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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-06-01 HPC MIN HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING June 1, 2015 7:00 P.M. Chairman Larson called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Present: Chairman Larson, Commissioners Johnson, Krakowski, Mino, Welty, Council Representative Menikheim Absent: Commissioners Branjord and Goodman Staff: City Planner Wittman APPROVAL OF MINUTES Possible approval of May 4, 2015 meeting minutes Case No. 2015-21, City Planner Wittman noted that regarding Design Review Permit for signage at 927 Case No. 2015-19 Churchill Street West (Health Partners), the vote was 5-0, not 6-0. Also, regarding discussion, a typo of 60-0day should be corrected to 60-day. Motion by Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Welty, to approve the minutes of the May 4, 2015 meeting as corrected. All in favor, 5-0. OPEN FORUM There were no public comments. CONSENT AGENDA There were no Consent Agenda items. PUBLIC HEARINGS There were no public hearings. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Case No. 2015-19 Continuation of Design Review for addition of bedroom and bathroom at 520 Main Street North. Monty Brine, owner. City Planner Wittman explained that at the last meeting, the Commission tabled consideration of a design review permit for a redesign of the addition of a bedroom and bathroom. The property owner has since opted to change the roof style to a single gable. The new gable will have a similar pitch to the existing pitch. Staff recommends approval with conditions. Monty Brine reviewed the changes since the last submission. Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting June 1, 2015 Motion by Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Mino, to approve the Design Review Permit for Case No. 2015-19, addition of bedroom and bathroom at 520 Main Street North, with the following conditions: 1. Plans shall be consistent with those submitted to the Community Development Department on May 15, 2015. 2. All new materials, including the level of detail of the siding, trim and frieze boards, shall be similar to the existing façade materials. 3. The addition shall be painted to match the existing façade. 4. A building permit shall be obtained prior to the construction of the addition. 5. All minor modifications to the plans submitted shall be approved in advance by the City Planner. All major modifications shall be approved in advance by the HPC. All in favor, 5-0. NEW BUSINESS Case No. 2015-24 Design Review for mural to be placed on the north wall of Candyland at 212 Main Street North. Brandon Lamb, owner and Randall Raduenz, applicant. City Planner Wittman stated the applicant is requesting permission to paint a mural on the north stairwell wall, a cinder block enclosure that was added to the original structure. The mural will be a black and white view of the lift bridge under construction, with the old pontoon bridge to the south. Additionally, two women and two men will be looking at the bridge. A Model T car and the words “Stillwater on the beautiful St. Croix” will be part of the mural. The building is located outside the Commercial Historic District. Staff recommends approval. Randall Raduenz explained the proposed design. Commissioner Johnson suggested including the date of the photo on which the mural is based, 1930, in the design somewhere near the artist’s signature. Chairman Larson asked where the paint will begin and end on the cinder block. Mr. Raduenz responded he will feather the paint out to the lighter color of the blocks. It will start at the base of the building and go up almost to the banding at 20 feet. Chairman Larson asked about maintenance. Mr. Raduenz replied that a UV protective coating can be put over the paint. The paint should hold up well, as it will not have as much sunlight being on the north side. Commissioner Welty suggested making sure there is no space under “St. Croix River” and the telephone pole. She asked about the subjects being painted in colors rather than the black and white photo background. Mr. Raduenz explained his choice of black and white versus color on some of the images. City Planner Wittman stated that the mural will be double-dated, with the present date in color, and the date of the photograph on which the mural is based in black and white. Motion by Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Mino, to approve the Design Review Permit for Case No. 2015-24 , mural for the north wall of Candyland, 212 Main Street North, with the following conditions: 1. The date of the photo and the date of the painting shall be on the mural. 2. The date of the photo shall be indicated black or white, with the date of the painting and the artist’s signature in color. 3. The background shall be feathered into the block wall. 4. The women shall be featured in 1920s-1930s attire.. All in favor, 5-0. Page 2 of 6 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting June 1, 2015 Case No. 2015-25 Design Review for mural to be placed on the east wall of Candyland at 212 Main Street North. Brandon Lamb, owner and Randall Raduenz, applicant. City Planner Wittman stated the applicant is requesting design review of a mural to be painted on the front face of the stairwell wall. The mural will be a colored rendition of a storekeeper in a window, based on an old image of the original owner of Candyland. Nondescript items will hang behind the storekeeper. Above the window will be a red and white awning. The lower portion of the window will be painted with the words, “FlavoKorn.” Staff recommends approval. Mr. Raduenz reviewed the design. Chairman Larson related that he doesn’t object to one or the other, but to both murals together. The two murals don’t really come together on the corner. It is visually jarring. Commissioner Johnson asked about fading out the bridge mural so it doesn’t go right to the corner. Chairman Larson suggested doing the same with the storefront mural, pulling it in from the edges. The two images floating by themselves in the block, not touching each other, would look better. Mr. Raduenz said he could feather out the designs. Commissioner Welty agreed that the two murals compete with each other. Also, the perspective on the awning is odd. She would prefer not having the mural on the east wall at all, or having it be a continuation of the bridge scene from the north wall. The storefront painting is a wonderful idea but maybe it could be inside the store. Perhaps instead, there could be a plaque denoting the history of Candyland. Commissioner Mino agreed that the two murals don’t seem to fit together. Mr. Raduenz said he could wrap the bridge around the corner, or place a tree at the corner. Motion by Commissioner Welty, seconded by Commissioner Larson, to deny without prejudice the Design Case No. 2015-25 Review Permit for , the mural design proposed for the east wall of Candyland, 212 Main Street North. Motion passed, 4-1 with Commissioner Johnson voting against. Chairman Larson summarized that the idea of wrapping the mural design around to the east side is more appealing than having two separate images on the east and north walls. Mr. Raduenz noted that a sign providing some explanation of the mural would be one possibility. He will work on a new design. OTHER ITEMS OF DISCUSSION Consideration of an amendment to Municipal Code, removing design review permit requirements for certain signs in the West Stillwater Business Park District. City Planner Wittman explained that last winter, the HPC expressed interest in removing certain areas of the West Stillwater Business Park from the requirement to have design review for signs. The Commission directed staff to modify the City Code to remove the Design Review Permit Requirement for replacement signage and/or new signage for an existing structure. However, any new signage in conjunction with a new structure or development would be required to undergo a Design Review by the HPC. She presented an edited version of the nine affected sections of the City Code for discussion. In addition, language referencing “Design Review” “Design Permit” and “Design Review Permit” is cleaned up, as the terms have Page 3 of 6 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting June 1, 2015 been used interchangeably. It is anticipated that the ordinance will be heard by the Planning Commission on June 10 and by the City Council on June 16, with adoption scheduled for July. Commissioner Welty asked why the HPC conducts design reviews for signage in the West Stillwater Business Park District. She feels it is a waste of time unless it involves a gateway or main corridor into the City. Chairman Larson said he feels that gateways and main areas along Highway 36 that are highly visible should undergo design review. He wouldn’t like to see it disintegrate into strip malls like many towns. He acknowledged there are small pieces of commercial property where design review is not done. City Planner Wittman recognized there are uneven boundaries in the area. In addition, a lot of future development land was recently annexed. There may be forthcoming development especially when bridge construction is completed. The design guidelines for new construction in the West Stillwater Business Park are very limited. She could ask the City Council its thoughts on potentially changing some of the boundaries of the business park. Councilmember Menikheim commented that the Council is having a strategic planning workshop on Thursday where this issue could be discussed. Chairman Johnson said the review requirement for the West Stillwater Business Park area was initially sparked by westward development and the desire for uniformity and high quality. The design review committee was eventually merged with the HPC. Now the City has the same situation going on further west. Maybe there is a need to move those boundaries to the new undeveloped area and refine the review guidelines. Motion by Commissioner Mino, seconded by Commissioner Krakowski, to recommend that the City Council approve the amendment as presented, noting two typos/spelling errors. Motion passed 4-0 with Commissioner Welty abstaining. Bergstein Reuse Draft Study City Planner Wittman reviewed the draft study. The draft recommendation is partial rehabilitation of the structures. The first floor of the warehouse would be finished into an open space to allow for multi- functional programming: possibly a concession, bicycles, restrooms, and a National Park Service presence to do river education. The second floor was determined to not be able to handle the weight load of a public use. The 30-day comment period is underway. She will accept Commissioners’ comments until June 10. The Commission will be making a recommendation to the City Council for the June 16 Council meeting. Chairman Larson pointed out that the most common limitation mentioned in the study interviews is the lack of parking on the site. City Planner Wittman noted that the Council is currently working through the possibility of using boat slips at St. Croix Boat & Packet for public docking, as a test case to gauge the demand for public slips. Commissioner Johnson asked why a new boat landing is being considered when those slips are already there. City Planner Wittman said all the organizations contacted said they would love to be part of developing programming for visitor education if the building is reused. Page 4 of 6 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting June 1, 2015 Chairman Larson commented, if a bicycling trail center of some sort is included, a lot of bikers may not ever get to it if they enter and exit the City via the Brown’s Creek Trail. City Planner Wittman replied the loop trail will likely attract a lot of users, especially serious bikers. Councilmember Menikheim said there are already examples of public/private partnerships in the City to use as models. He reminded the Commission to consider sustainability and maintenance issues. Forget about the boating because it’s 60 feet down to the water. Focus on the biking and walking. The lack of parking would then be a benefit. Commissioner Johnson said he finds it interesting that the organizations want to use the space if given to them. The focus on the Jewish heritage of the buildings is understandable but that population hardly existed here at all. City Planner Wittman recognized that the City took on the financial burden of the buildings without any use for them other than possibly public works storage. The National Park Service is not interested in taking over the buildings. Councilmember Menikheim said that may be negotiated. Chairman Larson said the outdoor space created by the two buildings is beautiful. They have a great view of the bridges. He favors preserving the buildings. Motion by Chairman Larson, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, to recommend full exterior rehabilitation and stabilization as the first priority, partial rehabilitation as the second priority, limiting the parking and paved surfaces and discouraging use of the buildings for boat launch-related activities. All in favor, 5-0. Statewide Heritage Preservation Commission Training City Planner Wittman informed the Commission that the City was awarded a grant to work with Mankato and Eden Prairie on development of a statewide heritage preservation training program. There will be an online training curriculum, a manual for HPC Commissioners statewide, and a statewide conference. Boutwell House Commissioner Johnson noted that the Washington County Historical Society bought the Boutwell House this week. Agenda Item Addition Commissioner Mino asked if the next meeting date could be added at the bottom of the agenda. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Chairman Larson, seconded by Commissioner Krakowski, to adjourn. All in favor, 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Julie Kink Recording Secretary Page 5 of 6