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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_HARC_01.26.2017City of Georgetown, Texas Historic and Architectural Review Commission Minutes Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Council and Courts Building 101 E. Th Street Georgetown, TX 78626 Members present: Lee Bain, Chair; Nancy Knight, Vice -Chair; Justin Bohls; Patty Eason; Shawn Hood, Richard Mee and Lawrence Romero. Commissioners in Training present: Lynn Williams and Michael Friends Commissioners absent: CIT Jan Daum Staff present: Matt Synatschk, Historic District Planner; Sofia Nelson, Planning Director; and Karen Frost, Recording Secretary. Cain to Order by Chair Bain at 6:02 p.m. with the reading of the meeting procedures. Regular Session A. Welcome and Meeting Procedures Legislative Regular Agenda B. Consideration and possible action to approve the minutes of the December 8, 2016 regular meeting. Motion by Eason to approve the minutes as submitted. Second by Knight. Approved 7 - 0. C. Public Hearing and possible action on a request for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for exterior alterations for the property located at 809 South Main Street, bearing the legal description of City of Georgetown, Block 52, Lot 3 (S/PT), 0.1106 acres. Synatschk presented the staff report. The applicant is requesting to reconstruct a tie rod canopy on the primary fagade of the structure. The canopy will replace a previously removed awning, which replaced the original tie rod canopy. The Design Guidelines state that reconstruction of missing architectural elements shall be based upon documented evidence of the original element. The original tie rod hooks remain embedded in the building facade, indicating the presence of the original canopy. Canopies serve an important role for historic buildings, by providing shade and protection for the entrance and storefront and represent a character defining feature of historic commercial buildings. The proposed canopy will be of similar construction to the original one, and will be mounted between the storefront windows and the transom windows. The project complies with the Downtown and Old Town Design Guidelines as presented. Staff recommends approval. There were no questions by the Commission and the Chair opened the Public Hearing. With no speakers coming forth, he closed the Public Hearing. Motion by Knight to approve the application for COA for 809 South Main Street as submitted. Second by Eason. Approved 7 — 0. D. Public Hearing and possible action on a request for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for exterior alterations for the property located at 1803 South Main Street, bearing the legal Historic and Architectural Review Commission Page 1 of 5 Meeting: January 26, 2017 description of Eubank Addition, Block 4, Lots 13-14 (PTS), 0.195 acres. Synatschk presented the staff report. The applicant is requesting a Certificate of Appropriateness for the Low Priority historic structure located at 1803 South Main Street. The structure was built in 1947, and significantly altered in the 1970s. The alterations included construction of a new porch with nontraditional details, specifically the decorative porch columns. The alterations also included cladding a portion of the primary fagade with brick. The proposed project removes the existing porch, brick cladding and vinyl siding from the house, and constructs a new porch on the primary fagade. The new porch would continue the front gable design of the existing porch, but add inappropriate architectural elements to the structure. The house is generally classified as a "Minimal Traditional" style, built from the mid -1930s to the late 1940s. Minimal traditional houses were simplistic in their design, but still offered many of the structural components of earlier designs, including front porches. However, the front porches lacked the architectural detailing of previous styles, including Craftsman, Italianate and other early 20th century designs The proposed porch is a simplified design, but incorporates one style feature from a different architectural style. The proposed porch columns include a boxed base, indicative of a Craftsman style porch. Adding conjectural features is not supported by the Downtown and Old Town Design Guidelines, due to the adverse impact on the architectural style of the original structure. Overall, staff supports the request for the new porch, but recommends a simple 6" x 6" porch column, replacing the proposed boxed columns. Robyn Clay, the owner of the property, asked for the commission to consider allowing her the boxed columns. Chair Bain opened the Public Hearing and with no speakers coming forth, closed the hearing. Motion by Knight to approve the application for a COA for 1803 South Main Street as requested by the applicant. Second by Hood. Approved 7 — 0. E. Public Hearing and possible action on a request for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for infill construction for the property located at 205 Rock Street, bearing the legal description