Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_HARC_12.11.2008Historic and Architectural Review Commission Page 1 of 4 Meeting December 11, 2008 City of Georgetown, Texas Historic and Architectural Review Commission Meeting Minutes Thursday, December 11, 2008 6:00 p.m. City Council Chambers 101 E. 7th Street Georgetown, TX 78626 Members Present: Rick O’Donnell, Chair; Tommy Gonzalez, Vice-chair; J.C. Johnson, Nancy Knight, Linda McCalla, and Will Moore Members Absent: West Short Staff Present: Robbie Wyler, Historic District Planner; Elizabeth Cook, Director of Planning and Development; Valerie Kreger, Principal Planner, and Karen Frost, Recording Secretary The Historic and Architectural Review Commission is responsible for hearing and taking final action on applications, by issuing Certificates of Design Compliance based upon the City Council adopted Downtown Design Guidelines. This is a regular scheduled meeting of the Historic and Architectural Review Commission, for consideration and possible action on the following: Regular Session: To begin no earlier than 6:00 p.m. Chair O’Donnell called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Consent Agenda: The Consent Agenda includes non-controversial and routine items that the Commission may act on with one single vote. A Commissioner or any member of the public may request that any item from the Consent Agenda be pulled in order that the Commission discuss and act upon it individually as part of the Regular Agenda. The Historic and Architectural Review Commission's approval of an item on the Consent Agenda will be consistent with the staff recommendation described in the report, unless otherwise noted. 1. Review and possible approval of the minutes from the November 12, 2008 workshop & November 20, 2008 regular meeting. 2. Consideration and possible action on a request for a Certificate of Design Compliance at City of Georgetown, Block 50, Lot 1(CTR/PT), located at 820 South Austin Avenue. (CDC-2008- 043) Motion by Gonzalez to approve the Consent Agenda Items as presented. Second by McCalla. Approved 5 -0. Regular Agenda: 3. Consideration and possible action on a request for a Certificate of Design Compliance for facade changes at Lost Addition, Block 13, Lots 5-6, located at 1011 South Austin Avenue. (CDC-2008-038) Wyler presented the staff report of the application. The applicant seeks approval to install a wooden fence around mechanical units. The current units are on the roof and unscreened, but with the addition of new dry cleaning equipment in the store, the HVAC units need to be Historic and Architectural Review Commission Page 2 of 4 Meeting December 11, 2008 placed on the ground an must be screened. The proposal is for a six foot wooden fence to be erected around the units to minimize the visual impact from the street. Wyler provided Guideline 8.22 to give staff recommendation to this project. Motion by Gonzalez to approve the CDC for screening as presented. Second by Knight. Approved 5 – 0. 4. Consideration and possible action on a request for site changes at City of Georgetown, Block 51, Lot 1(pt), located at 118 West 8th Street. (CDC-2008-042) Wyler presented the application. The applicant is seeking a CDC to make site modifications to the alley seating to provide better scenery for customers located at the rear of the building. They intend to create a European courtyard atmosphere that will tie the outdoor seating area in with the Bistro’s theme. Wyler presented the Guidelines that support the staff recommendation with conditions that the east mechanical enclosure be redesigned to allow direct egress from the escape ladder, and that the mechanical door be constructed of another material than metal, perhaps wood which would be more characteristic of the theme. Robert May, owner of Down the Alley Bistro showed an example of the mural design. He stated that his engineer has engineered the back patio to drain correctly so the impervious cover concern has been addressed. He stated he met with the City’s Urban Forrester, Heather Brewer and they determined that one tree should be protected and the Bradford Pear tree can be removed. He will replace it with a 65 gallon oak tree and only mortar the underlying brick to the drip line. Mr. May discussed the fire escape that was mentioned in Wyler’s staff report. He indicated his intent was to place the fire escape so that egress will be outside the nine foot mechanical screening wall. He showed drawings of the murals again and explained how the fire escape would be designed into the mural to be unobtrusive. Then Mr. May explained the lighting to be used on the metal arches through the alleyway, leading into the courtyard. Commissioner McCalla suggested using c-9 lighting instead of mini -light Christmas lights. Mr. May said that was his intent. Commissioner Johnson questioned the fire escape being placed far enough from the wall to be safe. Wyler stated again he would ask the Commission to place a condition on the CDC that all improvements must comply with fire and building safety codes. Motion by Knight to grant the Certificate of Design Compliance for site changes as requested with the condition that all city building and fire codes be met. Second by Gonzalez. Approved 5 -0. 5. Conceptual Review and discussion with the applicant on the proposed Contessa infill project, located at the southwest corner of 8th and Rock Street. Wyler introduced Martin Brown, owner of The Brown Group out of Austin. Mr. Martin presented a proposed multi-story residential/retail infill project at the southwest corner of 8th and Rock Street, to be called Contessa. Mr. Martin stated they have studied the area and they believe there are housing and retail/office needs here. This property is not in the Courthouse View Corridor and so the height restriction is forty feet. There are parking issues and Mr. Brown met with Tom Yantis, Assistant City Manager to discuss. The proposal is to have some parking onsite with the exit of the parking into the city parking lot that is shared by the public library. The property needs 26 parking places per code and they can get Historic and Architectural Review Commission Page 3 of 4 Meeting December 11, 2008 20 onsite and 10 with on street parking. Mr. Yantis was amenable to this and said they could apply for an easement to exit through the city parking lot.. Mr. Brown stated that the developer wants to teardown and rebuild the building, not remodel the current structure that is not a historically significant building. He feels the best use would be accomplished this way. They are proposing balconies and a rooftop garden. The buil ding is built to the property lines on 8th and Rock Streets but the balconies project over the right-of-way. He stated they will need an easement to project over the parking lot. To have the rooftop garden, an elevator is required which would need an elevator housing that is over forty feet. Also, the Plexiglas guardrail on the roof is higher than forty feet. He questioned the commission about the veneer of the building and asked what they would like to see. Match the library? Stucco and brick? When questioned about the sidewalk elevation Mr. Brown stated he would like to remove the existing elevated sidewalks and bring those back down to street level per the city code. The Commissioners discussed the project with Mr. Brown. Knight indicated she would give up the extra height for the good design. Johnson stated he has a problem with the height and removing another historic building. He said this was the old Cash-n-Carry over 50 years ago. Mr. Visser, the architect, said that this group has done the due diligence on the structure. The building is falling apart, the metal siding was attached to wood and the wood is rotting, there is no insulation behind the metal or wood and the building is in bad shape. The building cannot be brought up to current codes and be safe. They are looking at cleaning up the area between the Square and the library. Mr. Visser wanted to clarify the height request they will be making, stating it will be between 48 and 50 feet. Gonzalez wants the applicant to be very clear on the height requests when they come in for application and supports this project with residential uses in the downtown area and like the uniqueness of the roof garden, saying it was a good tradeoff for the additional height. There was further discussion of planning for utility lines, sidewalks, handicap access and streetscapes, shared parking and street level uses. McCalla stated she likes the project and appreciates them not trying to mimic historical style and using scale and surrounding to design the building. O’Donnell thanked the Brown Group for bringing this forward. 6. Comments from the Director and reminder that there is a HARC Sign Subcommittee meeting on January 8, 2009 and that the next regular HARC meeting will take place on January 22, 2009. Cook reminded everyone of the next meetings. She responded to Knight’s question of when the draft Guidelines might be ready for review, possibly late January or early February. Moore requested that Wyler check on the brightness of Tamiro Plaza’s lighting and open bulbs, stating it seemed too bright. Wyler said he would look into it. 7. Adjournment The Meeting was adjourned by Chair O’Donnell at 7:25 p.m. Historic and Architectural Review Commission Page 4 of 4 Meeting December 11, 2008 __________________________________ _________________________________ Approved, Rick O’Donnell, Chair Attest, Nancy Knight, Secretary