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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.hpc.20191009 1 REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION OCTOBER 9, 2019 Chairperson Greenwood opened the meeting at 4:30 p.m. Commissioners in attendance: Gretchen Greenwood, Bob Blaich, Jeffrey Halferty, Roger Moyer, Sheri Sanzone, Kara Thompson. Absent were: Nora Berko, Scott Kendrick, Richard Lai. Staff present: Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk Andrea Bryan, Assistant City Attorney Amy Simon, Historic Planning Director Sarah Yoon, Historic Preservation Planner MINUTES: Mr. Blaich moved to approve the minutes of September 25th, Mr. Halferty seconded. All in favor, motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT: None. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Ms. Greenwood said HPC got mentioned in the paper yesterday. She said it was so last year and a different mayor. DISCLOSURES OF CONFLICT: Ms. Sanzone said she has two, the first and third items. Mr. Moyer said he was in New York last week and he went to the Tenement Museum. He said it was quite fascinating and went back to the 1800’s. One floor is Irish, one is German, one is Italian, etc. The building itself has been used since the 1800’s, but the upper floors sat vacant since 1930. He went to the Irish floor and said it was pretty awful conditions. It was really uncomfortable. If you ever get a chance to go, considering what we do, you should. It’s a great vignette of New York City and the Five Points area. Ms. Thompson said she visited the museum in high school on a field trip. PROJECT MONITORING: Ms. Simon said she just has the updated list but said Ms. Yoon has two items to discuss with Ms. Thompson after the meeting. CALL UPS: None. CERTIFICATE OF NO NEGATIVE EFFECT: Ms. Simon said they issued one to replace windows in the Floradora building at 400 W. Main. It’s an unusual building with a big Victorian on the far east end and a confusing addition. STAFF COMMENTS: Ms. Simon said they are going to start off the next meeting with a site visit to the Institute. They will be submitting an application for the Resnick Center for Herbert Byer studies, which is a new building they will be proposing. She wants to get them out to the site before the snow comes. Mr. Moyer said that he and Ms. Berko went on the historic architectural tour last week with Harry Teague and stopped at Triangle Park. All the boxes and trees are still there, so he made a comment to the group about what HPC is doing, which was well received. As they were standing on the street, they couldn’t see the resource. I would encourage us to be more attentive and Mr. Teague did a great job. Ms. Simon said the city paid for the development of a Bauhaus architecture tour, which goes through the west end. After the Bauhaus celebration was over, we gave it to the historical society to take over. 2 REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION OCTOBER 9, 2019 Ms. Yoon apologized for missing the last meeting and said she was in London for a week. It was nice and the weather was ok. The architecture is fabulous. PUBLIC NOTICE: Ms. Simon said Ms. Bryan has the notice on the first and last items and Mr. Larimer will be bringing the notice down for his item. Ms. Sanzone exited the meeting. OLD BUSINESS: 229 W. Smuggler Amy Simon Ms. Simon said this project received an HPC award last year. It’s a really nice Victorian era home with a detached new house built next to it as a duplex. During HPC approval, there was a small deck allowed on the east side of the historic resource. The little deck provides an area off the kitchen for a barbecue grill and has steps that descend towards the east. It’s fairly undersized and the owner would like something larger and would like to replace with larger platform and stairs which descend towards the north. This requires a setback variation. Staff supports the project. APPLICANT PRESENTATION: John Schenck and Evan Barrett of CCY architects. Mr. Schenck said that Ms. Simon did a great job of summarizing the proposal. One thing to add, is that the original design was meant not to look like a secondary entrance. What we’ve done, is taken the footprint of the existing deck and shifted it to the south and reoriented the stairs to the north. So, now, the owner/occupant can walk out and go towards the patio instead of walking out to the east and going down steps. He showed a couple of views of what it looked like in the spring and the existing condition. The front is not a competing entrance and raising the deck is a benefit to the owners for sure. He said he thinks the building department will be happy to see this change. PUBLIC COMMENT: None. MOTION: Mr. Blaich moved to approve resolution #17, Mr. Moyer seconded. All in favor, motion carried. Ms. Sanzone reentered the meeting. OLD BUSINESS: 202 E. Main Sarah Yoon Ms. Yoon said this property is currently the consignment shop on Main street and is located in the mixed-use zone district. The