of City of Georgetown, Block 9, Lots 5-6, 7-8 (W/PTS). The applicant is proposing the construction of a Children's Education Center and Theater on the southeast corner or Rock and 2nd Streets. The project consists of a single structure, housing classrooms, offices and performance spaces, and is 40 feet in height. The Mixed Use Downtown zoning district allows for zero lot line development, with 95% impervious cover, allowing for a dense development on a restricted parcel. The applicant originally presented to the HARC for conceptual review at the August 25th meeting. The original design incorporated metal on the second and third floors, with a synthetic stone for the first floor. The new proposed design incorporates the comments from the HARC, which included utilizing stone on the first floor, with additional accents, and limiting the metal cladding. Staff also requested changes to add building articulation, primarily along the west fagade. The majority of the structure is three stories in height, with the east side theater space only extending to the second floor of the structure. The building walls are articulated through the use Historic and Architectural Review Commission Page 2 of 5 Meeting: January 26, 2017 of different materials, windows and the primary entrance. The project incorporates a mix of materials, including metal panels on the third floor, with a mix of metal and natural limestone on the first and second floors of the structure. The portions of the limestone extend to the second floor to add articulation to the western wall, facing Rock Street. The predominant materials in the Downtown Overlay District are brick, stone, wood and metal. The architectural style of the structure creates a compatible structure for the Downtown Overlay District, while maintaining a modern feel. The design protects the character of the district, but also allows the project to be identified as new construction, which is appropriate for the district. Staff recommends approval of the application and of the options provided by the applicant, would choose more limestone on the 2nd floor with splitting up the solid metal wall. Limestone and metal material samples were provided. Knight questioned the Administrative Exceptions (AE). Synatschk explained that the Planning Director has the ability to issue an AE allowing an alternative design standards of the UDC if it provides for a better product. in this case, the AE's were issued for an alternative parking plan " and for material standards. This gives staff the opportunity to work with the applicants. Knight asks if this is a conflict because the Commission must comply with the Design Guidelines. Synatschk explained that the standards must comply with the UDC criteria, and altered standards with AE, before coming to the Commission for review with the Design Guidelines. Bain asked for the dimensions of the building. The height is 40 feet tail. Bain confirmed that iiie Commission's approval of the application would include the exceptions already granted. Eason asked about the staff findings. Item 13.10 in the Design Guidelines states, "Traditional building materials such as wood, brick, and stone are encouraged." Staff stated this application complies with this statement, but there are is not any brick or wood on this building. Then the staff analysis states "The predominant materials in the Downtown Overlay District are brick, stone, wood and metal." Adding metal as an accepted use does not comply with page 131 of the Design Guidelines which states "Metal panels and large areas of featureless stucco are often used and these are out of character and not of human scale." She argued that seems to contradict staff's analysis. Synatschk replied that by adding articulation through the use of stone and the metal panels, human scale was added. And metal is found in the downtown historic district and he cited examples. Eason argued this building would have more metal than even the 100% metal building. The applicant, Gary Wang gave a short presentation of the proposed project. Bain asked what drove the choice of metal for a large portion of this building. Wang explained he likes it and so does the client. The windows on the north and west side would be painted red and blue metal. The glazing on all windows would be transparent, not mirrored. There was discussion of the added cornice and it was decided that it was not preferred or needed, by the commissioners and the applicant, for screening of the rooftop units. The cornice was a request by the city to help reach compliance with the UDC and Design Guidelines. Staff requests of the applicant included ways to achieve better building articulation, which included options with the shade. Chair Bain opened the Public Hearing: Doug Smith, 300 San Gabriel Village, benefactor of the Performance Center. Mr. Smith stated he likes the design that was originally submitted by Mr. Wang. He feels the building represents the feel that is intended. He asked for approval for the children, stating the metal was more cost Historic and Architectural Review