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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPC 08.09.18 Packet MINUTES PRELIMINARY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION EMMA J. HARVAT HALL JULY 12, 2018 MEMBERS PRESENT: Kevin Boyd, Zach Builta, Helen Burford, Gosia Clore, Sharon DeGraw, Quentin Pitzen, Lee Shope MEMBERS ABSENT: Thomas Agran, G. T. Karr, Cecile Kuenzli STAFF PRESENT: Jessica Bristow OTHERS PRESENT: RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (become effective only after separate Council action) CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Boyd called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. He welcomed the three new members to the Commission. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: 1025 Burlington Street. Bristow said this property has been reviewed by the Commission in the past. She said the house was recently rehabbed by the University Partnership, which opened up the porch, put the windows back to their original size, and did a lot of other great work on the house. Bristow stated that this application concerns the garage. She said that the existing garage is in the back, southeast corner of the property. Bristow said the applicant would like to replace it with a functional garage that would be just slightly bigger. She said that the new garage would be 25 feet from front to back and 30 feet from side to side. Bristow said that the existing garage is a stucco garage with a sliding door and a metal roof. She showed where a hole has been patched where a chimney was removed at one time. Bristow said that part of the deterioration of the garage is due to that chimney. She said that before this belonged to University Partnership, part of the chimney had fallen in on the floor and caused some damage. Bristow showed a photograph of the base of the wall right next to the opening, showing that the stucco coating is falling away and the bricks behind don't seem to have any mortar holding them together. She said that inside the slab it is just completely busted up. Bristow said that part of the problem with this garage is that the slab is heaved, and the driveway has not extended to the garage for a very long time. She said that currently, the garage sits just a little lower than the rest of the driveway, so if a new driveway were put in, it would slope down toward the garage, which is not the best situation. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 12, 2018 Page 2 of 9 Bristow said that the garage does sit on the busted-up slab. She said that some of the tile construction wall is also breaking apart, although it does have a really nice bead board ceiling. Bristow showed the interior of the west wall on the other side of the garage. She said the concrete is breaking up there, and the tile is separating as well. Bristow showed the other corner of the opening. She said that the slab doesn't really have any relationship to the garage any more. Regarding the exterior, Bristow said that there have been some cracks that have been patched. She showed where the structure is separating a little bit - enough that the stucco has busted away, and the door frame is separating away. Bristow showed the side where the roof itself is pretty well rusted. She said there may be a way to sand it down and recoat it, but this is just not really a very functional garage. Bristow said the slab doesn't work at all anymore, and there is no overhead door. Bristow said this really is deteriorated. She said that long ago, when staff knew about this project, there was some hope that this garage could be saved. Bristow said that at this point, staff believes that it is time to move on to a new garage in this case. Bristow said that the drawings for the new garage are a little minimal right now. She said that it would be of wood frame construction so would not go back to stucco and concrete block or anything like that. Bristow said it would match the house and would have lap siding, corner board, and similar trim to match the house. Bristow showed the sketch of the new garage. She said it shows really a minimal overhang. Bristow said that the original garage had a nice two-foot overhang, and this should at least go about 12 to 18 inches to have some overhang on this garage. Regarding overhead doors, Bristow said that nothing has been selected yet, but there are a couple of options. She said the applicant is interested in having some windows in the garage door, and she showed one option with a simple carriage-style type of door with windows in it. Bristow showed another door that does not have windows - a steel-paneled door with separate composite overlay panels for the trim. She said staff finds that either of these two types of doors would be appropriate for this garage. Bristow showed more sketches of the south, rear elevation and the two side elevations. She said she would recommend a more appropriate overhang here. Bristow added that the proportions of the windows would probably be a little bit thinner so that they look more rectangular instead of approaching square as in the sketches. Bristow referred to the recommended motion. She said the Commission will want to discuss whether or not the garage could be taken down. Bristow said that if the Commission feels they are leaning toward approving the demolition, it will want to go on and discuss the new design and whether it should be approved. She said that if the Commission approves of the design, it will want to put forth a motion that covers both. Regarding staff's proposed motion, Bristow said she would recommend adding a condition that the design be revised with an appropriate overhang. DeGraw asked if there is a typical lifespan for the ceramic tiles on the interior. Bristow replied that there is not really. She said she has seen quite a few schools built out of this tile construction. Bristow said that it can last a long time if it is maintained. She said a lot of the problem with this particular garage is that it had this chimney in it that collapsed. Bristow said HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 12, 2018 Page 3 of 9 that caused some failure of the slab, which helped pull the walls apart a little bit, along with a little deferred maintenance, since this had not been used as a garage in a long time. The consensus of the Commission was that there was no problem with demolishing the garage. Shope asked if, with regard to the overhang, it would be appropriate to use basically the same overhang as on the house. Bristow said the overhang on the house is probably about 18 inches or so. MOTION: DeGraw moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project at 1025 Burlington Street as presented in the application with the following conditions: the overhead door, passage door, and window product information to be approved by staff; the garage is to have corner boards and window and door trim similar to the house; a revised design with an overhang of at least 18 inches; and demolition of the current garage. Clore seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0 (Agran, Karr, and Kuenzli absent). 821 North Johnson Street. Bristow said this house is in the Brown Street Historic District. She said that at the time of the survey, this house was non-historic. Bristow said the house is now historic, but assuming that it is outside the period of significance for the district, it would be non-contributing. Bristow said it is a ranch house with a mid-century modern kind of style to it. Bristow said the house is owned by Successful Living, which will be getting some home grant money for the project. She said that a lot of interior work will be done but also some exterior work for the Commission to review as well as some exterior work that does not require review. Bristow showed the front step. She said it is pulling away from the brick and is actually being washed away underneath. Bristow said it is starting to really fail - sinking, falling away from the house, and pulling at the retaining walls, so they are going to pour a new set of stairs. Bristow said staff has been working with the owners to make sure the retaining walls are maintained at this point. She said there is not a plan to rebuild them, but they are damaged. Bristow said that currently, they are just going to stay that way. She said that the brick is apparently a full four inches by ten inches, so it would be difficult to match such an odd-sized brick. Bristow said that the retaining walls are really an integral part of the design of the front of this house. She said that is why at this point, this is not proceeding with anything that deals with the retaining walls, because it is outside the scope of this project. Bristow said that the owners will try to reuse the black metal rail. She said if that does not work out, they will have a new rail approved. Bristow said the owners are also removing the awning that covers the front patio, which will require a little bit of patching of the roof shingles. She said there was some tree damage to the roof shingle area in the past year. Bristow said the owners are going to change the stair and rail and will be adding a concrete patio. She showed where, because of how the house is used, they want to add an additional HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 12, 2018 Page 4 of 9 door. Bristow said they would like to separate the area for the people who live in the house from the office area of those who work to help those who live in the house. She said that having two separate doors is kind of integral to the way the house functions. Bristow said they have been working on how they might add a second exterior door. She showed where the original plan was to actually have an exterior door and have the stairs come off adjacent to the new stairs. Bristow said that the new stairs at the existing back door will turn 90 degrees to land on the new patio. She said that having the new entry stairs run adjacent to that would create a little bit of an awkwardness with the two stairs parallel but with different runs. Bristow said it would not be possible to have the one set of stairs meet the landing and then have a single stairs down. She said it can't go down that direction, because there is nowhere to have the run of the stairs. Bristow showed the first option of trying to separate the stairs and have it work. She said that because the property slopes down in this area and the stairs would be running along in the same direction, it results in a conundrum where the stairs and the grade never really meet very well, because they keep sloping down in the same direction. Bristow said option two was created, and it would still have the existing stairs coming off at a 90 degree angle from where they currently are, along with a new door and landing that is separated from the other stair by a small area. She said they have to be able to get under the stoop to reach a hose bib that is on the back of the house. Bristow said that putting porch skirting around the back entry as the Commission normally likes to see would make that a little bit difficult. She said that if they separate the one landing and stairs from the adjacent one by enough room to pass through and get to the hose spigot, they might not have to put skirting there. Bristow said that if needed, they can store things in that little spot to help keep the site cleaned up. Bristow said staff feels that having the stair landing extended by a couple of extra feet so that the stairs can come down and be separated from the other ones would be the way to go on that part of the project. She stated that staff recommends approval of this but would need to approve the rear entry door, which staff has discussed already with the applicant. Shope asked if staff has any recommendations regarding the type of railing to be used. Bristow responded that, since this is a modern house, a very simple, square spindle design with some newel post to break it up, as discussed in the guidelines, would be the way to go with that. Shope asked if the same type of wrought iron as is used in the front would be acceptable here. Bristow said it could potentially be, but at the same time, it might be harder to get it to fit in right and look right where there will be wood construction. She said staff feels that wrought iron works better with concrete. Pitzen asked if there would be risers on the stairs. Bristow replied that it would have to have closed risers. Pitzen asked if the owners have priced having the hose bib moved. Bristow did not know. Pitzen said that perhaps they could bring the higher landing out farther with the stairs doubled back and go down on the lower one and then have a common stair. Bristow said she did not know if that would add to the cost, because then there would be a longer raised area. Pitzen said it would mostly be the cost of extra materials. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 12, 2018 Page 5 of 9 DeGraw asked if staff would share Pitzen's idea with the homeowner. Bristow said that the applicant's representative was in attendance at the meeting. Burford asked if the owners have to have anything associated with the house be ADA compliant. Bristow said she did not know. She said that at this point she would assume not, because there is no ADA compliant entry. Bristow said the only way that could be done is from the garage, and then there would have to be a lift of some sort. MOTION: Clore moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project at 821 North Johnson Street as presented in the application with the following conditions: the new stair and landing is revised according to option two, and materials such as new front railing (if needed) and new door product be approved by staff. Builta seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0 (Agran, Karr, and Kuenzli absent). REPORT ON CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY CHAIR AND STAFF: Certificate of No Material Effect - Chair and Staff Review. 1012 Burlington Street. Bristow said this house is in the College Hill Conservation District. She said that the owners replaced all of the shingles on the mansard and the upper roof. 701 Oakland Avenue. Bristow said the owners had already replaced the membrane roof on the dormer and are now replacing the shingles on the main roof. Minor Review - Staff Review. 1206 Court Street. Bristow said this house was originally a bungalow. She said that in the 1970s, the homeowner decided to add a floor. Bristow said that everything about the upper floor is completely inappropriate. Bristow said that the house now has new owners, who opened the front porch and replaced the pre-cast concrete steps. She said the railing was not done appropriately, and there was no skirting on the sides. Bristow said the owners know that, and they will be modifying the railing to be nice, simple, square spindles. 727 North Lucas Street. Bristow said this is a University home that is being remodeled. She said it needed to have the inappropriate stairs repaired. 1118 East Court Street. Bristow said this project came up last fall, and the owners only recently decided to do it. She showed the addition, a two-story with sleeping porch. Bristow said the owners have incorporated this area into the kitchen. She said that at some point in time, most of the windows - the two ends and on both sides - were all replaced with double hungs. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 12, 2018 Page 6 of 9 Bristow said that the two central windows were casements. She said that initially, the owners were going to keep and repair them, but they are having big issues with water getting in. Bristow said that now the owners will replace them to match the others but with better quality windows than the others. 420 North Linn Street. Bristow said the house at 420 North Linn is having the porch skirting reconstructed. 513 Summit Street. Bristow said this house recently changed hands. She showed the area where the radon mitigation system is being installed near the air conditioning units. 528 North Gilbert Street. Bristow said that the house at 528 North Gilbert Street will have a piece of bead board soffit replaced. She said the rear porch stairs will be replaced with wood stairs. Bristow said the owners may keep the simple metal railing or might put in the appropriate railing with just square spindles. Intermediate Review - Chair and Staff Review. 1111 East Burlington Street. Bristow said this house at 1111 East Burlington Street is receiving historic preservation funds for multiple projects including, but not limited to: repairing the internal gutter, repairing the soffit, reconstruction of the rotted porch floor including retaining the columns and redoing the skirting. Bristow showed where there used to be a side porch. She said that it was sort of enclosed long ago. Bristow said it has some studs in there, and the metal siding just kind of goes over it. She said the owners will take that section and actually put in a real wall with insulation. Bristow said the owners can tell what the siding is under all of the rest of the siding on the house. She said they will be using a siding to match the lap that is underneath everything, because they eventually plan to remove the aluminum siding on the house. Bristow said there is one window that does not have a jamb extension so that there is a gap between the original siding and the aluminum siding that lets water in the wall, and it has been that way for a long time. She said they will put the jamb extension in to close that up. Bristow said there are some other issues, but the historic preservation fund will help this house move forward at least one step. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FOR JUNE 14, 2018: MOTION: DeGraw moved to approve the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission's June 14, 2018 meeting, as written. Clore seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0 (Agran, Karr, and Kuenzli absent). HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 12, 2018 Page 7 of 9 COMMISSION INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION: Clinton Street and Railroad Depot Historic District to City Council. Bristow said this potential new district will go before City Council, although it is still a little bit up in the air. She said Commission members who are in town at that time are encouraged to attend the meeting, and staff hopes to have a full City Council at that time. Bristow said that making certain there are Commission members at the City Council meeting who are willing to speak will be a big plus. She said she will let the Commission know when the meeting will take place. Boyd thanked DeGraw for speaking and Builta for attending the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. He said the motion came out of the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting unanimously. Shope asked exactly what is contained in that district. Bristow responded that the depot is at the south side of the district. She said it goes up Clinton Street and includes the next block - the hotel; the two houses in the middle of the block; the big, angled house on the end of the block; and 530 Clinton, the big, brick house across Prentiss Street. Bristow said the Commission has a certified local government grant to put that district on the National Register. She said that will be done, regardless of the City Council vote. Bristow said that the whole transfer of development rights that came up before City Council with regard to local landmarks is also relevant to this area. She said this area already has that potential written into the zoning code, so that is one benefit for the property owner, in that he could potentially transfer rights from some of the properties he owns in the district to properties he owns that are right next door and not included in the district or could potentially sell them to someone else who might use them in the Riverfront Crossings area. Shope asked about the status of the properties. Bristow replied that they are all rental properties. Update on Historic Preservation Fund. Bristow said that the City Council and the City Manager gave the Commission $40,000 each fiscal year to work with for matching grants and loans for the Historic Preservation Fund. She said that the maximum per project is $5,000, which means there is a potential for eight or more applicants each year. Bristow stated that a soft rollout was done last year to let people know, as they were putting in applications for other work, that this funding is available. She added that by December, there had only been two applicants, so a press release was put out and it was put in the annual newsletter to homeowners. Bristow said that resulted in a barrage of calls. She said the goal is to help with anything that would retain original, historic materials or would put an historic element back on a house. Bristow said between $30,0000 to $35,000 will probably end up being used from last year. She added that the unused money does not carry over to the next year. July 1 began the next fiscal year and HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 12, 2018 Page 8 of 9 Bristow said that a homeowner can apply more than once, even more than once a year. She said she does not know how long the funding will last, but it will have to be renewed by the City Council as it holds its budget talks for the next fiscal year. Bristow said that for owner-occupied homes with owners below a certain income limit, the money is a grant. She said that for those above that limit and for rental property owners, the money is a no interest loan with a five-year term. Bristow said that she and Boyd will both be at this year's Preserve Iowa Summit. She said it is also the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions Annual Meeting. Bristow said the national group is holding its annual meeting in Des Moines, so SHPO decided to combine them into one meeting. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:07 p.m. Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2018 KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member NAME TERM EXP. 1/11 2/8 3/8 4/12 5/10 6/14 7/12 8/9 9/13 10/11 11/8 12/13 AGRAN, THOMAS 6/30/20 X X X X X X O/E BAKER, ESTHER 6/30/18 X X X X X X -- BOYD, KEVIN 6/30/20 X X X X X X X BUILTA, ZACH 6/30/19 X O/E X X X X X BURFORD, HELEN 6/30/21 -- -- -- -- -- -- X CLORE, GOSIA 6/30/20 O/E X O/E X X X X DEGRAW, SHARON 6/30/19 X X X X X X X KARR, G. T. 6/30/20 X X X X X X O/E KUENZLI, CECILE 6/30/19 X X X X X X O/E PITZEN, QUENTIN 6/30/21 -- -- -- -- -- -- X SHOPE, LEE 6/30/21 -- -- -- -- -- -- X