Historic Review Board

MINUTES TOWN OF FORT MILL HISTORIC REVIEW BOARD June 11th, 2019 Council Chambers – 112 Confederate Street 4:30 PM Present: David Booth, Scott Couchenour, LeAnne Burnett Morse, Samantha Nifong, Planning Director Penelope Karagounis, Senior Planner Alex Moore, Assistant Town Manager Chris Pettit Guests: Members of BSA Troop 250-G and Kelly Clark (Kuester Commercial) CALL TO ORDER Chairperson LeAnne Burnett Morse called the meeting to order at 4:36 PM. Ms. LeAnne Burnett Morse, normally the vice-chairperson, presided in place of Mr. Louis Roman. Mr. Roman was absent due to a back-injury suffered in a recent car accident. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairwoman Burnett Morse entertained a motion to approve the minutes from the April 16th, 2019, meeting as presented. Senior Planner Moore interjected that two corrections needed to be made. Moore noted that in preparing the minutes he had inadvertently transposed Megan Brinton into the record rather than Carmen Banks. Moore stated that the minutes should reflect that Carmen Banks was in attendance and participated in the April 16th HRB meeting. Senior Planner Moore also stated that the submittal date of the previous meeting’s minutes needed correcting. Moore stated that the minutes should reflect a submittal date of 6/11/19. Moore apologized to the HRB for these errors and noted that he would correct these items. Scott Couchenour made a motion to approve the minutes with the adjustments as noted above. David Booth seconded the motion. The minutes were then approved with by a vote of 4-0. NEW BUSINESS Chairperson Burnette-Morse opened the new business portion of the meeting by noting the contents of the agenda and the associated packet of information which included the application for final Bailey Bill certification for 100 Main Street in downtown Fort Mill. Senior Planner Moore noted that the reason for including the HRB agenda from 6/14/16 was to provide background information on the Bailey Bill project at 100 Main Street. The 6/14/16 HRB meeting agenda included the application for preliminary Bailey Bill certification for this respective property. Chairperson Burnette-Morse asked if the HRB members were all familiar with the Bailey Bill concept. She suggested that Staff give some additional background on the Bailey Bill. Senior Planner Moore stated that he had information on the Bailey Bill concept as related to the subject property. Chairperson Burnette-Morse asked Senior Planner Moore to proceed with this discussion. Senior Planner Moore then stated that the current meeting was for the required final certification review of completed work at 100 Main Street pursuant to the property owners request to be granted local tax credits for that property. He noted the State of South Carolina enabling statute which permits local governments to grant special tax assessments, or abatements, to rehabilitated historic properties. For municipalities in South Carolina this is Section 5-21-140 of the code of laws and is simply referred to as the “Bailey Bill.” Ms. Nifong asked Senior Planner Moore what he meant by abatement. Moore responded that this simply means there would be a reduction in the tax amount due for a property when final Bailey Bill certification. He also noted that the reduction in taxes would only involve that portion of taxes due to the Town of Fort Mill. For York County, subsequent to Bailey Bill final certification, the property would continue to be assessed at the standard millage rate with no reduction. Chairperson Burnette-Morse stated that it was her understanding that the Bailey Bill would lock in the assessed value of the property at the pre-improvement amount for a specified period. Chris Pettit, Assistant Town Manager, then explained the role of the HRB in finalizing the application. The Bailey Bill locks in the value for a period of twenty-years. This is only for the Town of Fort Mill’s portion of the taxes. The pre-rehabilitation value of the project was $586,000.00. To be eligible for the tax reduction, the applicant must put 20% of this amount back into the property in the form of structural rehabilitation. Pettit noted that the applicant put at least $1,701,190.51 into the project, thus greatly exceeding the minimum investment. Mr. Pettit then reiterated that the applicant had previously received preliminary certification from the HRB for this Bailey Bill project in 2016. He then noted that the final certification now required from HRB would close out the procedural portion of the overall project and allow the property owner to be assessed, for the Town’s portion of the tax bill, at $586,000.00 for twenty-years. That portion of the tax bill for York County and the York County School District would not be reduced. Senior Planner Moore then summarized the requirements for final Bailey Bill certification and made note of the status of each obligation as pertaining to 100 Main Street. 1. The property has received preliminary certification: As noted within the general information section, this property received preliminary certification on June 24th, 2016. Please see Exhibit ‘B’ which includes the preliminary certification application along with the agenda from the June 24th, 2016 HRB meeting which includes the rehabilitation plan. 2. The minimum expenditures for rehabilitation as set forth by the Fort Mill Code of Ordinances have been incurred and paid:  The required expenditures for this project are 20% of $586,500.00 (FMV). The applicant has provided information indicating that this minimum expenditure threshold has been met. 3. The reviewing authority has reviewed the completed rehabilitation work and has determined that all such work is consistent with the plans approved by the reviewing authority during preliminary certification. The Fort Mill Historic Review Board (HRB) shall serve as the reviewing authority for all completed rehabilitation work submitted as part of the final certification process: The review by the HRB must be based on the standards of rehabilitation which are listed in the attached Exhibit ‘A.’ 4. All application fees have been paid in full by the applicant: All application fees have been paid in full. 5. The property has met all other requirements of the Fort Mill Code of Ordinances: The property has met all other requirements of the Fort Mill Code of Ordinances. Senior Planner Moore then presented the pre-rehabilitation photos of 100 Main Street as well as the post- rehabilitation photos to indicate the work that had been completed. Mr. Booth then asked if the Bailey Bill included interior and exterior. Senior Planner Moore noted that it included both. Assistant Town Manager Pettit stated that it did include both, but that it was principally exterior. Senior Planner Moore noted that based on the 20% minimum expenditure requirement (of pre-rehab value), the property needed to have a minimum of $117,300.00 invested to qualify for final certification of the Bailey Bill. With a minimum of $1,701,190.51 invested into the property, this project easily qualified for final certification. Chairperson Burnette-Morse then asked if there were any other questions of staff. There being none, she asked if there were any other items that the HRB wished to discuss. Senior Planner Moore then noted that Ms. Clark was in attendance representing the applicant. Chairperson Burnette-Morse informed Ms. Clark that she could come to the podium and address the HRB if she wished. Ms. Clark stated that she did not have anything additional to share unless the HRB had questions for her. Mr. Booth asked if the expenditures were broken out by exterior and interior. Senior Planner Moore stated that the expenditures were indeed noted as to whether they were interior or exterior. Assistant Town Manager Pettit then clarified that both interior and exterior work qualified for Bailey Bill expenditures. Mr. Couchenour asked Staff if a change of ownership in the business could affect the property’s Bailey Bill status. He used the example of new signage. Senior Planner Moore noted that it could change the status if new signage were not properly designed, but that such a change would be required to be reviewed by the HRB so such a proposal could be turned down by the Board. There being no other discussion, Chairperson Burnette-Morse entertained a motion for approval of the application for final Bailey Bill certification. Mr. Couchenour made a motion to approve. Ms. Nifong seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 4-0. Chairperson Burnette-Morse then held that the final certification was approved. Senior Planner Moore then noted that Staff had no other business to present. There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 5:10 PM. Respectfully submitted, Alex J. Moore, AICP Senior Planner August 5th, 2019