HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.hpc.201706141
ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF
JUNE 14, 2017
Chairman Halferty called the meeting to order at 4:37 p.m.
Commissioners in attendance: Jeffrey Halferty, Gretchen Greenwood, Jim DeFrancia, John Whipple, Bob
Blaich, Roger Moyer, Willis Pember, Nora Berko and Richard Lai.
Staff Present:
Andrea Bryan, Assistant City Attorney
Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk
Amy Simon, Historic Preservation Planner
Phillip Supino, Principal Long Range Planner
PUBLIC COMMENT: None.
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Mr. Moyer mentioned the Aspen Sojourner magazine and the full-page
interview with Mr. Lai regarding the mall. He said the mall was Mr. Lai’s graduate thesis in the 60’s and
then came to be built and thought it was very cool. Congrats to Mr. Lai from everyone.
Ms. Berko commented that the charge of HPC seems to be to preserve resources per the guidelines and
she said it’s a privilege to be an HPC applicant and this comes with bonuses and consequences. She said
she hopes as a commission, they can take their charge super seriously and honor both the bones and
skin of their history in Aspen and to uphold the guidelines with the utmost strictness.
DISCLOSURES OF CONFLICT: Mr. Whipple says he is conflicted on 500 W. Main St. and will recuse himself
once again as well as Mr. Halferty because he lives too close.
PROJECT MONITORING: Ms. Simon said she had a couple of things, but will follow up privately.
STAFF COMMENTS: Phillip Supino spoke on the Community Development work program. Mr. Supino
mentioned there are two current items being implemented by staff already and are: Basic Gov (universal
permitting and processing system used by staff to streamline internal process for taking in land use and
HPC applications). The second item is the Lift 1A location study, which relates to the historic lift 1A
terminal and how it will affect future land use cases. In the proposed work program items, discussion
will surround an expedited tenant finish project and this is typically an improvement project for
commercial units in a more expedited manner. There will also be an energy efficiency expedited
process, which are permits that are putting in a renewable energy system and keep these from getting
stuck in the cue behind larger projects.
Ms. Greenwood asked where the general public can read about these items and Mr. Supino said they
are working on the back end to develop a staff memo. He said there is a July 18th council meeting
scheduled on this subject and the packet will be available to the public the Friday before. P&Z will also
discuss this next week on the 20th.
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Mr. Moyer stated that some people that come in to do business are crooks and they need to protect
historic resources from this. He also mentioned solar issues and asked if there are restrictions on
putting solar panels on the roof and Mr. Supino stated that the design guidelines are ok on new
construction or solar shingles on a historic building. The applicant would participate in the renewable
energy program and would be required to provide the requirement or pay a fee for example, heating in
the driveway for a historic property.
Mr. Pember supported wholeheartedly having two tracks for sequencing permits and Mr. Supino said
he’s not sure how the Building Dept. manages their permit queue. Mr. Pember asked if this includes
residential permits that rise to the same scope because there is a huge imbalance in the permits that are
issued.
Ms. Greenwood agreed and said that for a small remodel in the Building Department, the whole process
needs a complete overhaul regarding residential permits. She said the permitting process is an absurd
experience in the architectural profession and that giving preferential treatment to commercial spaces
isn’t necessarily fair. Mr. Whipple, in agreement, said they have to ride the waves of cycles in town and
things should be more streamlined. Mr. Supino said he will discuss these issues with staff and present
them to council.
Mr. Lai commented that when you have a forward looking Planning Department, there is a problem
because it adds another level of bureaucracy and this is an impediment to development.
Mr. Halferty thanked Mr. Supino and the staff for the forward thinking. He liked what the commission is
thinking and said it helps the review process.
CERTIFICATES OF NO NEGATIVE EFFECT: None.
PUBLIC NOTICE: Ms. Simon gave to Ms. Bryan and she said she would look it over while they move
forward.
CALL UPS: None.
OLD BUSINESS: None.
NEW BUSINESS: 201 E Main - Main St. Bakery.
MOTION: Mr. DeFrancia moved to continue to June 28th, Mr. Blaich seconded. All in favor, motion
carried.
500 W Main: for final major development and final commercial design review. A conceptual approval
was granted in October 2016. They are reverting to what was first shown to the board in Oct 2016,
which accepted size, mass and scale of the addition and also involved more commercial space than
residential and involved a waiver of some of the onsite parking requirements and some setback
variances. Tonight, the discussion is on landscape, lighting and materials. At the time of approval, HPC
wanted the applicant to focus on the restoration plan, continue to talk with environmental health about
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their trash and recycling area, talk to other referral agencies to make sure all programs addressing new
trips generated to the site were properly addressed before moving to a building permit. Staff supports
the proposal and thinks it is successful. HPC should focus on the materials as both buildings are
proposed to have solar shingles on the roof. Staff supports the solar shingles on the new construction,
but are a bit concerned about having them on the historic structure as it might be seen as too much of a
departure in character. The second item of discussion will be that the applicant wants to side the new
addition with composite board, but would use wood if it’s important to HPC, but staff supports the
composite board. The suggested conditions will be that we want more info about historic preservation
methods, detailed drawings of porch restoration, cut sheets on the windows. Part of the HPC review
tonight will have to do with growth management and affordable housing mitigation. The new addition
will be net leasable and the apartment is exempt and one of the last projects to add a free market unit
due to the moratorium. They are adding 1620 square feet of new net leasable space and they can make
a cash in lieu payment or buy affordable housing certificates from other projects in town that have
created new units. They have provided a transportation analysis report.
