01/13/2025 Historic Preservation Commission

City of Cape May Historic Preservation Commission Minutes January 13, 2025 Opening: The regular meeting of the City of Cape May Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) was called to order by Vice Chairperson Tom Carroll at 6:00 p.m. In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, adequate notice of this meeting was provided. Pledge of Allegiance Mr. Carroll introduced Yogi Kurtz as a new HPC Alternate and noted that Mr. Coupland resigned. Roll Call Mr. Carroll, Vice Chair Present Mr. Boecker Present Mr. Stevenson Present Mr. Testa Present Ms. Pessagno Present Ms. Wilson-Stridick Present Mr. Hammeran Present Mr. Johnson (Alternate 1) Present Mr. Kurtz (New Alternate II) Present Also Present: HPC Solicitor Chris Gillin-Schwartz, HPC Secretary Judith Decker, Deputy Mayor Lorraine Baldwin. REORGANIZATION OATHS OF OFFICE Solicitor Gillin-Schwartz swore in Commissioners John Boecker, Kevin Hammeran, and Alternates Steven Johnson and William Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz was seated at the dais. Appointment of Chairperson: Motion made by Mr. Carroll nominating John Boecker as the Chairperson to the Commission for the year 2025 seconded by Mr. Testa and carried 6-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: John Boecker. The gavel was handed over the Mr. Boecker as Chair. Appointment of Vice Chairperson: Motion made by Mr. Boecker nominating Jim Testa as the Vice Chairperson to the Commission for the year 2025 seconded by Ms. Pessagno and carried 6-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: Mr. Testa. Appointment of Legal Advisor/Solicitor to the Commission: Motion made by Mr. Boecker nominating Chris Gillin Schwartz, Esquire, as Legal Advisor/Solicitor to the Commission for the year 2025, seconded by Ms. Wilson Stridick and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. HPC Minutes January 13, 2025 1 Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. Designation of Official Newspaper: Motion made by Mr. Boecker for designation of the Cape May County Herald as the Official Newspaper of the Commission for the year 2025 seconded by Mr. Carroll and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. Designation of Meeting Dates and Time: Motion made by Mr. Boecker to approve the advertised meeting dates for the Commission for the year 2025 and January 2026 seconded by Ms. Wilson Stridick and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. Appointment of the HPC Member Review Committee: Motion made by Mr. Boecker that the HPC Review Committee be composed of the Chair, Mr. Boecker, and Mr. Hammeran with the two Alternate members rotating the third position to meet on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. seconded by Mr. Testa and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. MINUTES: December 16, 2024 Motion made by Ms. Wilson Stridick to approve the minutes of December 16, 2024, seconded by Mr. Carroll and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. RESOLUTIONS: Authorizing Appointment of Christopher Gillin-Schwartz as Solicitor of HPC - Resolution 2025-01 Motion made by Mr. Carroll to approve Resolutions #2025-01 seconded by Ms. Pessagno and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. APPLICATIONS APPROVED/DENIED IN REVIEW: Heritage Triangle Condo Association, 215 Heritage Lane, 1019/29 C01-20, Non-contributing – Wrap Beams Bradley Trust, 227 Beach Avenue #703, 1019/24 C-703, Non-contributing – Condenser Hrabarchuk, 111 Howard Street, 1068/1, Contributing – Six Basement Windows Menei, 412 Congress Street, 1027/6.01, Non-contributing – Paver Walkway O’Donnell, 612 Hughes Street, 1057/4, Contributing – Roofing 302-05 Washington LLC, 302-304 Washington Street, 1035/3, Contributing – Siding, Doors – Denied 1842 Investments Cape May, 409 Elmira Street, 1060/33, Non-contributing – Fence Motion made by Ms. Wilson Stridick to ratify the approvals and/or denials in review seconded by Ms. Pessagno and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. OLD BUSINESS: HPC Minutes January 13, 2025 2 Raimo – 266 Grant Street, Block 1019, Lot 7, Not-Rated New House – Amended Demolition Request Mr. Boecker cited the background of the project. Partial demolition was approved in 2023 retaining the rear addition of the house. Zoning Board Floor Area Ratio denial led the owner to decide to seek complete demolition of the large one-story rear addition that is below flood elevation. In January 2024 HPC granted conceptual approval of the plan for a new house on the site incorporating that addition. In attendance were Architect Catherine Lorentz and Anthony Caporizzo, son in law of the owner and certified to represent the owner, seeking to amend HPC Resolution 2023-46 to allow complete demolition of the Non- contributing existing house and final approval of a slightly amended plan for the front façade as per meetings with the Approval in Review (AIR) committee. The garage will remain. Ms. Lorentz presented documents to amend the demolition request and reviewed the materials for the new house including the FEMA elevation requirements. The current final plan proposal meets all zoning requirements as the rear addition will be removed with the demolition request amendment. She stated that the height of the new house will be appropriate for the neighborhood at 32’9” above flood. Materials proposed are: diamond shaped asphalt roofing shingles, Hardie Plank siding and facias, Andersen 400 windows, Intex PVC trims and railings, PVC wood look decking, and red brick veneer on the foundations, piers and driveway strips. Sheets G-00 and A-03 submitted January 7 reflect the front façade changes as one double hung window and two doors rather than three small windows on the second floor and the addition of Chippendale railing panels. Motion made by Mr. Boecker to grant final approval conditional upon red brick veneer applied to the foundation, a revised page A-01, the use of the smooth side of the Hardie Board, the rafter tail revision, submission of one final set of dated plans with a cover letter noting these conditions and an amendment to Resolution 2023-46 to allow complete demolition, excluding the garage, seconded by Mr. Testa and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. CMC of Cape May LLC – 721 Beach Avenue, Block 1064 Lot 16, Non-contributing Railings, Pool Fence Owner of the Heritage Inn Gwen Finlay returned with contractor Scott Johnson after the proposal was tabled in December 2024. Following meetings with the AIR committee of alternate products to replace the existing wood hotel railings, HPC and the applicant settled on prefabricated sections of Timber Tech railing with a simple square baluster design. HPC agreed that the proposed product was similar to rails used on other Non-contributing hotels along Beach Avenue. Motion made by Mr. Boecker to grant final approval for the wood railings and pool fence to be replaced with Timber Tech Radiance Express with square five quarters inch spindles 4” centers conditional upon submitting a revised final application form with only the proposed product seconded by Mr. Stevenson and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. NEW BUSINESS: 302-05 Washington LLC – 302-304 Washington Street, Block 1035, Lot 3, Contributing Siding, One Door Cape Resorts Project Manager Robert Shepanski presented the project to replace siding on the Northeast side of the building and one door and transom which was denied in review on October 2, 2024. Mr. Shepanski proposed replacement of the original ship lap siding on the northeast side of the building with 6” clapboard as per the remainder of the building and the retail unit D entry door to the cheese shop. He was unable to discover any historical photos of the door or transom and stated he did not think the current divided light transom was historic. He proposed to replace the existing door and transom with a single unit door/transom as per the other doors on the HPC Minutes January 13, 2025 3 building. HPC determined that the siding replacement proposal was reasonable to match the rest of the building but asked for more documentation for removing the transom as they considered that it appeared historic and therefore not appropriate to remove. Discussion followed. HPC asked the applicant to do more research on the transom window. The Solicitor advised that the siding proposal could be approved via resolution next month but not the transom replacement as a result of the conversation. Motion made by Mr. Testa to approve the siding replacement proposal but table the request for the transom replacement seconded by Ms. Wilson Stridick and carried 7-0. Those in favor: Mr. Carroll, Ms. Pessagno, Ms. Wilson Stridick, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Hammeran, Mr. Testa, Mr. Boecker. Those opposed: none. Those abstaining: none. PUBLIC COMMENT Public comment was opened at 7:42 p.m. and closed at 7:42 p.m. with no public comment. DISCUSSION HPC Alignment Workshop Public Meeting Mr. Boecker introduced a proposal to hold a public meeting for an HPC alignment workshop. It was agreed to schedule the meeting in late February in the afternoon with a final date to be determined with assistance from Jake Stevenson and Janice Wilson Stridick to develop an agenda. Parking Amendment Proposal Mr. Boecker asked HPC to reconsider the proposal to revise the parking ordinance regarding parking under structures. After hearing comments from the Planning Board, he advised tabling that effort. Discussion followed with HPC in agreement. Historic District Map HPC determined to continue discussions to amend the historic district map in 2025. Mr. Boecker proposed scheduling a meeting with the Manager and Planning Board regarding this project and developing a letter for residents. Interagency Council The idea of an interagency council composed of representatives of Council, Planning Commission, Zoning Board and management to advance communication was proposed by Ms. Pessagno. HPC supported the idea. Mr. Boecker agreed to pursue this with the City Manager. HPC Budget Secretary Decker requested a budget item for a list of over 200 properties that need to be surveyed. Mr. Boecker and Ms. Decker will meet with the Manager to discuss the 2025 HPC budget. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Testa at 8:00 p.m. with all in favor. A verbatim recording of said meeting is available on the City of Cape May website. Respectfully Submitted, Judith E. Decker HPC Secretary HPC Minutes January 13, 2025 4