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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPC Packet 06-20-2023HASTINGS HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION Agenda for Meeting of June 20, 2023 Regular business at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall in the Volunteer Room I. Call to Order and Quorum II. Minutes: A. May 16, 2023 III. Certificate of Approval Review A. 119 8th Street East – Landscaping B. 306 2nd Street West – Retaining Wall IV. OHDS – Original Hastings Design Standards Review A. 200 Maple Street – Remodel and second story addition V. Business and Information VI. Adjourn The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on July 18, 2023 at Hastings City Hall HASTINGS HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION Minutes of the Meeting of May 16, 2023 Held at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, Volunteer Room I. Quorum: Commissioners: Youngren, Peterson, McCoy, Toppin, Bremer, Simacek, Smith, Borchardt, and Alitz Edell (electronically) Councilmember: Pemble Staff: City Planner Fortney II. Minutes: April 18, 2023 A. Chair Toppin approved the minutes III. Certificate of Approval Review A. 600 Tyler Street (SEAS Catholic School) – Mural Staff explained that the proposal fits the City definition of a sign due to the wording and messaging of the proposal. He added that this determination doesn’t appear to change the review criteria other than the submission of a sign permit application. Staff added that the proposal appears to meet all sign requirements of the zoning ordinance. The commission discussed the proposal to paint a mural on the Tyler side of the building. Staff explained the principal considerations for a contributing property are what effect the mural could physically have on the historic materials and follow the Design Guidelines related to paining of masonry. Staff added that according to general guidelines researched the mural theme should also be consistent with that of the historic building. Staff said the primary consideration or any proposal to a noncontributing property are what impact the proposal has to the district and streetscape. Commissioner McCoy said the neighbors facing the mural may want to comment on a final draft of the proposal. Commissioner Youngren said it has become very common to paint murals on movable wood boards that can be painted anywhere and installed or relocated as needed. He added that painting a mural directly on a brick wall is difficult because the surface is very rough. Commissioner Alitz Edell said it doesn’t see appropriate for the HPC to approve painting of bricks on some buildings and not others, if it is bad for them. Fortney said none of the Design Guidelines directed at preserving historical fabric of buildings apply to non-contributing properties. Fortney added that he is planning on informing the applicant that painting directly on the bricks is not in best practice for the long-term care of masonry. Chair Toppin said the content of the proposal is not a major consideration, but they would need to review a final proposal before they could provide approval. Motion by Commissioner Smith to table the proposal until a final draft is submitted, seconded by Youngren; motion approved 8-0-1 by rollcall (Peterson Abstained). IV. Business A. Preservation Awards Committee Chair Toppin updated the Commission on the Preservation Awards ceremony at the City Council meeting the previous night. V. Adjourn Motion by Borchardt to adjourn the meeting at 7:37 pm, seconded by Bremer; motion approved 9-0 by rollcall. Respectfully Submitted - Justin Fortney CERTIFICATE APPLICATION 6-2023 119 8th Street East - Patti Blatz – Landscaping. Ca. 1858, Old Hastings Historic District – Contributing Request: The applicant is proposing new site landscaping. Much of the proposed landscaping is plantings, not requiring review. The proposed hardscaping including the stone boulder retaining wall and paver paths do require approval. A natural stone edged paver path is proposed along the front of the house from the main entry sidewalk to the west side patio and to the street sidewalk. A stone boulder retaining wall is proposed to replace the existing treated wood timber retaining wall. Ordinance, Guidelines Residential Guideline 11: Fences and Walls 4. Repair and Conservation of Retaining Walls Existing historic walls … 5. New Retaining Walls New walls should be compatible with the architectural character and scale of the principal building and surrounding streetscape. Masonry retaining walls should be finished with caps and other appropriate details. Limestone, brick, and natural-color split-face (rock-face) concrete block are appropriate materials for the construction of new retaining walls visible from the public right-of-way. Block with a round, striated, or polygonal profile is not appropriate. Landscape timber is not appropriate for new retaining walls visible from the public right of way. Staff Findings The Design Guidelines specifically state that landscape timber retaining walls like the existing are inappropriate and stone walls or similar should be used where visible from the right-of-way. Private sidewalks are not specifically mentioned in the Design Guidelines. The proposed stone edging and pavers are similar to historically available materials and have regularly been approved by the HPC. A rear yard landscaping plan was shown to the HPC September, 2021 as part of a fence review. The specific details of the pathways and landscaping were not discussed because they were not visible from the streets and didn’t affect the house. The proposed pavers are larger than historically available as a manufactured product. Concrete is commonly utilized and approved for walkways and was equally not historically available. Sidewalks are utilitarian and at grade making them not highly visible. The Design Guidelines do not discuss street sidewalk materials and do not discuss private walkways. Retaining wall location Terrible staff drawing of the paver path route. See site plan. Paver example from rear yard CERTIFICATE APPLICATION 306 2nd Street West. John Stebbings & Mellanie Walser – Retaining Wall Ca. 1890, West 2nd Street Historic District- Contributing Request: Install a large retaining wall on the NW lot corner. The wall would be 12-feet tall at the highest point. The applicant would like to build a future garage on the leveled site. Ordinance, Guidelines Design Guidelines pg. 31 11: Fences and Walls 5. New Retaining Walls New walls should be compatible with the architectural character and scale of the principal building and surrounding streetscape. Masonry retaining walls should be finished with caps and other appropriate details. Limestone, brick, and natural-color split- face (rock-face) concrete block are appropriate materials for the construction of new retaining walls visible from the public right-of-way. Block with a round, striated, or polygonal profile is not appropriate. Landscape timber is not appropriate for new retaining walls visible from the public right of way. Staff Findings The proposal will significantly change the grade of the property. The wall will not be visible from West 2nd Street and only slightly visible from the side of the home on Lock and Dam Road. The impact will be greatest from the alley and Lock and Dam Road from the north. There is a double retaining wall with cement rockface blocks. It may be of similar height as proposed, although it is more discretely located and half the length. Due to the height, a fence should be located near the edge, which must be approved by the HPC. The proposed classic-cut rockface concrete blocks appear to meet the design guidelines. They have a flat profile rather than the octagonal modern profile. To: Heritage Preservation Commission From: Justin Fortney, City Planner Date: June 20, 2023 Item: OHDS Review for House remodel – 200 Maple Street – Mark & Michelle Anderson HPC ACTION REQUESTED: Review the proposed house plans and provide recommendation to the City Council. BACKGROUND The applicants are proposing to remodel the house including the addition of a second story and a couple small additions. OHDS Intent The purpose of the OHDS area is to preserve and enhance traditional neighborhood design by reflecting the general characteristics of buildings dating from 1845 to 1940, which is the predominate era for building construction within the OHDS District. OHDS regulations ensure traditional neighborhood design by incorporating design features such as alleys, carriage houses, front porches, period sensitive housing design, sidewalks, and traditional street lighting. Design standards create and enhance the character of older neighborhoods by establishing regulations to guide property development and rehabilitation consistent with the unique historic character of the neighborhood. The intent is to preserve that streetscape’s character rather than the actual historical fabric that historical designation is intended to protect. Design Review The OHDS Guidelines include some design considerations based on the immediate neighborhood average. Some criteria are easier than others to review mathematically. Additionally, many of the proposed treatments suggested in the Standards are not present in many of the homes in the OHDS area. There are some standards that are not applicable to this project as the house is existing. HPC Memorandum Footprint/ width The small additions don’t significantly widen the home because they mostly widen existing jogs in the floorplan. The total with is 34-feet and will be widened to 38-feet. The current foundation size is 1,330 Sf and the proposal would add a couple small additions for an additional 340 Sf, totaling 1,669 Sf. The area home foundations range between 890 Sf and 2,224 Sf, with an average of 1,357 Sf. This is within the average. Height The neighborhood average height is 23-feet tall, as measured using Nearmap GIS. The proposed changes would make the house 24-feet tall. This would be consistent with the neighborhood average. Roofing The roofing materials, pitch, and style are all similar to the majority of the neighborhood homes. Entry/ Door The entry includes details suggested in the Standards like an overhang and are very similar to the present entry of the home. There are a few additional door openings that are proposed as sliding glass doors. They likely wouldn’t be visible from a street. It was difficult to view all sides of the area homes. It appears there is at least one sliding door on a neighborhood home’s deck. Windows Most of the proposed windows are consistent with the homes current banks of double hung windows and similar with the Neighborhood. The exception are the long horizontal awning windows on the west elevation, which aren’t visible from the streets. Additionally, the triangular windows on the north and south are not found on other homes in the Neighborhood and likely only on several homes in the OHDS area. The home is currently not very visible from 2nd Street West. The north elevation is not visible at all from the Maple Street dead end. The south elevation is not highly visible from Maple Street. The north and south elevations would become more visible from the height increase and any vegetation removal. The Standards state that the upper story window openings should Reflect bay pattern and size of immediate neighborhood average. This largely includes singe and two window groupings, mostly double-hung. There are some larger picture windows, groupings of multiple vertical windows and some smaller fixed windows. Siding The proposed siding is “shake siding and trim to match existing”. Garage Addition The detached garage addition is minimal, not highly visible, and consistent with the Standards. Attachments - Location Map - Elevation Plans - Area Photos LOCATION MAP Current view from Maple F a c i n g N o r t h / 2 n d S t r e e t W e s t F a c i n g S o u t h F a c i n g E a s t / M a p l e S t r e e t F a c i n g W e s t Neighborhood Home Pictures Homes viewed from Maple Street Subject home viewed from 2nd St W Adjacent homes viewed from 2nd St south of Maple St One homes north of subject Two homes north of subject Three homes north of subject 2nd St view of the two homes south of maple