Commission Page 3 of 5 Meeting: January 26, 2017 effective and this building would provide a functional, education system for many years to come. Dana Barnes, 208 Innwood Drive. Her children benefit from participating in the Palace programs and she asked the Commission to not let architecture get in the way of the programs. Robert McCabe, 114 Dawana Ln. Mr. McCabe stated he has a daughter in the Palace program and he owns a nearby building. He will be looking at the new building a lot and supports the design. Scott Mohon, 105 N Austin Ave, Executive Director of the Palace. He explained that the Palace provides a nurturing environment for children and this new building not only celebrates and honors the history of the Palace, but will be creating a new history. Monti MacMillan, 6108 Harrogate. Mr. MacMillan read a letter of support from Brookwood, another local non-profit organization. Dustin and Maya Tahmahkera, 803 Bedford Court. Dustin introduced his daughter Maya, who participates in one of the children's program at the Palace. She spoke in favor and support of the new facility. Trina Sherman, 251 Tower Rd, Liberty Hill. Ms. Sherman is Maya's teacher and she was there to support Maya and talk about the Palace. She read a letter from Ron Shelley in support of the new facility because the programs have outgrown their current location. Barbara Dorrah,101 Daisy Path. Read a letter from Art Rodriguez, the Palace Board President, explaining that they have been planning for this arts education building for three years and they feel it is an attractive and utilitarian design. Jonathan Young, 516 W. 8th Street. Read a letter from the Springers, the original founders of the Palace, stating what happens inside the building is not affected by the exterior of the building. Rebecca Pfiester, 403 Elm Street. She explained there is not a person in the room that does not want the Palace to thrive and grow, but she asked that they consider that it should still be a "gem" of the community in 100 years. Sam Pfiester, 403 Elm Street. Mr. Pfiester owns the property immediately to the south of the subject property and has donated the land for this project. He expressed his preference to have more stone on the 2nd floor of the west side of the building. He is proposing street trees and has hired a landscape architect to design a plan to make Rock Street more pedestrian friendly and to fit contextually with the properties in that area. Trenton Jacobs, 504 E. Th Street. He supports the architectural design of the building and says it is refreshing to see something that makes you think. He says this design sets itself apart and too much stone would make the building feel "heavy", like the jail down the street. Chair Bain closed the Public Hearing with no more speakers coming forth. The Commissioners deliberated the application and the different options presented. Motion by Hood to approve the application contingent on the use of stone on the 2nd story and choosing the option of Elevation 18, without the cornice. Second by Eason. Commissioners commented. Vote, 3 — 4. (Hood, Eason and Bain for; Bohls, Knight, Mee, and Romero opposed.) Historic and Architectural Review Commission Page 4 of 5 Meeting: January 26, 2017 Motion by Hood to approve the application as submitted, without any additional stone on the 2nd floor, but without the cornice. Second by Mee. Approved 6 —1. (Eason opposed.) F. Staff update and reminder of future meetings. • The Historic Resource Survey draft should be sent to Synatschk by January 31. There will then be a 30 day staff review. Public comments and a public meeting will be held in March and April. Notifications of the survey being posted on the website, and an explanation of the survey will be going to all property owners per the Cox -McClain contract agreements. A full document will be available at the library and in the Planning Department office. • The Austin Avenue Bridges were discussed at a third public meeting and staff is looking at options. More information will be coming at a later date. • The Fixed Bus Route has been approved with the main stop at the Public Library. See the website for the routes. The system starts in late summer. • Downtown West drawings will be available for public viewing in May, with construction starting in fall 2017. • Street signs printing for the Downtown and Old Town Overlay Districts will be put out to bid soon. There are 247 intersections that will receive new signs. Old (currently existing) signs will be offered for sale at the Visitor's Center. • Sidewalk work in Downtown begins soon. Work will be done on Church Street between 9th and 111h Streets, on 8th Street between Rock St and MLK, and on 8th Street between Church and Myrtle Streets. • The next HARC meeting will be February 23, 2017. G. Comments or Questions by Commissioner -in -Training. No comments. Adjournment Motion by Knight, second by Romero to adjourn at 8:07 p.m. Approved 7 — 0. Approved, Lee Bain Chair Historic and Architectural Review Commission Meeting: January 26, 2017 Attest, Lawrence Romero, Secretary Page 5 of 5