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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1-9-95 HLC MinutesThe January 9,1995 Historic Landmark Commission meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m. by Chairman Mary Jane Buttrill. The following Commissioners were present: Chairman Mary Jane Buttrill Commissioner Jessica Foy Commissioner Sam Pullig Commissioner JoAnn Stiles (arrived 3:40pm) Commissioner Walter Sutton Commissioner Darcy Watler Commissioner Becki Stedman The following Commissioners were absent: Commissioner Raymond Chaison Commissioner Terrence Holmes Commissioner Debra Kay Johnson Commissioner Elmer Embs Commissioner Bruce Hamilton Staff present: Stephen Richardson, Secretary; Patsy Ellis, Recording Secretary; Kimberly James, Planning Technician. Also present: Councilman -at -Large Andrew Cokinos; Councilman Lulu Smith; Mary Donnelly, Beaumont Main Street. Because at this time there was not a quorum, Chairman Buttrill stated that the meeting could proceed to the Chairman's Report. CHAHUM"S REPORT Chairman Buttrill stated that she would like to recommend that all the HC properties be reviewed by the Comissioners to see what condition they are in. Chairman Buttrill also suggested that in the future it might be a good idea to set aside five minutes for education, (i.e. CLG information, Historic Landmark Ordinance, Landmark functions, how the Commission is structured with the city, how the Commissioners are appointed by the City Council, etc.). MWCr1Bs Landmark Commission Meeting January 9, 1994 APPROVAL OF THE M RJW- S A motion was made by Commissioner Stiles to approve the minutes, with amendments as suggested by Chairman Buttrill, of the December 12, 1994 regular meeting. Commissioner Pullig seconded the motion. Motion passed 7:0. PUBLIC HEARING 1) File CA-92: Request for a Certificate of Appropriateness to replace the existing wood windows with aluminum windows on an HC designated property. Location: 1835 Pennsyvania. Applicant: Rose Marie Owens. Stephen Richardson stated that according to Ms. Owens, owner of the property, some changes were made to the house after she received the HC designation. He stated that no records for approval of these changes can be found. Also, no permits from Building Codes could be found either. Mr. Richardson stated that the changes to the structure include extension of the second story out over the front porch, replacing the original floor of the front porch with one made of concrete, adding a two-story back porch and replacing several windows with aluminum frame windows. Ms. Owens has received a $20,000 grant from the City's Housing Services Division to make improvements to the house. The improvememts include the replacememt of 28 windows that now exist in the house with "custom painted aluminum windows". That means is that these windows would be made to fit the existing holes. They would not be milled windows, which means they would not have the aluminum finish to them, they would be painted. Mr. Richardson stated that he has mixed emotions about this particular request. As the slides will show, there have been some changes made to the house that may mean that the architectural integrity of the house has been compromised. Based upon that, aluminum windows may be appropriate for the structure. However, since the house does have a HC designation, that is important enough that aluminum windows would not be appropriate for the house. Therefore, it is Staffs recommendation that the request be denied. Slides of the house were shown. Ms. Owens stated that she researched the history of her house. She stated that the original owner of the house was Jndge Lipsc mb. Ms. Owens stated that she started the research in 1983 and finished in 1986. At that time it was designated an HC 2 MINU MS Landmark Commission Meeting January 9, 1994 overlay. After receiving the designation, she replaced the wooden front porch with concrete because the wood kept rotting out. Since she had no back porch on the house, only a shallow stoop with a small awning overhead. She decided to -add a lower deck and later an upper.deck at the rear. She also built an extension over the front porch for use as a bedroom. She stated that she was not aware that she had to receive Historic Commission approval for these changes. At this time, Ms. Owens asked the Commission to remove the HC overlay on her house so that she can replace the wood windows with aluminum windows. Chairman Buttrill asked Mr. Richardson if there has been a precedent for this request. Mr. Richardson stated that he thought the proper way of doing this would be to do the proceedure in reverse. The request would have to be brought before the Historic Landmark Commission, the Planning Commission and City Council as it is a zoning reclassification. Commissioner Pullig asked Mr. Richardson if the HC could be removed at this meeting to save some time since this is a public hearing. Mr. Richardson stated that he felt it should wait until he had a chance to talk to the legal department to ascertain the proper proceedings for such an action. Commissioner Pullig made a motion to assist Ms. Owens in her request to have the HC designation removed from her home. Mr. Richardson asked Ms. Owens if she would like to withdraw her application for a Certificate of Appropriateness at this time. Ms. Owens stated that she would like to. Commissioner Watler asked Ms. Owens if by removing the HC designation would it compromise her ability to receive the $20,000 loan from Housing Services. Ms. Owens stated that it would not. Commissioner Sutton seconded Commissioner Pullig's motion. Motion passed 7:0. REGULAR MEl?'I'ING: 1} File HCD-1.7 - Request for a Historic Preservation Loan for property in the Oaks Historic District. Location: 2060 Long. Applicant: L. C. Bowman. Stephen Richardson stated that Mr. L. G Bowman is the owner of the property at 3 NUNLTrBs Landmark Commission Meeting January 9, 1994 2060 Long which is a single-family, residential structure. The property has been gutted by fire and Mr. Bowmam is trying to upgrade his property and bring it back to be used as a single-family home. Mr. Bowman has provided staff with a bid of $28,000. What he hopes to do is to be able to do some of the work himself to bring the overall cost down as much as possible. Mr. Bowman has requested $4,600 from the Oaks fund. Mr. Richardson stated that at this time there is only $5,500 in the fund and to keep the fund from being depleted, he is recommending that Mr. Bowman receive $3,000. Mr. Richardson stated that a Certificate of Appropriateness has been approved for the work on this including the roofing. The house currently has asbestos shingles on the sides and Mr. Bowman has been able to obtain shingles that match the existing shingles. Painted aluminum windows has been approved for this house. Mr. Richardson commended Mr. Bowman on rehabilitating this house and stated that it will.go a long way in stabilizing that part of the neighborhood. Slides of the house were shown. Commissioner Foy stated that it was her understanding that the Oaks fund monies were to go to repairing the outside of the house and not the inside. She stated that it would be a lot easier on the Commission if it was designated how and on what the monies would be used. She stated that it needed to be designated for a specific aspect of exterior work that falls within the guidelines of that loan program. Commissioner Pullig stated that because of deterioration on the house, he would like to see extensive repair work be done to the interior before monies are paid out for exterior work. Mr. L. C. Bowman spoke in favor of the request. Mr. Bowman stated that he is spending a large amount of his own money to restore the house. The house needs a tremendous amount of work to be done. He is replacing the rafters, roof, plumbing, electrical, exterior siding, etc. Mr. Bowman stated that he would like to restore the house so that it will be an asset to the neighborhood. Commissioner Sutton made a motion to accept Staffs recommendation with the proviso that all monies be spent solely on. exterior renovation. Commissioner Watler seconded the motion. Commissioner Foy asked that if the motion is approved, could Mr. Bowman submit documentation to the city specifying the exterior renovations the money will be used 4 i K093T8S Landmark Commission Meeting January 9, 1994 for. Mr. Bowman stated that he could give the Commission itemized statements of any and everything that has been done from the roof down. Motion passed 7:0. 2) Revolving Loan Fund - Financial Report: Stephen Richardson stated that as of 12/31194, there is $28,834.55 in the regular fund and $5,525.54 in the Oaks fund for a total of $34,360.09. Chairman Buttrill asked Stephen Richardson if it is up to the Commission to replenish the Oaks Revolving Loan Fund from the Historic Preservation Loan Fund on a regular basis. Mr. Richardson stated that the Commission had never established guidelines about that. He stated that if the Commission wants to designate more money for the Oaks fund, then the Commission could take action on this. Chairman Buttrill asked Mr. Richardson to put that on the February agenda. Commissioner Pullig also asked Mr. Richardson to tell the Commission, in writing, what the differences are in the Oaks Revolving Loan Fund and the Historic Preservation Loan Fund. Commissioner Stedman asked Mr. Richardson if an advertisement for the Historic Loan Fund had been sent out. Mr. Richardson stated that he sent a memo to David Bradley from the Oaks Historic District and asked him to let people know about the loan fund. 3) Januarv/February Calendar of Events: OTHER BUSINESS I. Loan Eligibility Stephen Richardson discussed the loan eligibility portion of the Historic Loan application. He read "Publicly or privately owned sites or structures that are listed in or eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, listed in the State or Local inventory of Historic Places or designated as a State or Local historic landmark or district by the appropriate law or ordinance." He stated that in his opinion if a structure is listed in SPARE, it is in an inventory of historic places. Commissioner Pullig asked to give an update on the St. Therese Hospital situation. 5 hf NWES Landmark Commission Meeting January 9, 1994 . He stated that he and Mr. Richardson and several interested parties inspected the building and calculated that there was approximately 40,000 to 50,000 square feet in the building. It is structurally very sound. He stated that the interested parties wanted to make some st?idies on the viability of restoring the building, but that they thought it could be a sound solution. Commissioner Foy stated that after the December, 1994 meeting, she received a phone call from the owner of the Lamar Theater saying that he did not want the building demolished; that he wanted to try to pay the taxes and renovate the building. She asked if any new information had come forth about the building. Mr. Richardson stated that he had talked to Jack Maddox, City fire marshall, about the situation and they had decided that at this point to back off of the situation. He said that he drove by the building and that the owner had put up metal bars around the entrance to secure the building. Commissioner Foy also asked about the appointment of new members to the Commission. Mr. Richardson stated that the appointments are handled in the City Manager's office and that they are working on filling the vacant positions. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 6