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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-08-03 Historic MIN ASHLAND HISTORIC COMMISSION Meeting Minutes August 3, 2016 Community Development/Engineering Services Building 51 Winburn Way Siskiyou Room CALL TO ORDER: Commission Chair, Shostrom called the meeting to order at 6:03 pm in the Siskiyou Room at the Community Development and Engineering Offices located at 51 Winburn Way, Ashland OR 97520. Commissioners Present: Council Liaison: Shostrom Carol Voisin Skibby Leonard Staff Present: Ladygo Mark Schexnayder; Staff Liaison Emery Regan Trapp; Secretary Swink Giordano Whitford Commissioners Absent: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Giordano motioned to approve minutes from July 6, 2016. Swink seconded. No one opposed. Whitford abstained. Shostrom stated that in the past, minutes were much more detailed. Molnar remarked that staff is trying to make minutes brief and capturing just the most important details, such as recommendations and motions. Molnar, went on to say that when actions are controversial, we do try to capture key comments related to the standards. PUBLIC FORUM: There was no one in the audience wishing to speak. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT: Voisin gave the Council Liaison report. Items discussed were: Study session: Council received the downtown parking proposal and there will be opportunities for public o input soon. The ad-hoc committee for downtown parking will end soon and a new committee will be formed related to urban design. Cycling safety will be of the utmost concern. o Hall. They will put a rail up to separate the area from pedestrian traffic. There will be an open house on September 15 at 7PM in the Community Room to review th o and discuss plans for City Hall. Public input is encouraged. Council regular meeting: Parks purchases: Parks purchased a dump truck and the Hitt Road property above Lithia o Park. Grandview guardrail was discussed. o Fair housing ordinance was passed. o Food & beverage tax will be going on the ballot for consideration. The public will be able to o vote on how they want the money to be used. PLANNING ACTION REVIEW: PLANNING ACTION: PA-2016-01385 SUBJECT PROPERTY: 50 East Main St. OWNER/APPLICANT: Ted DeLong/Oregon Shakespeare Festival DESCRIPTION: A request for Site Design Review approval for exterior changes to a contributing property in the Downtown Historic District. The proposal is to construct a 150 square foot addition to the existing deck located at the rear of the building located at 50 East Main Street. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DESIGNATION: Commercial - Downtown; ZONING: C-1-D; 39 1E 09BB; TAX LOT: 40000. There was no ex parte contact or conflict of interest indicated by the Commission. Schexnayder gave the staff report for PA-2016-01385. Shostrom opened the public hearing to the applicants. David Wilkerson of ORW Architecture, and Ted Delong, General Manager of Oregon Shakespeare Festival a fairly straightforward say, that since the first application, this has morphed into something a little bigger as they take into consideration size of the deck and the water intrusion issue. They will keep the existing deck, making only small repairs in certain places where the deck needs some reinforcements and new framing. He pointed out that the goal of the expansion is to match the existing Shostrom closed the public hearing and opened to the Commission for comments. Giordano motioned to approve PA-2016-01385 as presented. Whitford seconded. No one opposed. PLANNING ACTION #: 2016-00309 SUBJECT PROPERTY: 150 N. Pioneer St. PROPTERY OWNERS: Stan Potocki APPLICANT: City of Ashland DESCRIPTION: A request for a Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment and Zone Change for the properties located at 150 and 162 North Pioneer Street. The current Comprehensive Plan Map designation is Low Density Multi-Family Residential and the Zoning is R-2. With the current request, the Comprehensive Plan Map designation would be changed to Commercial and the Zoning to C-1. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DESIGNATION: Existing: Low Density Multi-Family Residential, Proposed: Commercial; ZONING: Existing: R-2, Proposed: C-1; MAP: 39 1E 09BA; TAX LOT #: 11800 & 11900 Skibby indicated that he spoke with the owner while he was taking pictures of the property and the owner gave him a tour of the house. He declared that it would not affect his decision making on this application. Mr. Molnar, Community Development Director, gave the staff report for PA-2016-00309. Mr. Molnar, discussed the background and process of this application and stated that zone changes do not City Council to initiate the zone change by a majority vote. Mr. Molnar said that the Mayor had requested the City Council take a look at this application. At that point, the City Council directed staff to process the application for the zone change. This is not applicant initiated, it has been initiated by the City Of Ashland and will still have to go through the full approval process. Mr. Molnar explained that the Historic Commission would make a recommendation tonight and then it would go to the Planning Commission for their recommendation, ultimately to be decided by the City Council. Mr. Molnar gave a history on the property and said that this -zoning. He discussed that the basis for doing a zone change often comes down to one of two issues. One, that it needs to be re- comprehensive plan to accommodate residential growth or two, over time certain circumstances change in an area that might warrant re-zoning. Mr. Molnar described the neighborhood around the properties in detail and went on to speak about the congestion of the area. He pointed out that one of the biggest implications of re-zoning this property is that Commercial zoning designation allows for residential use in conjunction with a commercial use, property. With commercial zoning, comes flexibility to choose what kind of use you want. Mr. Molnar directed attention to the fact that the neighbor to the north of this property owns an antique shop and they share a mutual access easement of the driveway. This neighbor has shown interest and may be agreeable to this application. Skibby wanted clarification if both, 150 and 162 N. Pioneer were the properties in question for the re-zoning. Mr. Molnar stated that, yes, both properties would be looked at for re-zoning since they are connected and that the Commission could visit the idea of re-zoning both addresses. Mr. Molnar explained that both properties were properly noticed and procedures were taken to notify everyone in the neighborhood. Mr. Molnar impressed upon the fact that if the properties were to be re-zoned that they would be held to a higher standard because they are commercial and historic contributing. If they made exterior changes that require a building permit they would go through a full Commercial Site Review. Emery asked about solar and Mr. Molnar stated that C-1 zones have to maintain a 16 foot height requirement. C-1-D zones are exempt from solar altogether. Shostrom asked if the point of this re-zoning was the de- emphasized that staff does not look at re-zoning a property due to de-valuation or to provide greater economic value. They have to look at it from a land use perspective. They discussed examples of some properties in the past that had been up for re-zoning. Shostrom opened the public hearing for comments from the audience. Marilyn Stewart, property owner at 142 B Street, Ashland, OR addressed the commission regarding this huge deal to her. She directed attention to the fact that a zone is there for a reason and if we go changing them, then where does that stop? The zone line is where it is for a reason and if the line moves then it will change and thinks if approved, will open the door for more of these instances. Ms. Stewart remarked that problems with homeless in , and parking lot construction were all factors when the owner bought the property at 150 N. Pioneer. With this zone change, she feels the Railroad district is vulnerable to change, too quickly and feels the livability of the street scape will suffer. Shostrom closed the public hearing and opened to the Commission for comments. There was much discussion by the Commission in regards to what would happen long term on this property if it does go through a zone change and the repercussions felt on the neighborhood. Leonard brought up an option of building a substantial fence which would help mitigate outlying problems. Giordano motioned to deny PA-2016-00309 as proposed. Whitford seconded. No one opposed. application. By a unanimous vote, the Historic Commission recommended that the City Council not change the zoning designation for the property. The Commission noted the following concerns as the basis for their recommendation: into the Historic Railroad District; This gradual encroachment will negatively impact the livability of the historic residential district to the north, as well as the residential properties in the immediate vicinity; The change from Multi-Family Residential to Commercial zoning will increase the value of the property (150 N. Pioneer), which will result in putting pressure to redevelop the property; ial building, and/or may lead to a future proposal to remove or demolish the structure; and addressed through mitigation, such as better fencing and landscaping, rather than a change in zoning. A change in the zoning designation will not resolve the impacts noted by the property owner. NEW ITEMS: Review board schedule Project assignments for planning actions OLD BUSINESS: Whitford asked about the status of 135 Nutley and Mr. Molnar stated that they had to center a window and fix the stairs to the property. He went on to say that the owner added a belly band and a flower box and the project looks to be moving forward and progressing. Swink stated that the owner had said (in a review board meeting) that he was going to remove the footings under the stairs to narrow and change the orientation (of the stairs) and has not done that as of yet. Schexnayder stated that the actions of the owner at 135 Nutley were egregious and in the future will keep a better watch out for actions like this. Swink suggested a listing of recommendations be given to commissioners when they review building plans. Schexnayder stated that why the owner at 135 Nutley did not have come back to submit a modification with the Historic Commission. Schexnayder suggested having the Commission obtain the files at Review board so they can see the entire history as well as recommendations and findings for the action. Shostrom impressed upon the them before they go to the Planning Commission. Shostrom suggested that Schexnayder email the recommendations to the entire Commission after he writes them, so that they can do any edits if necessary. Shostrom said that the recommendations that are given to the applicant should be clearly written on the plans and plans shou with what is submitted on the revised plans. Schexnayder stated that he will speak with Mr. Molnar about these suggestions. Shostrom would like to look at the entire review process of the Commission to see if there could be a way to catch these things before they get too far in the process. DISCUSSION ITEMS: There were no items to discuss. COMMISSION ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: Voisin discussed the way minutes are taken with Shostrom. Voisin stated the she heard Shostrom say that stated that minutes are a record and are very important. Skibby agreed that yes, they are important and discussion unless controversial. Review Board Schedule August 11 Terry, Bill th August 18 Terry, Tom, Andrew th August 25 Terry, Taylor, Sam th September 1 Terry, Taylor, Dale st September 8 Terry, Keith, Bill th Project Assignments for Planning Actions PA-2014-01956 Lithia & First All PA-2014-00710/711 143/135 Nutley Swink & Whitford PA-2014-01283 172 Skidmore Shostrom PA-2014-02206 485 A Street Ladygo PA-2015-00178 156 Van Ness Ave Shostrom PA -2015-00374 160 Lithia Way Emery PA-2015-00878 35 S. Pioneer Ladygo PA-2015-01496 35 S. Second-Winchester Inn Shostrom PA-2015-01695 399 Beach Skibby PA-2015-01769 860 C Ladygo PA-2015-01517 209 Oak Shostrom PA-2015-02203 868 A Street Whitford PA-2016-00073 151 Pioneer Swink PA-2016-00275 574 Allison Emery PA-2016-00387 95 N. Main Shostrom PA-2016-00763 5 N. Main Swink PA-2016-00209 25 N. Main Ladygo PA-2016-00818 175 Pioneer Shostrom & Skibby PA-2016-00847 252 B Street Whitford PA-2016-00587 872 Siskiyou Blvd Skibby PA-2016-01027 276 B Street Shostrom & Leonard PA-2016-01385 50 E. Main Giordano ANNOUNCEMENTS & INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: Next meeting is scheduled September 7, 2016 at 6:00 pm. There being no other items to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm Respectfully submitted by Regan Trapp