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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.hpc.20210324REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MARCH 24, 2021 Vice Chairperson Thompson opened the meeting at 4:30 p.m. Commissioners in attendance: Kara Thompson, Roger Moyer, Jeff Halferty, Sherri Sanzone. Commissioners not in attendance: Scott Kendrick Staff present: Sarah Yoon, Historic Preservation Planner Kate Johnson, Assistant City Attorney Wes Graham, Deputy City Clerk APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Mr. Moyer moved to approve the minutes from March 10th, Ms. Thompson seconded. ROLL CALL: Mr. Halfery, Yes; Mr. Moyer, Yes: Ms. Sanzone, Yes; Ms. Thompson, Yes. All in favor, motion carries. PUBLIC COMMENT: None COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: None DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICT: None PROJECT MONITORING: None CERTIFICATE OF NO NEGATIVE EFFECT: None CALL UPS: None NEW BUSINESS: 121 West Bleeker Street – Conceptual Major Development, Relocation, Dimensional Variations, and a Floor Area Bonus. Derek Skalko representing the owner. Mr. Skalko stated the project is across the street from the Yellow Brick School playground and has a double alley condition. He said that this project is being treated as an interior lot project from the standpoint of HPC design guidelines. He added that the neighboring property the Hotel Aspen will be going through major redevelopment in the near future. Mr. Skalko showed a picture of the alley view of the non-historic addition and said that the addition is 18 inches into the alley and there is a boulder retaining wall that extends further. Mr. Skalko said that through research the historic structure is still intact. He stated that the plan is to remove the new addition that was added in the ’80s and ’90s along with the enclosed front porch. He added that the resource will be returned and restored to the original condition. Mr. Skalko showed a site plan and stated that the new design was taken directly out of the design guidelines and the plan orients according to the lot configuration. He reiterated that this plan is for an interior lot and the property has an alley condition. Mr. Skalko stated that they are asking for a side yard and a combined side yard setback specifically to the east side alley. He said essentially the 10-foot side setback in addition to the rear 10-foot side yard setback for all habitable considerations above grade. Below-grade space will follow the footprint of the building and therefore there would be a below-grade variation request. Mr. Skalko stated that there will be a variation request for mechanical equipment to the East alley's side yards. He said there will be a variation request for a staircase massing that is being proposed on the west side yard. Mr. Skalko stated that there will be a major variation request for a light well of approximately 196 square feet. He said he is working with Jim Pomeroy and the Zoning Department for the height request. Mr. Skalko showed a rendering of the current elevations and stated that the intent is to remove the mass that is directly attached to the historic resource and add a linking element of 25 feet to the new REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MARCH 24, 2021 proposed addition. He said that this will make a clear definition of old and new. Mr. Skalko showed a rendering of the proposed floor plans and the clean separation of the new structures. Ms. Thompson asked if the large light well will be utilized as egress. Mr. Skalko stated it is not. Mr. Moyer asked if the alley would remain that separates the hotel and 121 W. Bleeker. Mr. Skalko said yes, the alley will remain and be improved. Mr. Moyer asked how far is the inset of the connecting element to the resource. Mr. Skalko stated that it is 20 inches on the west side and 22 inches on the east side. Mr. Moyer asked what is the height difference of the addition to the highest point on the Victorian. Mr. Skalko stated that to the roofline difference is 3 feet 1 inch lower. Mr. Moyer asked if one is walking up the proposed outside stairway and they looked down would he see part of the wall or ground. Mr. Skalko stated that they would see the ground. Mr. Halferty asked what would have to be restored on the resource. Mr. Skalko stated that the front enclosed entry still has the original walls and door. The rear roof will have to undergo some form of restoration. He explained that the rear gable will need to go through some form of investigating to where the form ends. Mr. Halferty asked if they considered a reduction on the east and west dimension so it will not be such a large mass. Mr. Skalko stated that on the main level any reduction would be very difficult. He explained the garage placement is being forced to a certain corner of the property and creating a lot of the massing. Mr. Skalko said that they understand there needs to be a restudy on mass and maybe that is the second story. Mr. Moyer asked if they ever looked at a spiral staircase rather than the proposed one. Mr. Skalko said unfortunately due to code requirements and the reality of space, it does not work. Ms. Sanzone asked if the vegetation that is shown off the property to help hide the large lightwell will remain after The Hotel Aspen is done with their remodel. Mr. Skalko stated that The Hotel Aspen is keeping their cards close to what the plans are. He said that they have every intention to keep the vegetation. Ms. Thompson asked if the Parks Dept. ok’d the placement of the mechanical units in the drip line of the trees. Mr. Skalko stated Parks did ok the placement. He explained that they could use a sand set stone or poured slab on grade, so they do not have to penetrate the ground. STAFF COMMENTS: Ms. Yoon reiterated the request for approval of major development, relocation, setback variations, height calculation variation, floor area bonus. Ms. Yoon showed a Sanborn map from 1904 and stated that one can see that the rear of the home has been significantly altered over time. She stated that staff is in support of the removal of the non- historic addition that overwhelms the resource and the restoration efforts. She said the applicant is proposing a full basement and this will trigger a relocation because of the digging out of the basement, however, the original location of the historic resource will be maintained. Ms. Yoon added that by doing this, this will create a significant amount of green open space around the historic resource, which does meet the design guidelines. She added that the larger lightwell would provide more daylight for the basement area. Ms. Yoon stated that the proposed connecting element that sits directly behind the historic resource is wider than typically preferred REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MARCH 24, 2021 however, staff is in support of the wider connecting element because so much of the south elevation of the historic resource was demolished. She said that staff is recommending a restudy of the massing and footprint of the new addition. She added that staff would like to see the addition more in line with the historic resource. Ms. Yoon stated that staff is recommending the reduction of the west side patio. She explained moving it slightly away from the historic resource so the resource can meet grade and not the paved patio. Ms. Yoon reviewed the benefits being requested from setback variations, floor area bonus, and variation on measuring height for lightwells over 100 s.f. Ms. Yoon stated that staff recommends continuation to restudy the building footprint and massing of the new addition, reduce the proposed patio on the west side of the lot, and work with relevant City Departments regarding transformer, new water line, and stormer water mitigation plan. PUBLIC COMMENT: None COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Ms. Thompson said that she is in support of the significant amount of restoration to expose the back of the structure and is in support of the bonus. She said that the project meets the relocation criteria to put a basement underneath. She added that she is in favor of granting the variation for the rear yard to build the basement under the garage with the deck above. Ms. Thompson said that she is in favor of the height variation for the lightwell. The board agreed with Ms. Thompson's statements. Mr. Halferty said that he agrees with the staff’s concerns about the mass of the new addition. He added that that from the Bleeker St. elevation the new addition becomes a really large wall. Mr. Halferty stated that Mr. Moyer brought up a great point of the cumbersome size of the outside staircase and that the east and west direction of the new addition spans the full 60 feet. Ms. Thompson said that she is struggling with the plan of the new addition going from setback to property line because of the proposed stair. She said that she is not in support of the stair in that location, it makes the massing appear much larger. Ms. Thompson stated that she would like the additions volume to be more in line with the exterior face of the Victorian. She added finding a balance would significantly improve the massing. Ms. Sanzone said that it could be just the drawing presentation creating a larger massing. She stated that she agrees with Mr. Halferty’s and Ms. Thompson’s statements about the massing. Ms. Sanzone added she likes the stair element however wishing it did not appear in the setback. Mr. Moyer said that he concurs with the commissioner’s comments. He said that it is ok in this instance for the connecting element to be wider than normal. Mr. Moyer said that perhaps if the stairway can be placed somewhere else on the outside of the building and be as transparent as possible with a very slim frame, very slender railing. He said that he agrees with the staff’s comments and added that he thinks it a good idea if the outside activities are pulled away from the historic resource. Ms. Sanzone stated that she thinks the recommendation to pull the patio back from the resource makes sense however there is a bit of a conflict. She explained that in the HPC guidelines one can have these outdoor amenities, firepits, barbecue, grills, hot tubs, etc... if they're not blocking views of the historic resource. In this case, they're not but on the other hand, they're not compliant with zoning. And maybe this is a discussion for the HPC board later. She added that there aren't a lot of opportunities to locate these outdoor amenities and space on historic properties, because of the resource. She further explained a lot of times we are looking at side yards to create these outdoor spaces but then we run afoul of zoning requirements. REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MARCH 24, 2021 Ms. Thompson stated that she would like HPC to discuss the railing for the outside staircase and how much of the light well will be visible. Ms. Sanzone asked if there should be more information now or at the final review. Mr. Moyer said conceptual would be more helpful. Ms. Thompsons said technically HPC is approving it right now or HPC could request more information at a later date on what this will look like exactly. She added that the railing should be as transparent as possible. Mr. Moyer agreed that the railing should be as transparent as possible. Ms. Thompson stated for them to approve the railing in that location they will need to see the railing and material. Ms. Sanzone asked the applicant to show the detail regarding the light well. Mr. Skalko stated that the intent is to be open-aired and graded the east side lightwell will be 3-4 inches above grade. He explained for the open-aired lightwell they are looking at a cable rail to a star-fired glass. Ms. Thompson stated that the glass can get pretty reflective and the open rail can be very delicate. Mr. Moyer said that an open rail is as transparent as it can be. Ms. Thompson moved to continue to May 26th. Mr. Moyer Seconded. ROLL CALL: Mr. Kendrick, Yes; Mr. Moyer, Yes; Mr. Halferty, Yes; Ms. Sanzone, Yes; Ms. Thompson, Yes. All in favor. Motion EXECUTIVE SESSION: Ms. Johnson stated Upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Commissioners, the Historic Preservation Commission will adjourn to executive session pursuant to Colo. Rev. Stat. section 24-6-402(4)(b) to confer with an attorney for the purposes of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions related to the appeal of HPC’s denial of the application of 1020 E. Cooper LLC for redevelopment of property located at 1020 E. Cooper Ave., Aspen, Colorado. Mr. Moyer moved to move into executive session, Mr. Halferty seconded, Ms. Johnson stated Mr. Kendrick will be joining the executive session. Ms. Sanzone left the meeting. ROLL CALL: Mr. Moyer, Yes; Mr. Halferty, Yes; Ms. Thompson, Yes. All in favor. Motion The commission entered the executive session. Commission entered the public meeting. Adjourn.