Historic District Commission

HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting Minutes September 8, 2014 CALL TO ORDER: Mr. Eric Greene, called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Kaytee Faris Jim Hopkins Eric Greene Bruce Phillips Susan Baldwin, City Commission Liaison Members Excused: Kim Tuck, Mike Troutman & Dan Buscher Staff Present: Marcel Stoetzel, Assistant City Attorney Glenn Perian, Senior Planner, Planning Dept. Leona Parrish, Admin. Assistant, Planning Dept. ADDITIONS / DELETIONS TO AGENDA: Item on under New Business on today’s agenda should be listed under Old Business. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES: MOTION MADE BY MS. KAYTEE FARIS TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FOR THE AUGUST 11, 2014 HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MEETING AS PRESENTED, SECONDED BY MR. JIM HOPKINS. ALL IN FAVOR; NONE OPPOSED; MINUTES APPROVED CORRESPONDENCE: None OLD BUSINESS: A) 200 Capital Avenue, N.E. - (Request from Dr. Gregory D. Dotson, for a “Notice to Proceed” to demolish detached garage.) TABLED from the June 9, 2014 and given a 45-day extension at the August 11, 2014 Historic District Commission meetings in order to provide additional repair quotes and information. Dr. Dotson was present to speak regarding his request for a “Notice to Proceed” to demolish his detached garage. Stated at the last meeting he had an interested party for his property, which is not valid now and is here today to ask to demolish his garage. Discussion: Mr. Bruce Phillips asked Dr. Dotson if he had contacted his lender to inform them of his request to demolish the garage as it could possibly depreciate his property value. Dr. Dotson stated no he had not. 1 Mr. Eric Greene asked Mr. Glenn Perian if he had anything to add that is not in the staff report regarding staff’s recommendation to demolish. Mr. Glenn Perian stated no, other than the discussion from the previous meetings it is apparent that not only is the exterior of the building up for the commissions consideration, but also the structure has some major interior problems that will need to be dealt with that will affect the decision of the dealing with the exterior; as the building inspector had noted in a previous report the repair cost estimate is over $44,000 dollars to make the structure safe and be compliant with city code, including the interior and should be considered when making their decision. Mr. Bruce Phillips asked Dr. Dotson if he had the monies to do the repairs and what was the cost estimate for demolition. Dr. Dotson stated no, he did not and that he was in touch with a Mr. Gene Pritch from Grand Rapids and provided his quote for the demolition with his application and Mr. Pritch was ready to do the demolition and get the permits with the permission from the Historic District Commission. Ms. Faris stated she had seen on-line that this company also does salvage work and asked Dr. Dotson if he would work with them to salvage some of the architecture parts of the structure. Dr. Dotson stated his wife said someone noted they would like the garage doors and would follow-up and see if he can have them salvaged. Mr. Hopkins asked if the city would have any legal issue with the selling of historic building parts. Mr. Perian stated he was not aware of any. Mr. Marcel Stoetzel, Assist. City Attorney; stated he did not know if he could provide an answer to that question at this time. Mr. Bruce Phillips stated the same issue came up with Clara’s a number of years ago when they had done some door replacements and it was not an issue as they were going to be thrown away and if they are salvageable someone should have the opportunity to save them. Ms. Faris stated she would hate to see it all go to a land fill and feel they are here to preserve history, so if some of it could be saved it would be best. With no others wishing to speak, Mr. Greene asked commissioners for a motion. MOTION WAS MADE BY MR. JIM HOPKINS TO APPROVE A NOTICE TO PROCEED TO DEMOLISH GARAGE FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 200 CAPITAL AVENUE, N.E., PURSUANT TO HOUSING CODE CHAPTER 1470 AS AMENDED BY THE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION; SECONDED BY MR. BRUCE PHILLIPS. ALL IN FAVOR; NONE OPPOSED; MOTION APPROVED NEW BUSINESS: None PUBLIC COMMENTS: None COMMENTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS AND STAFF: 2 Ms. Kaytee Faris stated this decision was done with a very heavy heart to demolish the structure and asked that in the future as a commission they could explore options to assist homeowners to find funding or different avenues of revenue for repairs. Mr. Bruce Phillips stated he was in agreement as he grew-up on the north-side and is also aware of a practical line to cross and this building had gone beyond salvaging with having a great expense to the owner to pay to save the building. Mr. Jim Hopkins was in agreement with the building inspector that stated the safety of the public verses saving the structure and felt that the board had done as best they could in making the decision to approve the demolition. Mr. Eric Greene stated city staff was great and he echo’s all their comments and that this was not an easy call for any of them and believes they made the right decision. Mr. Glenn Perian reminded the commission of the upcoming training session scheduled for October 20th, from 4:00-6:30 pm at City Hall, Room 302A; stated he would be providing more information as this date gets closer. Mr. Eric Greene asked to make sure we are in compliant with the “Open Meetings Act” and that this training session would be properly noticed and advertised. Ms. Parrish stated yes it would be noticed. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Eric Greene, adjourned the meeting at 4: 26 P.M. Submitted by: Leona A. Parrish, Administrative Assistant, Planning Department 3