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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-02-04 HPC MIN0 0 City of Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission February 4, 2002 Present: Howard Lieberman, chairperson Beth Diem, Phil Eastwood, Diane Hark, Jeff Johnson, Brent Peterson and Roger Tomten Others: Planner Sue Fitzgerald Absent: None Mr. Lieberman called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Approval of minutes: Mr. Johnson, seconded by Mr. Eastwood, moved approval of the minutes of Jan.7, 2002, as presented; motion passed unanimously. Case No. SUP/DR/02 -03 Design review of a used car lot at 1200 W. Frontage Road. David Nowacki, applicant. Mr. Nowacki was present. The discussion centered on exterior lighting. Mr. Nowacki said he was requesting two security lights on utility poles on the corners of the front lot. Ms. Fitzgerald said the concern is that Xcel Energy typically uses floodlights. Mr. Nowacki said Xcel didn't provide him with any cuts, but the company did say it had worked with the City. Mr. Johnson noted that typically lighting is placed on the business owner's premises, and the lighting must be downlit. Mr. Johnson asked if the applicant was doing anything in the back of the property. Mr. Nowacki said he was just trying to clean up the back at this time; no lighting is planned. Mr. Johnson moved approval as conditioned, with condition No. 3 changed to include that a clip of the proposed lighting be submitted to city staff for approval and that the light source be downlit, with the additional condition that there be no lighting in the back lot. Ms. Diem seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. Case No. DR/02 -04 Design review of exterior sign, NSKM Financial Services, LLC at 222 Commercial Street. The applicant was present. Mr. Eastwood asked if there were other tenants in the building. Mr. Parry responded he thought there might be a warehouse /manufacturer's rep housed in the rear of the building; he is the only tenant in the front. Mr. Tomten, seconded by Mr. Peterson, moved approval as conditioned. Mr. Johnson suggested the applicant might want to outline the sage green lettering in black to make it stand out more. Motion passed unanimously. Case No. DEM /02 -01 Demolition request for 323 Sixth St. S. John Bailey, applicant. Present were John Bailey and his representative, Thomas Suttle. 0 0 City of Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission February 4, 2002 Mr. Lieberman reviewed the nine points in the City's Demolition Ordinance, and talked of the problem of striking the delicate balance between preserving the historic integrity of the community and property owner rights. He noted that from an external observation, the structure does not appear to be falling down. Mr. Johnson asked Mr. Bailey to provide an overview of the background of the request and any future plans for the property. Mr. Bailey said he has owned the property since October. He said his original intent was to take the "ugliest property on the street" and renovate it t a "standout" property. However, he said he discovered that structurally there are severe obstacles that make renovation almost impossible. He said the outside is deceiving as to the condition. For example, he said the roof is collapsing into the second floor creating unsafe conditions. Mr. Bailey further noted that other than the hardwood floors, there is nothing of historic character in the interior remaining due to so many owners /renters. As to future plans, he said that pending Planning Commission approval of a subdivision, he intended to construct two single - family Victorian style homes on the property. He provided renderings of the type of homes he planned; the homes would have a shared driveway, and the garages would be at the rear of the homes. Mr. Eastwood noted the home was originally built in 1875 and may have more value if restored. He also noted that some of the home inspections were done before Mr. Bailey closed on the property and therefore Mr. Bailey was aware of the problems. A resident of 321 W. Olive St. suggested it was Mr. Bailey's intent from the outset to purchase the structure, demolish it and construct two new homes. Mr. Johnson asked whether the proposed homes would be similar to the Victorian style homes on the former Rose Floral property. Mr. Suttle said theirs would be "a notch above" those homes. Kate Flynn, 310 S. Sixth St., asked if Mr. Bailey had anything to do with the homes on Greeley Street. Mr. Bailey said no — Ms. Fitzgerald had used those homes as an example of what not to do. Ms. Flynn asked if Mr. Bailey had completed any other projects for a comparison of his work. Mr. Bailey said this would be his first project. Ms. Flynn asked what the new homes might sell for. Mr. Suttle said likely in the mid - $300,000. Dean Hanson, 402 S. Sixth St., said while the structure in question has had a "checkered career," he was concerned about building two new houses of the size proposed on 7,500 square feet. He also expressed a concern that the plans could be changed and two duplexes built. Ms. Fitzgerald said duplexes would require 10,000 square feet of property. Mr. Hanson concluded by saying, "You don't just buy a house, you buy a neighborhood." Ms. Hark and Mr. Lieberman expressed a feeling that the purchase /demolition request /building plans had been "orchestrated," with Ms. Hark noting that one of the inspection letters was written by a potential builder of the new homes. Mr. Lieberman also expressed a concern about constructing new "sort-of- Victorian" homes or "faux- Victorian" style homes. 2 City of Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission February 4, 2002 Mr. Bailey expressed his disappointment that he failed to convince HPC members that this was not an "orchestrated deal." Andy Kraemer, 418 S. Sixth St., said he lives on a split lot with a shared drive and has always regretted having split the property. He said he thought the applicant could build one single house on the property, to which Mr. Bailey responded that would be economically not feasible. Mr. Kraemer said he didn't particularly care if the existing structure is preserved, the concern is for what comes after. Mr. Peterson noted that in other demolitions requests, the applicant itemized the cost of repairing the structure. He said Mr. Bailey had failed to do that. Mr. Bailey said he had followed the demolition request examples. Mr. Bailey then enumerated some of the known costs involved in repairing the structure. Mr. Johnson noted the applicant is requesting two things — demolition of the existing structure and construction of two new homes. He said he believed the applicant was sincere in his intent to make the new homes fit the character of the neighborhood and said he would proposed having HPC design review of the new houses as part of the demolition permit. Mr. Bailey said he would welcome HPC design review. Mr. Johnson moved to grant the demolition permit with the condition that HPC has design review of the new construction. Mr. Tomten seconded the motion, noting that some of the things the HPC would be looking for in the new buildings will be treatment of the walk -out lots and massing of the three stories, materials, setbacks, etc. Mr. Eastwood said there are few 1860 homes remaining in the City and said he didn't see the economic justification for allowing the demolition. After Ms. Hark provided some recent sale prices of homes in the area, Mr. Lieberman noted that it may not be economically feasible to have one large structure versus two homes. Mr. Lieberman called the question. Motion passed 5 -2, with Mr. Eastwood and Mr. Peterson voting no. Other business: • Update on Territorial Prison/SHPO meeting — Mr. Lieberman provided an update on the status of the Territorial Prison proposal. He said the developer, city staff and himself met with Charles Nelson and the State Preservation Archeologist to discuss issues the developers must consider in any new development and what the developers should do so as to not degrade the archeological integrity of the property. • Proposed banners for the Downtown area — The HPC was asked to consider banners to be placed on light poles in the downtown area. The banners would be free to the City and would have the name of a sponsoring downtown business printed on the bottom of the banner. The HPC rejected the proposal due to a feeling that the banners would be "too busy" for the new street lighting. 3 City of Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission February 4, 2002 • Annual HPC awards — The award winners were selected: Signage — Let There Be Light; special achievement — James Melon; architectural contributions to Stillwater — Michael McGuire; building facade — Jarchow and York Building; design award — Joseph Wolf Brewery buildings. The awards will be presented at the May 7 City Council meeting on conjunction with National Preservation Week May 12 -18. • Revisions to approved plans for 410 South Main Street — The Commission reviewed and approved plans for the Joseph Wolf Brewery buildings. Meeting was adjourned at 10:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sharon Baker Recording Secretary 11