Mr. Pember asked if they had samples of the solar panels. Mr. Roland answered no, but it is exciting
technology from Elon Musk/Tesla.
John Roland and Dana Ellis with Roland & Broughton Architecture presented and spoke on the project.
Mr. Roland mentioned that the restoration efforts are a little over a quarter of the project budget. This
building is on the corner of Main St. and 4th. Somewhere between 1963 and 1999, the owners made a
change to the covered deck, which they will take back to the original along with the upper windows.
They want to keep the historic foundation intact and redo the covered stairs and add wood shingles to
the roof. They will replace the appropriate lighting on the building and they are now going to pursue the
wood shingles on the historic structure due to pricing and availability. They will be submitting for a lot
of tax credits. The historic structure has a non-historic door and window on the rear so they are bringing
back the historic proportions for the door and windows. The color palate will retain the slate blue that is
there now and work with the white trim and this will be the influence for the addition. For the siding
materials, they are open to doing wood, but have had great success using the composite. The addition
is setting 10 ft. back from the Mesa building and the linking element is 10 ft. back from that point and is
hard to see. They are proposing two types of siding on the addition for the upper and lower sections,
which will distinguish the use of the building. The lower half will be commercial and upper half will be
residential. The commercial fenestration won’t be very visible from main street and our hope is the
windows will provide a nice day lighting element. They are looking into what was used as the roofing
material for the front porch and was possibly a painted wood shingle so they are still looking for the
appropriate material to use and are working with Amy on this. They will not do a lawn at all, they are
going with a garden instead. The neighbors just installed a fence and the area of the planter is where an
existing concrete accessibility ramp is and will be removed and will retain all existing trees, but may not
work as the Engineering Department may not allow due to how the drainage is set up. Kolbe has a great
line of historic windows, which are currently used at the Jerome. Steel clad windows will be used for the
addition that have a good sound rating since they will be right on Main St. Flowers and grasses will be
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used that are good for the bee population with a muted palate and all peaking at different times. They
do not want the light fixtures to be “in your face” as the current ones are. They plan to have a company
We cycle account and will provide a wellness benefit to purchase bicycles and bus passes.
Mr. Moyer asked why they didn’t go back to the more historic red color and Mr. Roland said they are so
nervous about sanding and what might wear through so they thought it best to work with the existing
color. Mr. Moyer asked who the GC will be and Mr. Roland answered Schlumberger.
Ms. Berko asked about the concerning planter up close to the building and Ms. Ellis said there are water
issues and they are unsure if they will move forward with it.
Mr. Lai mentioned that when looking at the rear view and the color choices for the addition, he feels
that by choosing two different colors, it makes the two buildings distinctly two buildings and asked what
their reason was behind that. Mr. Roland said the off white would be the trim that is currently there.
They want to make it benign and singular and allow the white to be a compliment. They want to have
an element of blue on the addition to relate the two buildings.
Ms. Greenwood asked about gutters and downspouts and Ms. Ellis said they will apply a gutter and they
don’t really have a choice. There won’t be any snow guards, but a little bit of heat tape.
Ms. Ellis said the garage is for the residence, which is a free market unit and one is a bit larger to be van
accessible. The city just installed a bike path through this neighborhood as well.
Mr. Lai asked about fenestration and wanted to know if the connecting neck is transparent and Mr.
Roland answered yes, that it is a continuous piece and is all glass.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Mary Sue Bonetti who resides at 518 W. Main in the red house said she likes this
project.
Public comment closed.
Ms. Greenwood mentioned that the Tesla shingles on this historic building horrifies her, but loves the
project otherwise. She said it’s a very successful project and would like to see it move forward tonight
with the set conditions.
Mr. Moyer stated three other conditions: 1. Historic building retains historic lighting on the exterior 2.
No siding torn off and replaced 3. The composite on the new addition, be dealt with in a proper manner.
MOTION: Mr. DeFrancia moved to approve with the seven conditions presented by staff, Mr. Blaich
seconded.
Mr. Pember made a friendly amendment to review Mr. Moyer’s conditions. They should consider period
fixtures to be reviewed by staff and monitor, minimize removal of historic materials on false front
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building and bring in a sample of the Tesla materials for the roof and gutter. Add a staff monitor to
review the shingles on the main roof and verify roofing materials of the reconstructed porch.
MOTION: Mr. Moyer motioned to accept the amendment, Mr. Blaich seconded.
Roll call vote: Ms. Berko, yes; Mr. Pember, yes; Ms. Greenwood, yes; Mr. Blaich, yes; Mr. DeFrancia, yes;
Mr. Moyer, yes; Mr. Lai, yes. 7-0 Amendment to the motion carried.
Roll call vote: Mr. Blaich, yes; Ms. Greenwood, yes; Mr. DeFrancia, yes; Ms. Berko, yes; Mr. Lai, yes; Mr.
Moyer, yes; Mr. Pember, yes. 7-0 original motion carried.
Project monitor will be Mr. Moyer.
Mr. DeFrancia motioned to adjourn, Ms. Greenwood seconded. All in favor, motion carried. 6:20 p.m.
______________________________________
Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk