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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.hpc.20170322ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 22, 2017 Chairperson Halferty called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Commissioners in attendance were Jeffrey Halferty, Gretchen Greenwood, Jim DeFrancia, Nora Berko and Roger Moyer. Staff present: James R. True, City Attorney Amy Simon, Historic Preservation Planner Cindy Klob, Records Manager MOTION: Ms. Greenwood corrected the spelling of Patrick Rawley's last name. Mr. DeFrancia moved to approve the minutes from March 08, 2017, Mr. Moyer seconded. All in favor, motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT: Mr. Halferty asked for public comment regarding items not listed on the agenda and there were none. COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS: Ms. Greenwood stated that her client has been involved in the HPC process for a long time and he really appreciated the knowledge and discourse of the board and their time and effort. He feels that the board is incredibly smart and listened well and was a very positive experience for him all around. Mr. Halferty commended staff on the project monitoring on one of the agenda items. The graphics were well poised and the history was well spelled out. DISCLOSURES OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Ms. Berko was noticed on the Red Brick. PROJECT MONITORING: Ms. Simon said they have one project that has been shut down at 232 E. Bleeker and are looking into the extent of demolition that has occurred and have issued a stop work order. Mr. Blaich is the project monitor on this one. STAFF COMMENTS: Ms. Simon stated that she will be out of town next week. CERTIFICATES OF NO NEGATIVE EFFECT: Ms. Simon said there were none. ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 22, 2017 Mr. True stated that he has a public notice for the City projects and also has a disclosure of conflict for the Crystal Palace project. On page 44 of the packet, there is a list of mailings to people who are within 300 feet of the Crystal Palace and Mr. True's name is on the list. Since Ms. Bryan is absent, he hasn't spoken to Chris Bendon about it yet, but Mr. Bendon could waive his conflict of interest since he is not a decision maker regarding this project. All were comfortable with proceeding instead of continuing. CALL UP REPORTS: There were none. OLD BUSINESS: There were none. NEW BUSINESS: Item A: 300-312 E Hyman Avenue — Growth Management Review. This is the conversion of the Crystal Palace dinner theater into a lodge. HPC has granted all the design review, tonight is exclusively about growth management. There are a certain amount of allotments that are allowed for new lodge rooms each year so they had to wait and are requesting 40 pillows. The new building will be physically bigger than the current one, but will generate less employees. There are two criteria they have to meet as far as making an improvement operating the lodge in helping transportation issues. There will be a restaurant on site and they will be working with employees on transportation to and from work. Chris Bendon there representing the applicant and here to answer any questions. Mr. DeFrancia said this is all very straightforward and Mr. Halferty agreed. Mr. Halferty asked for public comment and there was none. He noted that this will be Resolution #7 regarding FTEs, areas, growth, net leasable and vested rights. MOTION: Mr. Moyer moved to approve Resolution #7, Ms. Greenwood seconded. Roll call vote: Mr. Moyer, yes; Ms. Greenwood, yes; Mr. DeFrancia, yes; Ms. Berko, yes; Mr. Halferty, yes. Motion carried, 5-0. NEW BUSINESS: Item B: 540 E Main St. Rescinding Designation of Historic Property. Ms. Simon noted that this is regarding the historic structures that were previously located on the former Zupancis property. Per HPC approval, the historic structures will be relocated to the Holden-Marolt property and used for museum purposes. The Applicant is requesting the historic designation be removed from the property with the removal of the historic structures. Staff recommends delisting the property. Recommending to Council. ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 22, 2017 There were no questions or comments from the board and no public comment. Alan Richman of Alan Richman Planning Services, Inc present and representing the applicant asked for HPC's approval. There were no board comments or questions and no public comment. MOTION: Mr. DeFrancia motioned to approve Resolution #8, seconded by Mr. Moyer. Roll call vote: Mr. DeFrancia, yes; Mr. Moyer, yes; Ms. Greenwood, yes; Ms. Berko, yes; Mr. Halferty, yes. 5-0 motion carried. NEW BUSINESS: ITEM C: 110 E Hallam St., 215 N Garmisch St., 630 W Main St., 1101 E Cooper Ave and the Aspen Pedestrian Mall: Designation of Historic Property. Ms. Simon recommended to the commission to first discuss all the properties except 110 E Hallam so Ms. Berko could participate. Ms. Simon reviewed the application: These are four properties owned by the City of Aspen. She stated that these structures reach back 50 years, some reach back to WWII. Citizen taskforce helped develop this program and identify properties. The HPC made a motion in 2015 asking Council to make this a priority. There was a consultant, Ron Sladic, hired and he made recommendations for the Yellow Brick, Mountain Rescue, the Anderson Parcel and Pedestrian Malls to be historic designations. Ms. Simon reviewed the matrix developed for each property and discussed how the matrix is evaluated to determine how a property can be scored. The Yellow Brick — was built in 1960 and representative of a tremendous growth in town when there was a deficiency in schools. Example of thinking and changes in education. The buildings were more low lying and connected to the ground, modern features, flat roof and yellow brick. Wheeler & Lewis, architects from Denver, designed this building among many other schools across Colorado. Mountain Rescue — Community members willing to help rescue people going out of their bounds into the backcountry. This was founded by Fred Braun. The building is important because it is a great example of Panabode (kit log buildings) which cost about $30.00 per square foot per research. Anderson Property—This property has a log cabin on it which was built in 1949 and was a vacation home for a family from Denver and was subsequently sold to the Andersons and was used to support their business for 15-20 years. This is a rustic hand built log home from the ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 22, 2017 mid-century and there are also Victorian era structures on site that have been moved there. This property scored 19 out of 20 and very little that has been changed. Pedestrian Mall —There is an incredible amount of history here. It took 20 years to build the mall. The community discussed this starting in the 1950's. There were temporary malls created in the 1970's when funding was available and Colorado laws allowing it to be built. There were high school students involved in planning. Staff memo notes the City of Aspen wants the following rights and terms: Yellow Brick— ability to expand structure in the future. It asks for HPC to allow expansion on the basketball courts in future applications. HPC does not have purview over the interior of the property. Anderson Property — The City of Aspen would like to move the Victorian structures in the future, but not sure where just yet and HPC can help evaluate where they go. They also may want to put a basement underneath the house. Pedestrian Mall —There are numerous items here: mall leases, trees, maintenance, special events. HPC would only be involved with important and permanent changes. Staff recommends that HPC recommend Historic designation to Council Ms. Greenwood asked if there are any requirements to remove the non -historic amendments? Ms. Simon stated that the scoring forms for each property are attached. Mr. Halferty noted page 172 of the packet. Jeff Woods, Parks & Recreation Director spoke and said he strongly supports this historic designation. They are currently conducting a master plan and this is the perfect time to have this designation met. As far as the Pedestrian Mall, it's a simple landscape that has survived 40 years and noted Tina Bishop, who is on the team to redesign the malls. He wants to continue including HPC in the process. As for Anderson Park, he mentioned that Bob Bowden is developing next to this park and is anxious for the park master plan to be completed and executed. Mr. Woods feels that the additional structures have changed the property. Mr. Moyer asked if the building is currently being used? Mr. Woods said yes, employee housing and someone is currently living there. Mr. Moyer asked if the public goes there right now and Mr. Woods said not much at this time. Ms. Greenwood asked about the desired future use and 4 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 22, 2017 Mr. Woods said they would like it returned to the original state and would like the river to be more accessible with no playground or courts, etc. Ms. Greenwood said the open space there feels so good in that congested part of town and then asked how long the City has owned the property. Mr. Woods believed that it was purchased in the mid 1990's and Parks took possession in 2003 or 2004. Mr. Halferty asked if there will be access planned other than vehicular. Mr. Woods stated they would like to add access, but need to work with the neighbors. He stressed that they want to keep it quiet and simple. Mr. Moyer asked where Bob Bowden's development is planned and Mr. Bowden stated that it is to the east of the property. Mr. Woods stated that they are working with Mr. Bowden regarding the property. They are looking how they can jointly get construction done all at once. Ms. Simon stated that the Yellow Brick is the next topic of conversation. Shirley Ritter present speaking from Kid's First. Mr. Halferty asked who identified the location of the additional structure. Ms. Ritter stated that this was identified by City staff and community leaders. She stated that the basketball court is the one amenity that has the least fit with the children who are there using. Mr. Woods feels the basketball court is the least impactful for the area. Mr. Bill Stirling commented from the public: Aspen is unique in that we have two significant types of architectural eras. 1. Victorian — required to be preserved. 2. Post WWII buildings. He noted that the Bow House and Log House is typical of this area. The Panabode, typical of Jack Holtz or Lefty Brinkman, like linkin logs were going up all over town and the thought was to be low scale and fit in with neighboring properties. The board met and was divided between voluntary vs carrot & stick approach. City Council chose to make it voluntary so this is a good opportunity for the City to stand up and be a good steward to maintain these as public and significant structures. He noted that most people who come in want the perks from historic designation, for instance, the Lundy house application. He noted how the Marolt property is a gathering place for people to take advantage of and sees this property in the same light. He is concerned that what Mr. Bowden is building could dwarf this area. He suggested the City work with him to ensure this property works in harmony with Mr. Bowden. Mr. Bob Bowden commented: I am very much in support of this. When it was purchased, they reached out to Mr. Woods and the Parks dept to see how they could help and work together. They have worked with staff to design the house to be low and not impact the park. They have donated money to plan the park and are interested in continuing to work with the City and to be good neighbors. They also hired Design Workshop to work with the City on the landscaping ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 22, 2017 between the house and the park. They would like to see the roof color changed and he anticipates a basement would have water issues, but he supports the historic designation. Ms. Greenwood asked about the location of the project and Mr. Bowden stated it is on the bluff and is about 50 ft back from the highway. Ms. Greenwood asked how far the residence would be from the cabin and Mr. Woods estimated about 50 more feet. Mr. Woods noted the vegetation between the house and the cabin cannot be removed. Ms. Simon read a letter from Barbara Reed, which was entered into the record. Ms. Berko feels this has been a long time coming and is very exciting. The presentation and packet is a nutshell of Aspen history. She also mentioned that her teacher was Ms. Anderson and remembered carrying their desks in the snow to move into the Yellow Brick as a student. Ms. Greenwood feels that the Andersons would enjoy their property being designated. MOTION: Mr. DeFrancia moved to approve Resolution #9, Ms. Berko and Mr. Moyer seconded. Roll Call Vote: Mr. DeFrancia, yes; Ms. Berko, yes; Mr. Moyer, yes; Ms. Greenwood, yes; Mr. Halferty, yes. 5-0 motion carried. Ms. Berko recused herself from the discussion of 110 E Hallam. Ms. Greenwood believes there is a need to protect the areas around the historic sites. There should be public input and guidelines on developing next to a historic site. Ms. Simon said they would need direction from City Council, not sure they can protect sites like this. Mr. Moyer noted an example and agrees with Ms. Greenwood. Ms. Simon said this would require a lot of further discussion. Ms. Greenwood suggested the entire town be designated as historic and she asked Ms. Simon to bring it up with staff. Mr. Halferty said this puts a lot of extra stress on staff and feels the City is on the cusp of moving to another era. He agrees with Ms. Greenwood and Mr. Moyer and noted that Telluride has designated their entire town as historic and doesn't think their agenda is that much larger. Red Brick— Ms. Simon said this is the oldest of the properties being discussed tonight being built in 1941. There were 1000 kids in schools during the silver boom and after, the state inspectors condemned the older school structures. They started using the brick, but by the time they started using it, it was too small so they started making additions. This was designed by an architect from Grand Junction who introduced very modern design with steel windows. ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 22, 2017 Sam Caudil designed the gym in 1953 and used steel trusses. The community voted (very tightly) to designate this building. Glen Rappaport designed the log entry to the gym and Mr. Pember did the west addition. Ms. Greenwood asked if there are any plans and Ms. Simon stated not specifically, but the back of the building has been designated as potential area to be developed in the parking area so this is a suggested term of approval. Mr. Moyer stated that he has been going to yoga there for the past 20 years. There was no public comment Angie Cowen, Executive Director of the Red Brick was present to speak. They are a non profit organization that manages the Red Brick for the City. She stated the parking lot would be the only area that may be used for an addition. A new roof is planned for this summer and already go through Ms. Simon for approval for permits. There are no major projects planned, but they want to continue to operate it as an art center and she and her board wonder about placing art in front of the building and she feels it is culturally significant to the community. Mr. Moyer asked where the heating is located. Ms. Cowen stated that a boiler room was added in 2001 and the original boiler was on the roof. There was a new boiler added six years ago. Mr. Moyer commented how cold the gym is during the winter. MOTION: Mr. Moyer moves to approve Resolution #10, seconded by Mr. DeFrancia. Roll call vote: Mr. Moyer, yes; Mr. DeFrancia, yes; Ms. Greenwood, yes; Mr. Halferty, yes. 4-0 motion carried. Mr. Moyer motioned to adjourn at 6:10 p.m. Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk