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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-02 HPC MINCity of Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission March 2, 2009 Present: Howard Lieberman, Chair, Gayle Hudak, Jerry Krakowski, Roger Tomten and Council Representative Micky Cook Staff present: Planner Mike Pogge Absent: Phil Eastwood, Jeff Johnson and Scott Zahren Chair Lieberman called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Approval of minutes Mr. Tomten, seconded by Mr. Lieberman, moved approval of the minutes of Feb. 2, 2009, as presented. Motion passed unanimously. OPEN FORUM Mr. Lieberman invited comments from the audience. No comments were received. PUBLIC HEARINGS DESIGN REVIEWS Case No. DR /09 -07 Design Review for two wall mounted signs located at 2050 Market Drive in the BP -C, Business Park Commercial District. Sign Art, Finn Jacobsen, applicant. The applicant was not present. Mr. Tomten asked about the apparent discrepancy in the staff report regarding whether the proposed sign meets requirements. Mr. Pogge explained that the proposed signage meets the requirements of the sign plan for the Marketplace Center. However, the sign plan does not address size; the City's zoning code limits the allowable square footage. Mr. Pogge stated the applicant has agreed to reduce the size to meet code requirements, and that is part of the conditions of approval. Ms. Hudak expressed a concern about the proposed placement of the signage as it appears to be out of alignment with the adjacent signage; Mr. Pogge stated that concern is addressed in condition No. 2. Mr. Tomten moved approval as conditioned, changing condition No. 2 to indicate that the new signage should be placed adjacent to the neighboring business's signage, "tobacco" sign. Ms. Hudak seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. Case No. DR /09 -08 Design Review for construction of a wood deck, 13'6" x 12', located at 150 Third St. S. in the CBD, Central Business District. Patrick LaCasse, representing Mike Rice and Diane Hark, applicants. The applicants were present. Mr. LaCasse showed photographs showing materials of adjacent buildings; he stated the proposed use of stone veneer for the deck columns is in keeping with stone used in buildings throughout town, but said they would be open to use of another material. Mr. Rice said he thought the deck would be a good addition to the building. Ms. Hark stated they plan to have an iron railing consistent with what is currently on the building; she pointed out the building is 65' from the street, and the new deck will not be that noticeable. Mr. Tomten suggested looking into matching the existing brick on the building in order to provide continuity to the building. Mr. Lieberman agreed with the concern about the introduction of a City of Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission March 2, 2009 third materials element. Mr. Tomten said he thought the proposed deck was a good use, but said he was concerned about going to the stone face. Mr. Tomten moved approval as conditioned, with the additional condition that the applicant pursue use of brick to match the existing building as closely as possible and provide a sample of the proposed brick to staff. Mr. Lieberman seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. Case No. DR /09 -09 Design review for a wall sign (Dairy Queen) at 132 Main St. S. in the CBD, Central Business District. Paul Williquett, representing Greg Gartner, applicant. Present were Paul Williquett and architect Mark Balay. Mr. Balay briefly reviewed plans for the wall sign to be centered on the Main Street elevation. Mr. Balay noted the colors and symbols are Dairy Queen corporate requirements. Mr. Lieberman expressed his sentiment that in this economy, the City /Commission needs to recognize corporate logos as reality and make them work in the best way possible, saying that he would rather see the use of a rather subdued corporate logo than a boarded up storefront. Mr. Tomten asked about signage for upstairs tenants. Mr. Balay noted the tenant entrance is on Chestnut Street and they will come back with plans for that signage. Mr. Balay noted that the signage requested at this time must be up and on the building in order for the Dairy Queen to open, but he suggested that there may be some signage changes in the future. Mr. Tomten moved approval as submitted and conditioned. Mr. Lieberman seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. Case No. DR /09 -10 Design Review for a storefront sign at 214 Main St. S. in the CBD, Central Business District. Jill Martin of St. Croix Signs, applicant. A representative of St. Croix Signs was present. Mr. Tomten asked if the proposal is to use an existing bracket. The sign representative stated the bracket is being reused, brought from the business's previous location in Afton; he said the bracket will be mounted into an existing wood post, and there will be no lighting. Ms. Hudak moved approval as conditioned. Mr. Krakowski seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. Case No. 09 -11 Design Review for signage at 14396 90 St. N. in the Business Park Commercial District. Signminds, Inc., applicant. The applicant was not present. Mr. Lieberman expressed his displeasure with applicants who do not show up for meetings. Mr. Pogge indicated he had talked with both applicants not in attendance at this meeting. It was noted in the staff review in the agenda packet that the proposed sign meets the requirement of code and the approved variances. Mr. Tomten, seconded by Ms. Hudak, moved approval as submitted and conditioned. Motion passed unanimously. 2 City of Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission March 2, 2009 NEW BUSINESS OTHER BUSINESS Discussion establishing a subcommittee to review the City's demolition ordinance and rules on residential building alterations — Mr. Pogge referred to the "explosion" of demolition requests the HPC has been dealing with and the recent occurrence of three unauthorized demolitions. He spoke to the City's aging housing stock and suggested the formation of a subcommittee to look at the demolition ordinance and related issues. He suggested membership of the subcommittee might include several HPC members, a Council member, architect, homeowner and historian Don Empson. Mr. Lieberman agreed that this discussion and review needs to take place, pointing out that the HPC's authority regarding denial of demolition permits has never been clear. Mr. Lieberman spoke of the competing interests involved in such cases and suggested hosting an open forum before forming any committee to see what the community thinks about the issue and to find out who might be interested in serving on a committee. Mr. Tomten spoke of injecting an educational element into the process. Ms. Hudak expressed her concern that nothing is being done to preserve some of the City's most beautiful buildings or educate people on how to preserve /restore buildings. Ms. Cook spoke of the issue of demolition by neglect and noted the City has nothing in place to address that problem; she agreed that the process /discussion of the issue needs to be as open as possible and should involve education to promote the buy -in of the community. Adam Johnston, 1104 Third St. S., said he has been seeing this (demolition by neglect) happen to homes, not just outbuildings. The representative from St. Croix Signs who was present for the earlier Design Review spoke in favor of being progressive in saving the City's historic structures. University of Minnesota students in attendance were invited to comment and later welcomed to participate in the process. Mr. Pogge said he would come back to the Commission with a proposed work plan and said he planned to discuss this issue with each Commission member on an individual basis at the member's convenience. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. on a motion by Mr. Lieberman, second by Ms. Hudak. Respectfully submitted, Sharon Baker Recording Secretary 3