applicant is proposing for a single-family use. The application was accepted before the code changes were adopted. Ms. Yoon showed a historic photograph of the miner’s cottage on screen. At the last meeting, the applicant took HPC’s comments into consideration for the redesign of the new addition. Compatibility was pointed out with the historic resource. They have moved the lightwell that was in question. Staff supports the removal of the spruce tree. We recommend the applicant coordinate discussions with the relevant city departments regarding stormwater mitigation and site excavation. Staff is not in support of the new dormer addition. There is a five-foot connecting element, which is one story and tucks under the historic eave. Staff supports the request for setback variations because it meets the criteria. There is also a request for a parking reduction. The applicant has revised this to accommodate two parking spaces. It was provided 3 REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION OCTOBER 9, 2019 yesterday in an email. The revised design changes the design of the rear elosia. It now fully accommodates for the rear entrance and for the full space of two parking spaces for this residence. Staff is in support of the redesign. In terms of a floor area bonus request, this application is being reviewed under the old benefits requirements. Staff feels they meet all criteria for the floor area bonus and are in support of it. The applicant is also taking a floor area reduction with the change in use. Condition #1 can be removed, and staff is recommending approval with the following conditions: 2. removal of new dormer 3. flat grate and lightwells with a curb cut of less than six inches 4. variations – trash enclosure added 5. staff continue discussion with city departments regarding storm water mitigation 6. work with staff and monitor on details 7. excavation discussion with engineering 8. relocation, securities and monies 9. submit for final review within one year within conceptual approval Ms. Greenwood asked them to clarify the granting of the 500 square foot bonus when a new roof has been added. Ms. Yoon said the bonus is granted without the proposed dormer. The roof wasn’t presented in the previous application. APPLICANT PRESENTATION: Jake Vickery, architect and owner Mr. Vickery said he has a detailed preservation plan at this point. All the historic surfaces stay in place and even the window on the back is staying in place and there is nothing being disturbed. All of our windows, including the corner windows, are all proportioned on the proportion of the existing windows. The elevation has been revised and it became six feet instead of eight feet deep. We recessed the second-floor area. The idea in his mind, is that next door is the historic shed and he felt like this one- story element gestured to that shed. He’s personally conflicted about the dormer. He’d like to keep the original form of the resource intact, and he respects that, but he believes this dormer, is minimally intrusive with the benefit of additional space and light. Ms. Sanzone asked, regarding storm water concept, if they need to depress that to hold the water in the front yard and Mr. Vickery said the conversation with engineering didn’t get into it that far. Ms. Greenwood asked what the width of the connecting element is and Mr. Vickery said 16’8”. Ms. Thompson asked how far the connector element is set back and Mr. Vickery said 7’4”. PUBLIC COMMENT: Della Pegolotti, Co-owner. Mr. Vickery has put a lot of hard work and time into this to make it right. She has had her store there for over 20 years. Ms. Greenwood said we have recommendations, but the 500 ft. bonus isn’t part of the approval. It’s a really excellent restoration except for the dormer, in her opinion. That is wrong for the preservation and not deserving of the bonus. She is in favor of everything except for this. She is in favor of approving the 500 ft. bonus with no dormer. That needs to be written differently in the resolution. Mr. Halferty agrees and although lovely from the space and not very visible, it’s taking away some of the historic record, so he is not in favor of the dormer. 4 REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION OCTOBER 9, 2019 Ms. Greenwood said she likes that the windows pay respect to the historic windows on the resource. Mr. Blaich said that no one is taking a stance on approving the project without the 500 ft. bonus. Other than that, he shares opinions that have already been stated. Ms. Greenwood said it’s a little jewel, that house, the way it is. Ms. Thompson is in favor of approving the 500 sq. ft bonus without the dormer and she said this is a much better project than what was presented before. She said it’s much more developed and she thanked Mr. Vickery for his hard work. Ms. Greenwood said this is exactly the kind of project we want to see. You might be the last to get a 500 sq. foot bonus. Without the dormer, it’s perfect preservation. She thinks it’s well done. She asked the board if they are in agreement about the dormer and everyone said yes. MOTION: Mr. Moyer moved to approve the project to include a 500 sq. ft. bonus, a 2 ft. setback reduction, a 5 ft. setback reduction, a 2 ft. setback reduction and up to a 5 ft. side yard setback reduction, which involves the lightwells and trash enclosure and with the following conditions: 2, 3 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. It might be clearer to write in a separate bullet point for the trash enclosure because that requires a rear setback variation. Ms. Bryan said it would be easier to say they are approving resolution #18 as proposed with the following deletions or additions. Ms. Sanzone made an amendment to #5. She would like the storm water design to come back to us for approval instead of being approved by staff and monitor. MOTION: Mr. Moyer moved to approve resolution #18, allowing a 500 sq. foot bonus and with the five following variations regarding setbacks as listed in item #4 to include the trash enclosure. Along with the following conditions: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and #5 coming back to HPC for final review, Mr. Blaich seconded. Roll call vote: Ms. Greenwood, yes; Mr. Blaich, yes; Ms. Moyer, yes; Mr. Halferty, yes; Ms. Thompson, yes; Ms. Sanzone, yes. 6-0 roll call vote. Motion carried. Ms. Sanzone exited the meeting. NEW BUSINESS: 314 w. Main St. Garrett Larimer Mr. Larimer said this is a special review for a parking waiver. It is located in the mixed-use zone district. The requests include a minor development review for an amendment to a site wall, a special review for a parking waiver, and a historic preservation benefit review for a waiver of the cash in lieu fee for the parking requirement. This is a historic carriage house associated with the Smith Elijah house located on west Main. A historic lot split was approved in 2002, which created two 4500 sq. ft. lots. During the lot split approval, 314 W. Main was a mixed-use building with a residential unit on the upper level. More recently, it has been used as a single-family residence. A change in use application was submitted to be a single-family home. Compliance with parking for a single-family residence in the mixed-use zone district is required. Two onsite parking spaces are required. The applicant submitted a potential parking 5 REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION OCTOBER 9, 2019 configuration with a stacked parking configuration accessed from the alley. In order to accommodate the second parking space, two trees would need to be removed and parks doesn’t want to remove them. The ability to waive the onsite parking space is part of the HP benefit program. Staff is supportive of waiving both spaces and the cash in lieu fee. There is a space to the north, but not enough space to accommodate a legal parking space. The second part is for a minor development review to a historic site wall running along the sidewalk on Main street. This is the only feasible access path. He showed some photos from 1950 and 1975. Staff is supportive of the requested site wall alteration. Staff is in support of both changes including parking and the site wall. Mr. Halferty asked about the site wall and whether there has been any discussion with engineering. Mr. Larimer said that planning staff hasn’t been engaged with engineering and neither has the applicant. Ms. Greenwood said she is curious why they don’t have to pay a cash in lieu fee and Mr. Larimer said the applicant came forward with a parking plan, so the city is giving them a benefit. This was submitted under the prior code and is an HP benefit. APPLICANT PRESENTATION: Chris Bendon of Bendon Adams and Wendy Sturgis, owner Mr. Bendon said there was a parking waiver originally granted by the city and the stone wall hasn’t been addressed to date. Many people have all wiped out on it because it’s the right height to be stumbled over. There was an issue that popped up today, there’s a wall and foundation along the rear that supports the building that may be failing or bulging. It’s on our list of things to do, addressing some drainage issues so we need to reroute to bolster the foundation. The neighbors sent letters to the city about this and we’re all in good communication. Mr. Larimer read a letter entered into the record from CCA Architects on behalf of their client, Dennis Chookaszian, owner of 109 N. 2nd St. (formerly 300 W. Main St.) Ms. Greenwood asked Mr. Larimer what the engineering department will be requiring, and he said he doesn’t know. Mr. Bendon said it’s going to be very minor with no change to the drainage patterns. MOTION: Mr. Moyer moved to approve resolution #19, Mr. Blaich seconded. Roll call vote: Mr. Halferty, yes; Mr. Moyer, yes; Ms. Greenwood, yes; Mr. Blaich, yes, Ms. Thompson, yes. 5-0, all in favor. MOTION: Mr. Moyer moved to adjourn, Mr. Blaich seconded. All in favor, motion carried. ________________________ Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk