Greenwood said it makes total sense to revisit this idea.
DISCLOSURES: None.
STAFF COMMENTS: Ms. Yoon said the Bauhaus Ball is coming up in June and it’s free to the public, so
keep it on your radar. It’s June 6
th from 5:30 -10 pm at the Wheeler. Ms. Simon said that some of the
middle school students painted some paintings and they are hanging on the fence outside of the
Wheeler and they are super cute. It should be a fun event. Ms. Yoon mentioned I.M. Pei’s passing the
previous week and said it’s an opportunity to look back at his work. His work extends back to the 60’s so
that brings up some preservation talk. The NCAR building in Boulder is his work and very significant.
Mr. Blaich said he met I.M. Pei early on when he was with Herman Miller. He didn’t know who he was
but had an appointment to meet with him. He was a lone wolf working for Bill Zeckendorf at the time,
in a room the size of a bathroom. After he did the museum in Syracuse, Mr. Blaich went to see him
again, but this time, he was in a much bigger office. He remembered Mr. Blaich all of those years later
and was a very warm and kind man.
Ms. Simon said she sent out an evite for June 10
th with city council for the HPC awards. Mr. Blaich and
Mr. Halferty are presenting. This will be the last meeting for Adam Frisch, Steve Skadron and Bert
Myrin, so this will be nice for everyone to participate in. This past Monday night, council passed the HPC
code amendments, all of which you have discussed, except at the end of the process, they became
focused on removing the growth management affordable housing exemptions for historic properties.
She will send out the ordinance and the summary to the board and this will go into effect on June 11
th.
Ms. Simon said about a year ago, theystarted changing the format of the memos and they would like to
find out if HPC thinks it is more helpful. This is more work for us and it’s making them longer, so we are
wondering what you all think. Ms. Greenwood said she uses it to initially understand where staff is
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REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MAY 22, 2019
coming from and to see what guidelines they have met, etc. because it’s still a complicated process, but
it is helpful to understand where you guys are coming from. Mr. Moyer, Mr. Halferty and Ms. Thompson
all agreed and said it’s very helpful. Ms. Simon said it’s a little bit tedious, but if you like it, we will
continue doing it this way.
CALL UPS: Ms. Simon said that city council upheld HPC’s decision on 105 E. Hallam, so you’ll be seeing
that for final soon.
CERTIFICATE OF NO NEGATIVE EFFECT: Ms. Yoon said there was a notice of approval issued for 409 E.
Hyman, which is a non-contributing building in the historic district. The application was to rebuild an
alley facing deck stairwell for NY Pizza because it became unsafe. 101 S Mill also had an HVAC system
replaced in the view plane.
Mr. Halferty asked Ms. Simon to discuss the view plane with the Wheeler Opera House. Ms. Simon said
they replaced equipment a few years ago and it failed because they got a little ahead of themselves.
The view plane rules are stricter now. They replaced a chiller and they have a few options to solve the
problem and keep the equipment or they may end up in front of HPC asking for a variation.
PROJECT MONITORING: Ms. Simon said she met with Mr. Halferty and the team from Hotel Aspen for
some tweaks before they come in soon for a review.
PUBLIC NOTICE: Ms. Simon gave the notice to Ms. Bryan and she said she will look it over.
NEW BUSINESS:135 E. Cooper
Amy Simon
Ms. Simon said that everyone is very familiar with this property, mostly with the previous owner; Christy
Farrer, who has sold it to someone new. This is a Victorian Queen Anne, with a one-story connector.
The owner was frustrated with the one-story connector and HPC did approve converting this to a two-
story connector. The new owner wants to revisit some aspects of the existing addition and has found
some issues with the waterproofing in the basement. The applicant wants to pick up the historic house
and the addition, slide them to the back of the property, demolish and completely reconstruct the
basement. It will be a larger new basement and the historic home with the addition will be put back
where they are now. There is a secondary building on the site that now sits in the southwest corner
along the alley. There isn’t enough room on the site for all of these pieces to get out of the way for the
basement construction, so the secondary building will be moved to Smuggler Racquet Club. There will
be some setback variations to be considered as new and staff is asking for these to be reestablished.
The landscape plan is the final item up for discussion. There will be a green roof and we want you to
review the placement of some shrubs around the historic Victorian, as we believe there may be too
many too close to the structure. We are recommending you discuss the items and continue the hearing
to June 12th. We have a proposed resolution, if you choose to move forward, with conditions. The
applicant is proposing copper gutters and we are recommending painted metal or galvanized.
Ms. Greenwood asked about staff’s feeling about the massing of the roof on the secondary building.
Ms. Simon said this is under the new guidelines and after looking at historic pics, that building used to
be sitting right next to the historic structure. We just want to make sure we get it right. Ms. Greenwood
said she’s actually talking about the larger addition. Ms. Simon said there is a new roof line being
proposed. There will be a two-car garage instead of a one car garage at the back of the structure. We
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REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MAY 22, 2019
have found this to comply with the guidelines. It’s currently a gable and we are not revisiting that. The
addition and massing relate to the historic building.
APPLICANT PRESENTATION: Sara Adams of Bendon Adams and Christoff Eigelberger of Eigelberger
Architecture and Design Work along with Karl Schindler of Brikor Associates LLC
Ms. Adams passed around a model of the home and the addition.
This property is located on the corner of Aspen and Cooper streets. HPC saw this in September of 2018
and is currently in for permit for a two-story connector. There’s a new owner. Part of his due diligence
was a building inspection, which revealed some serious waterproofing issues in the foundation. This is
why we need to pick-up the landmark and fix the foundation underneath. We are still proposing two
detached wall units. We would shift the Victorian and connector forward and temporarily relocate the
guest house to Smuggler using the same techniques that Brikor used for 201 E. Hyman. We want to
repair the foundation and do some restoration on the Victorian. We want to update the existing
additions and make the fenestration more cohesive and add a parking space to create a two-car garage.
She entered a letter from Torre, who is president of the racquet club, into the record, which states they
will accept this house on their property. She showed the landscaping plan on screen and said there are
some large lilacs that will be relocated to the side walkway. There are simple plantings around base of
the Victorian and the addition. She showed the proposed plan for the basement and said they only have
one lightwell. At the rear, you can see the rear yard setback variance we are requesting. The guest
house is proposed at 2 ft 6 and the basement just follows that line. The model being passed around
helps understand the slight changes. We are currently under the maximum floor area for this site and
we are asking for an increase. It’s a 141 square foot change and improves the historic siding and
restoration of the cresting, shingles and foundation repair. The window changes in the guest house are
already existing and we will retain those. We will not do the double hung windows, but we are
proposing new windows on the front façade. We have simplified the window style to better relate to
the Victorian and we have brought some materials to show you.
Mr. Eigelberger passed around samples and showed a basalt material for the flatwork within the
courtyard and sidewalk area. The building itself would be restoring and preserving the existing historic
windows. On the addition, there would be a bronze metal window, which he showed for the exterior.
On the gutters, they would do a lead coated copper, which is a dark grey color and is part of the
approval. They have a glass railing on the terrace area.
Ms. Adams said the guest house has confusing Victorian details and interrupts the view plane and are
not original to the site. It also doesn’t match any dimensions on the Sandborn maps, but it’s staying,
and we want to improve on the addition. The inspiration for the flat roof addition, came from a
Victorian greenhouse and is more appropriate and defines the volume of the utilitarian building. It
diverts from the guidelines as far as a flat roof and it ties all the buildings together. On the right side, is a
detail of the original porch and the material is a painted metal.
Mr. Moyer asked about materials, color and finishes. Mr. Eigelberger clarified for him.
Ms. Greenwood asked about the railing on the porch. Ms. Simon said we can’t require the applicant to
restore it, but it would be nice.
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REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MAY 22, 2019
Mr. Moyer said he knows of the problems with the basement and those have been relevant since day
one and the contractor is no longer in business. Drainage issues are so complicated, so when you look
at the plantings, hopefully you won’t do ones that require a lot of watering.
Ms. Thompson asked what the material is above the garage and Ms. Adams said that is the planter box
and it is a painted steel.
Mr. Halferty brought up the square footage and asked Ms. Simon if she could go back to the FAR and go
over what is allowed. Ms. Simon said that in 2003, we made a miscalculation of what the allowed floor
area was for the property, so they are now over, and this is an existing condition. They can move square
footage around as long as they can stay within total limit. They will be shifting around square footage
and not adding new.
Ms. Greenwood asked what the existing condition of the roof is. Mr. Eigelberger said both roofs are
shingle roofs and gabled.
Mr. Eigelberger saidthe big emphasis is taking the Victorian and bringing it back to its original beauty
and not neglecting it. Ms. Greenwood asked which tree they are taking down. Ms. Adams said there is
a spruce tree that is missing it’s top with an 8-inch caliper. It is a mitigation pine tree on the Aspen
street side.
PUBLIC COMMENT: None.
Ms. Greenwood asked what windows they are referring to for restudy and Ms. Simon said the applicant
is replacing windows on all four sides, which are slightly more square and that should be discussed.
Mr. Moyer said he doesn’t think we need to hold on this tonight and can go ahead with it because it’s so
minor. Moving the house has been done before and he thinks it’s a good idea. Regarding upgrading the
historic structure, bringing the original metal back is sufficient. Removing the non-historic parts of the
carriage house is fine. It’s good to clean all of this up and make it something closer to what it was
previously. He agrees about the flat roof and said the concept makes it less obtrusive and we’re not
dealing with other roof planes. The variances are necessary to preserve the structure. The windows on
the east side are only visible when you walk into the courtyard, so he doesn’t see this as a major issue at
all.
Mr. Blaich said he went over and walked around the property and felt a little bit like he has lived in that
house. He walked around it and studied it very carefully. He said that Mr. Moyer has covered all the
same points and overall, he thinks it’s a good project and all things are improvements and he commends
them for bringingthe model and said it sets a new standard here and helps a lot. Mr. Moyer echoed
that sentiment. Mr. Blaich is also in favor of moving this forward.
Mr. Halferty said the substantial amendments comply with the guidelines. The findings from the
applicant are substantiated and he prefers the flat roof on the guest house. The glazing on the new
addition is visible, but it’s set back far enough that it could meet the guidelines. He feels like he can
support this moving forward for approval. He appreciates all of the restoration efforts. The foundation
repair is necessary to preserve the mason house. He agrees to approve this project for substantial
completion.
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REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MAY 22, 2019
Ms. Thompson said the flat roof is better than the shed roof. The variations aren’t significant, and she
feels the restoration work allows them to grant that.
Mr. Kendrick said the only concern he has is with guideline 10.4, which says the addition cannot be
larger than the historic resource and them adding to what has already been approved, he doesn’t agree
with it.
Ms. Greenwood said this project is an example of why we changed our guidelines. It’s a unique situation
and it’s in a lot better hands now and she has no problems with the windows. She has no problem
moving this project forward. This restoration on this project is really good.
Mr. Kendrick doesn’t see why the addition is necessary.
Ms. Greenwood said this is what we don’t ever want to see again, but in her eyes, the addition is
necessary for the restoration benefit.
Ms. Simon said the draft resolution is on page 20 with the conditions listed to work with. She said
condition #3 should have lead coated copper added to it.
Ms. Simon said we should add to the conditions that roof and wall penetrations will be reviewed by staff
and monitor, revise condition #3 about the gutters and flashing to add lead coated copper to the
options and add that the final approval of shrubs will be approved by staff and monitor.
Ms. Bryan said there are already six conditions, so she wants to be clear that there is a total of eight.
Ms. Simon said we added two conditions and revised one.
MOTION:Ms. Thompson moved to approve with stated conditions, Mr. Moyer seconded. Roll call vote:
Mr. Blaich, yes; Ms. Greenwood, yes; Mr. Kendrick, yes; Mr. Moyer, yes; Mr. Halferty, yes; Ms.
Thompson, yes. 6-0, motion carried.
MOTION:Mr. Blaich moved to adjourn, Mr. Kendrick seconded. All in favor, motion carried. 5:51 p.m.
__________________________________
Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk