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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-10-06 Historic MINASHLAND HISTORIC COMMISSION Minutes October 6, 1993 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Jim Lewis at 7:35 p.m. Members present were Jim Lewis, Terry Skibby, H.L. Wood, Steve Ennis and Le Hook. Also present were Planning Director John McLaughlin and Secretary Sonja Akerman. Dana Johnson, Keith Chambers and Chloe Winston were absent. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ennis stated that on page 1 of the September 8, 1993 Minutes, Jerome White is a designer, not an architect. He then moved to approve the Minutes as corrected. Hook seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. STAFF REPORTS PA 93-123 Site Review 48 Fifth Street Foursquare Church McLaughlin explained this proposal is for the replacement of the existing fellowship hall. The church is looking for a more efficient use of space, and it was ascertained the existing building was not worth adding on or remodeling for this purpose. The proposed building maintains a residential character and will be built in a Craftsman style. The church is non- conforming, as there is no parking on the site. Since the impact remains the same and there will be no additional use in the sanctuary, no more parking will be required. Skibby questioned the demolition of the existing house. Terry Lippert, representing the church, said they have advertised in hopes someone would move the house, but have had no response. The house is in bad shape, as half of it is not on a foundation. He later said they would keep trying to get it moved rather than demolish the house, as they will not start the building until next March. Wood asked if the alley will remain unpaved, and McLaughlin answered it will remain unpaved at this time. McLaughlin asked Lippert about the parking area. He answered he would like to alleviate some of the parking in the street and landscape the area. He plans to put in 1" crushed rock in the parking area. Lewis stated there is a factor to be considered with angular parking -- it forces people to go all the way down the alley to Sixth Street, and the second half of the alley deteriorates greatly. Skibby related the applicant and designer had been in to the Review Board twice and felt the residential character of the new building is compatible with the neighborhood. Ennis agreed it is a nice design and suggested the applicant check with Chapter 31 for ADA parking requirements. Skibby moved and Wood seconded to recommend approval of this application to the Planning Commission. The motion passed unanimously. PA 93-119 Site Review and Variance 233 Fourth Street Tom Frantz McLaughlin related this application is to replace the existing building with a two story commercial building. Staff has design issue concerns, and although the applicant has stated the intended use for the lower portion will be a restaurant, the seating capacity is unclear as is the total use of the building. Staff realizes the owner is looking at all options available, but since a parking variance is also being requested, would feel uncomfortable granting approval when the use is unclear. The use of the alley will increase and the nearby houses will be affected by the dust. Options for paving will need to be reviewed if this is the use to trigger improvement of the alley. It is not the intent, however, to turn this alley over to automobiles. Historic Commission recommendations will be taken into consideration. Otherwise, Staff feels this is a good regeneration of the site and is a positive change. After talking with neighbors, Tom Frantz said he made a few changes and submitted revised plans. He feels it is important to leave the alley unpaved for pedestrian use, but he is aware of the dust and is looking at alternate paving methods, such as grass pavers. In discussing his parking with Crissy Barnett, owner of the Peerless Rooms across the alley, it was decided the people using the parking lot should be encouraged to go back out to Fourth Street rather than utilizing diagonal parking, which would encourage the traffic flow to Third Street. By pulling straight in, people would have the'option as to which direction they could proceed. Frantz said he also did not want to inundate the neighbor. By utilizing straight in parking, it will leave more landscape area between the neighbor and his property. His most recent idea includes handicapped parking. McLaughlin said the surface used for the handicapped parking needs to accommodate wheelchair access to the building. Frantz said he feels strongly the alley should be grass pavers. Hook said the new use will probably increase the traffic by 50% if the alley is paved, then questioned what would happen if Frantz just paved his portion. McLaughlin said it would be detrimental to the alley and adjacent properties to leave an unpaved portion in the Ashland Historic Commission Minutes October 6, 1993 Page 2 middle. He stated that given the two owners (Frantz and Barnett), the City should give them the opportunity to do something other than paving the alley. Ron Thurner, 1170 Bellview Street, said that when Peerless Rooms went through the Planning process, neighbor concerns were the paved alley (they would like to maintain it as granite), and the impact on the historic nature of the area. With the restoration of the Peerless Rooms building, the owner has gone to great expense to maintain the historic nature. The alley would do well if left in its existing form and maintained. Steve Hoxmeier, 435 "B" Street, said he is a neighbor and he does not want the alley paved. The existing pavement in the alley has created a dam and the rains flood his back yard. Thurner added that because of the slopes in the area and over time, the grade at Fourth Street has risen two feet, and now to go back and resurface it will be very difficult because of drainage, etc. Lewis agreed, but said it also needs to be accessible for fire trucks. He wondered if grass pavers would make the Fire Department happy. Thurner said all the departments knew about the Peerless Rooms and had no objections to maintaining the alley as it is. McLaughlin related Peerless Rooms has a limited impact because cars usually park and stay. The new building would have a higher turnover and would trigger a higher degree of traffic. Maybe this wouldn't precipitate the dust right now, but it is important to know the future use of the building; perhaps the City should wait and see. Possibly by improving the alley with 3/4 minus crushed rock, it would create a nice surface. McLaughlin continued the problem with grass pavers is that if anything heavy gets on them, they could break. Frantz said he has the same pavers Britt uses and they are rated to hold a ten ton truck. Lewis said it would be a big step for the City if it were to maintain a public right-of-way other than asphalt. Thurner added another major consideration is that handicapped accessibility is very limiting. Barnett falls under Title 1 because her building is on the National Register, but the surfaces need to comply with municipal standards. Alleys are not designated as historic resources, so the alley will probably have to be paved unless it comes into another status. Frantz said he feels there is a potential problem because it will change the historic nature of the area. After further discussing alley improvements and handicapped spaces, design was addressed. Frantz said he had recently made a few minor design changes for the Building Department and Fire and Life Safety. Ennis stated that in looking at the elevations, he personally feels there is too much going on, especially because it is next to Peerless and it will incorporate different materials, windows, the bays on sides, etc. He would like to see a three- dimensional scale model. He related the front of the proposed building looks sharp. Hook agreed and said he is mainly concerned with the south elevation. He likes the east elevation and what it adds to the streetscape. Skibby remarked it would be wise to keep in mind the Bundini Building owner will be constructing a garage so the south elevation will hardly show. Frantz said the bay windows will pick up the east sunrise; otherwise there Ashland Historic Commission Minutes October 6, 1993 Page 3 would be no sun on that side, thus no natural light. Each window of the building has a purpose, such as view, light, etc. Materials, he explained, are the real factor. He will be using true ship lap siding, stucco, and wood casement windows. He also feels a metal roof would be compatible, not only with the building itself, but the area. The Historic Commission agreed it would like to see a model of the building, and questioned the compatibility of the different materials, and also the different roof pitches. Ennis stated that within a week, he would make a list of his concerns for Frantz. Hook added that one change he did not think improved the design was the extension of the second floor, as it is too busy. Frantz explained he put in the bay window to accommodate the east light and therefore had to change the stairway. After discussing more design details, Frantz said he would be willing to take a look at simplifying the design, which will mean coming back next month. McLaughlin added that for the City to grant approval, the applicant needs a final design. Staff will work with Frantz so the delay will not cause a hardship. STEVE HOXMEIER -"A" STREET RAILROAD SUBDIVISION Skibby explained the Review Board had requested Steve Hoxmeier come before the full Commission to explain his plans for the permanent structure. McLaughlin said Hoxmeier had approval for a temporary structure, but under the Building Codes, it cannot be built. There was a basic misunderstanding in the Building Department as a temporary building because a permanent build#zg changes the view of being able to remove the building. This is an important intersection., and how the building will tie in needs to be addressed. Does it preclude something else from happening on the site? The existing character of Fourth Street needs to be maintained. When Skibby questioned Hoxmeier about the Golden Spike, he answered he will maintain it while it is there. McLaughlin asked about the access. Hoxmeier answered he will use the Grange access for now since currently there is no curb cut for the proposed Fourth Street extension. He also explained the building will be used as a youth recreation center. He had originally wanted to build a gym with a restaurant, but will have to do it in phases. Lewis stated the ultimate use will fill up the property, and he would like to see the concept for the entire project in order to see how the proposed building will fit in. Hoxmeier remarked the foundation will be concrete block and that a ramp could be added to either set of steps. He took out some windows because the Building Department said there were too many. Skibby expressed his concern about this building, which would be built behind the fence. He also would like to know how it fits in with the overall plan. McLaughlin stated the design guidelines recommend building close to the street, with parking in the rear. When the alleys and sidewalks are improved through the LID, Fourth Street will be dead ended, Ashland Historic Commission Minutes October 6, 1993 Page 4 and after Southern Pacific sells its property across the tracks, it will go through. If the Fourth Street access is used before the improvements, it will have to be prepared for paving. Here again, it would be helpful to know the future use and how it will tie in. The building, as submitted, does not involve future use. Hoxmeier said the proposed building fits into a larger complex, and that he began with the least intrusion on the property. Hook stated he has a problem with the blank west elevation, not necessarily for the view, but for natural light. Hoxmeier said it faces the Grange parking lot and gas station. It is also where the future building would tie in. The Commission concurred that while it is nice to keep and maintain the grassy area for now, it is important to be able to visualize what the project will look like in the future. Based on what has been turned in, the Commission felt it could not give a final answer. McLaughlin stated it is suitable to make sure this project is still on track from what Hoxmeier originally presented more than a year ago, as details in the entire subdivision have changed. Hoxmeier agreed to come back to the Review Board meeting on October 14th. BUILDING PERMITS Permits reviewed by members of the Historic Commission and issued during the month of September follow: 277 Fifth Street 531 Scenic Drive 41 Fifth Street 234 Vista Street 91 Gresham Street 151 North Pioneer Street 455 Siskiyou Boulevard 348 East Main Street 561 "C" Street 124 Nob Hill Street 156 Sixth Street 38-40 Water Street 151 North Pioneer Street 38-40 Water Street 240 East Main Street Dan Jackson Casey Bright Leslie Randall Sid DeBoer Kathy Buffington Archie's Cleaners City of Ashland Suzanne McQueen Tom Farrell Christine Edner Paddy/Marga Schweitzer Garden Cottage Antiques Archie's Cleaners Garden Cottage Antiques Cotton & Co. Professional Building Permit Extension Addition Garage* Kitchen Remodel Parapet Wall Repair/Replace Slab Interior Remodel Deck Replace Carport Remodel/Addition Temporary Sign Sign Sign Sign REVIEW BOARD Following is the schedule (rtntil the next meeting) for the Review Board, which meets every Thursday at least from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the Planning Department: Ashland Historic Commission Minutes October 6, 1993 Page 5 October 7 October 14 October 21 October 28 Skibby Hook, Skibby, Wood, and Lewis Hook, Skibby, Ennis, and Lewis Skibby, Wood, and Johnson OLD BUSINESS Applegate Trail Plaque Skibby reported he has not heard again from the California-Oregon Trails Association. The final wording on the plaque will determine the location. In 1996, the Chamber of Commerce will be celebrating the Applegate Trail. The Chamber has been discussing its own marker, which would be more specific to the Ashland area. Alley Committee McLaughlin said that with the Transportation Plan update, alleys are included. They will be addressed within a year as part of the Goals and Policies which will be adopted. Everyone involved in alley concerns will be able to contribute. Relocation of Community Development McLaughlin explained the Staff Report is not supportive of the Historic Commission view on the relocation of Community Development in the proposed new building. The Planning Commission decision will be based on criteria. The City Council has the discretion to make a more philosophical decision. Granite Street Fountain Hook reported the Water Department would like to put a working fountain on the City property across the street fi'om the fountain on Granite Street. Evidently the person who owns the property on the corner does not want a working fountain in front of her house. The existing fountain would be replaced with the one in better shape. The Commission agreed with this. Loss of Residential Use in R-2 Zones Ennis stated he and Chambers had talked about presenting what they have done to date to the City Council for guidance. McLaughlin responded there will be a study session on October 26th to discuss neighborhood plans. Typical questions will be - what areas are we looking at?- how do they fit in? - what will they entail?- what are the design issues? Priority areas will be Strawberry Ashland Historic Commission Minutes October 6, 1993 Page 6 Lane, Mountain Avenue and the Railroad District. Energies will be focused on neighborhood plans. The Commission agreed Ennis and Chambers should talk with the Planning Commission members who were on the subcommittee and send the work to the City Council. Hopefully, it will then get on the priority list. Ennis will write the memo. NEW BUSINESS It was noted the tax freeze for National Register property will end on January 1, 1994. The Governor did not sign House Bill 2124, which authorized the special tax assessment program, in order to maintain "the integrity of Oregon's land use planning system, and of local governments' ability to protect cultural and historic resources through carefully crafted ordinances and programs." McLaughlin said nothing can happen about the tax freeze now for two more years. ADJOURNMENT With a motion by Hook and second by Skibby, it was the unanimous decision of the Commission to adjourn the meeting at 10:55 p.m. Ashland Historic Commission Minutes October 6, 1993 Page 7