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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-01-08 Historic MINASHLAND HISTORIC COMMISSION Minutes January 8, 1992 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Jim Lewis at 7:34 p.m. Members present were Jim Lewis, Terry Skibby, Jane Dancer, Keith Chambers, Jean MacKenzie, Thomas Hunt, Deane Bradshaw and Le Hook. Also present were Senior Planner John McLaughlin, Secretary Sonja Akerman and Council Liaison Susan Reid. Lorraine Whitten was absent. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Hook moved and Dancer seconded to approve the Minutes of the December 4, 1991 meeting as mailed. The motion was unanimously passed. STAFF REPORTS PA 91-158 Conditional Use Permit Water Street/Under Viaduct Medford Growers and Crafters Association McLaughlin stated this action was called up for a public hearing last month. MacKenzie questioned the loading area for the brewery. McLaughlin answered Joyce Schillen will be meeting with Staff and brewery representatives before next Tuesday's meeting. The Commission had no further comments and stood by last month's motion. PA 91-160 Conditional Use Permit and Site Review 331 Lori Lane Gary Brenden McLaughlin explained this house was originally located at 424 North Main Street, then moved to its present location on Lori Lane. It is located in an E-1 zone, so an office is a permitted use. A motel is allowed with a Conditional Use Permit. Neither use affects the exterior of the structure. Skibby related Gary Brenden had worked with the Review Board in getting plans approved for the deck and stairway. Gary Brenden stated he agreed to put on more gingerbread and paint the deck and stairway rather than stain them. Skibby moved to recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permit and Site Review. Bradshaw amended the motion to include the Review Board recommendations be maintained. Hook seconded the motion and it passed as amended. PA 92-011 Conditional Use Permit 120 North Second Street David Allen McLaughlin stated this house has had major remodeling work completed during the past year. The owner wants to convert it to an office, with parking space in the back of the property. Staff is working with the applicant to provide a residential unit in order to keep some form of residential character. It is in a transition area where purely commercial is going into residential. The house, however, is very small. The Commission agreed the upgrading of the house looks very nice. Bradshaw moved and Chambers seconded to recommend approval of this application with the encouragement a residential unit be provided if possible. The motion was unanimously approved. PA 92-013 Conditional Use Permit 174 North Main Street Marilyn Krichman Actions at this site have been reviewed several times, McLaughlin said. Last year the owner got approval for two dwelling units and a Variance to construct a two-story structure within the required setback area. She also received approval for a two-unit traveller's accommodation. She is now requesting to build the two-story structure and use the above space as her residence during the theatre season. The third unit would be her existing one in the house. The same design will be used as approved last year. Everything else is the same. With a motion by Hook and second by Dancer, this action was unanimously recommended for approval. PA 92-015 Conditional Use Permit Water Street City of Ashland/Recycling P.A.C.T. McLaughlin explained the City and P.A.C.T. are requesting a six month extension. It was originally approved for a two year period with a one year review. The City and P.A.C.T. are now gearing up for permanent approval. The Electric Department used the property for a storage yard and now would like it turned into a park. The "recycling park" will be a joint venture. Landscaping will be increased, sidewalks will be installed, more bins will be added and the existing bins will be upgraded. Most of the concrete will be ripped out. Ashland Historic Commission Minutes January 8, 1992 Page 2 The recycling depot will be moving up toward the street and there will be a trail behind it which goes to Hersey Street. The fence will be removed for the park area, however, the recycling area still needs to be fenced. The City, including the Parks Commission and Parks Department, will be working with P.A.C.T in order to balance everything out. Dancer moved and Skibby seconded to recommend approval of the six month extension. This motion was unanimously passed. PA 92-014 Variance 14 Beach Avenue A! and Carole Gray McLaughlin stated this structure was "up in the air" for at least one and a half years. The owners got a permit for a foundation only. After the foundation was built and the house moved, the adjacent property owner had a survey. It was found the owner of 14 Beach had not constructed the foundation as approved on the building permit and was, in fact, within the required setback area. One criteria for granting Variance approval is that a hardship was not willfully self-imposed. Therefore, Staff is recommending denial of this request. It is also recommending the foundation be removed and rebuilt to the proper setbacks. Lewis stated he has a conflict of interest with this action as he lived next door for six years. As a builder, he could tell the owner was attempting to make a two story dwelling out of the structure because of the extensive excavation work. However, no subsequent plans were ever submitted. The house, as it is standing today, is at least three feet from where it originally stood. In his opinion, self imposition is an understatement. He went on to say it is a sad fact that Mrs. Flood (the adjacent neighbor) had to do her own survey. Skibby added the house does not seem that well supported even now. Hunt maintained it has completely changed the streetscape. Lucy Flood, 41 Gresham Street, asked what the smallest amount of land would be in order to convert the house into a duplex, as this had been implied as the owner's intent. McLaughlin answered the smallest would be 7,000 square feet and added 14 Beach Avenue has approximately 2,500 square feet. When questioned about the height of a story, McLaughlin said as long as it was less than six feet, it could be considered a daylight basement. Bradshaw moved to recommend denial of this action. Hook seconded the motion. Chambers further recommended that since the plans were never approved as it is, the foundation should be removed, then a complete set of plans be submitted. The motion, as amended, passed unanimously with Lewis abstaining. Ashland Historic Commission Minutes January 8, 1992 Page 3 PA 92-016 Conditional Use Permit 637 and 649 East Main Street Bernie Zieminski McLaughlin said these houses have been operating as traveller's accommodations for over a year now. There have been no complaints and the applicant has complied with all the conditions. Alley paving was deferred for one year or until there was an alley paving plan. A letter from a neighbor has been received requesting the alley be paved. McLaughlin also stated Pat Acklin (City Council member) wanted it to go on record she has driven through the alley and believes it should be paved. Staff is recommending permanent approval for the traveller's accommodation and that the alley be paved. The Commission agreed the properties certainly look nicer. Bernie Zieminski stated he has had the alley graded and holes filled within his portion of the alley. The rest is in bad shape. He maintained he would not let his part get bad and will be grading it again. He has also agreed to pave if necessary. Zieminski then questioned City maintenance and responsibility. He added he would be happy to use his own backhoe if the City would provide the gravel. Zelpha Hutton, 59 Sixth Street, asked which neighbor requested the paving, as most neighbors do not want it paved. When McLaughlin stated it was Mr. Willis, she said although he owns property in the area, he does not live there, and he has other gripes. Chambers stated he does not like to see alleys paved. McLaughlin said Staff is caught in the middle. Reid added the policy is set by Council and since no alternative has been brought forth, Staff is obligated to follow Council policy. After discussing reasons for the delay in bringing forth alternatives to paving to the Council, Bradshaw, Hook, Skibby and Chambers volunteered to help the alley group. Hutton then said she wanted to compliment the owner as she feels the project was very well done, it was an improvement and they have had a nice clientele. She admitted she was skeptical when the application first came through. Chambers moved to approve the permanent status of the Conditional Use Permit, with the recommendation no action be taken to pave this alley for one more year, during which time the alley group will work on alternatives to paving and turn in its recommendations to the City Council. Hook seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed. Ashland Historic Commission Minutes January 8, 1992 Page 4 PA 92-006 Conditional Use Permit and Variance 540 Holly Street Tim and Joanne Rutter In 1989, the applicants were granted approval to use one unit in a duplex as a traveller's accommodation, McLaughlin said. A Variance was also granted because it was more than 200 feet from a collector street. The Planning Commission found unusual conditions in the high traffic count for Holly Street and the historic character of the house (which was owned by the healer Susie Jessel). The Planning Commission, however, also imposed a condition that there would be no further development on the flag lot as long as the B & B is in operation. The applicants are now requesting the duplex to be used as a two-unit traveller's accommodation and to build a new residence on the flag lot. Staff does not see a problem with this request and feels what they are proposing is appropriate. McLaughlin also said there have been no complaints filed. Bradshaw said the point was well taken about the traffic generated from the new condos off Iowa Street. The worst has been done as far as traffic is concerned. McLaughlin added the traffic counts were higher on Holly Street than upper Iowa Street. Tim Rutter explained he went to Public Works to find out if Holly Street could be changed to a collector street. He was advised to go for a Variance instead. He went on to say they provide a historical rendition of Susie Jessel and that they have people stop by quite often just to get information on her. He stated they have gone around to all their neighbors and no one objects to their building a residence on the flag lot. He then presented a conceptual drawing of a Craftsman style house he would like to build. McLaughlin, when questioned about the development of the flag lot, said the condition was imposed by the Planning Commission, so the Planning Commission will have to discuss it and decide what to do. Hook remarked the Rutters have stated their position well and further moved to recommend approval of both the Conditional Use Permit and Variance. Dancer seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved. BUILDING PERMITS Permits reviewed by members of the Historic Commission and issued during the month of December follow: American Pacific Title Vicki Lamb Brent Thompson Beasey McMillan 346 E. Main St. 59 Manzanita St. 582 Allison St. 568 E. Main St. Demolish Int. Walls Bay Window Addition Remodel Ashland Historic Commission Minutes January 8, 1992 Page 5 American Pacific Title Steve/Christine Carey Jane Stewart Craig Wells 346 E. Main St. 542 Allison St. 155 8th St. 72 Dewey St. Remodel Carport Remodel/Addition Garage Conversion Review Board Following is the schedule (until the next meeting) for the Review Board, which meets every Thursday from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the Planning Department: January 9 January 16 January 23 January 30 Dancer, Bradshaw, Lewis and Skibby Hook, Chambers, Dancer and Skibby Chambers, Bradshaw, MacKenzie and Skibby Hook, Bradshaw, Lewis and Skibby OLD BUSINESS 228 "B" Street Hook stated that as he drove by earlier in the day, he noticed evidence of work and there were new 2 x 4's in the yard. Lewis reported he and Bill Emerson were shown through house on Monday by Bob Miller. There has been extensive damage to the upstairs. Both he and Emerson recommended the upstairs be cleaned out and a temporary roof cover be constructed to prevent further damage. They also recommended the Millers mark and remove the trim, then store in the carriage house. Lewis emphasized to Miller if he could not properly restore the home, then it should be put on the market. Michael O'Brien, 184 "B" Street (President of The B Street Historic Neighborhood Association) stated he has a small work party available to help at any time. He has also been continually receiving phone messages from people willing to help. A number of people signed a statement which will be sent to the Mayor and City Council which supports the revision and strengthening of ordinances providing for historic preservation. McLaughlin stated he and City Attorney Paul Nolte have been looking into preservation ordinances which will be constitutional under Oregon law. The Historic Commission will write a memo to the Mayor and City Council urging them to request Staff to make the historic preservation ordinance a priority. Supporters of this will attend the City Council meeting. Special Assessment It was noted a letter written by Hunt representing Historic Commission opinions was sent to SHPO. Ashland Historic Commission Minutes January 8, 1992 Page 6 Earthquake Risk to Ashland's Downtown Lewis stated he and Skibby attended the meeting on December 20th. They both felt it was very interesting and worthwhile. Lewis asserted it was recommended if an owner of an old masonry building is planning to remodel, he should be encouraged to retrofit the building in order to slow deterioration and save lives. This is all a relatively new science, as it has only been in the past few years that scientists have discovered the earthquake potential for this area. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business. ADJOURNMENT With a motion by Chambers and second by Hook, it was the unanimous decision to adjourn the meeting at 9:35 p.m. Ashland Historic Commission Minutes January 8, 1992 Page 7