Historic Preservation Commission

City of Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93721 Meeting Minutes - Final Monday, January 28, 2019 6:00 PM Regular Meeting Fresno City Hall, Second Floor Room 2165N (Conference Room A) Historic Preservation Commission Chair Patrick Boyd Vice Chair Jason Hatwig, LEED, AP, BD+C Commissioners: Robin Goldbeck; Paul Halajian, AIA; Ron McNary; C. Kristina Roper, M.A.; Don Simmons, Ph.D. Staff: Daniel Zack, AICP Assistant Director; Laura van Onna, Historic Preservation Specialist; Amber Piona, Planner II, Recording Secretary; John Hastrup, Deputy City Attorney II Historic Preservation Meeting Minutes - Final January 28, 2019 Commission I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Chair Patrick Boyd at 6:03 PM. Commissioners Present: Patrick Boyd, Jason Hatwig, Ron McNary, C. Kristina Roper, Don Simmons Staff Present: Laura Groves van Onna, John Hastrup (CAO), and Drew Wilson. Present 5 - Chair Patrick Boyd, Vice Chair Jason Hatwig, Commissioner Don Simmons, Commissioner Ron McNary, and Commissioner C. Kristina Roper Absent 2 - Commissioner Robin Goldbeck, and Commissioner Paul Halajian II. APPROVE MEETING MINUTES A. ID19-1163 Approve Minutes for December 17, 2018. Attachments: HPC_Minutes_Dec_17_2018 The minutes for December 17, 2018 were approved 4-0 with a motion by Commissioner Roper and a second by Commissioner Hatwig. Commissioner Simmons was not present for this vote. III. APPROVE AGENDA The agenda with was approved 5-0 with a motion by Commissioner Hatwig and a second by Commissioner Roper. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. None. V. CONTINUED MATTERS A. None. VI. COMMISSION ITEMS City of Fresno Page 2 Historic Preservation Meeting Minutes - Final January 28, 2019 Commission A. ID19-1164 CONSIDER AND MAKE FINDINGS ON APPLICATION P18-01480 BY THE PROPERTY OWNER FOR TENANT IMPROVEMENT AND STOREFRONT REMODEL AT THE HELM BUILDING (HP #168) LOCATED AT 1101 FULTON STREET PURSUANT TO FMC 12-1606(a)(2) AND 12-1617. Attachments: Helm Building App Attachments Historic Preservation Specialist Laura Groves van Onna presented the staff report on the application by the property owners to install restroom and store fronts to the building. Because the proposal is a substantial alteration the project is required to seek approval of the Commission. The new plans and elevations were explained and reviewed by staff. Primary concerns by staff are the street-facing elevations of this property as they provide the most character defining features of this resource. The design integration of historical elements to the existing building was described. Staff recommends approval with conditions. Commissioner Ron McNary: Are we talking about taking out the doors and the glass windows in the front and re-glazing them with metal? Historic Preservation Specialist Laura Groves van Onna: Right now the storefronts are recessed entries, alcoves that are set back from the property line and the owner is proposing to enclose those alcoves with metal framed glazing. Chair Patrick Boyd: Can we pull up an existing shot? [points to screen] Here we’ve got a typical opening, and sometimes there are pillars in the middle that are covered or blocked, the MetroPCS sign goes over those architectural features, there are gates. They are talking about taking down those signs and redoing each one of these openings. You can see where the pillars are off-angle and the materials don’t match. Looking at the proposed photograph, all of that garbage is pulled off of it and we have our pillars marching all the way down the whole building and in each one of these openings we have the same glass and glazing all the way down. In the notes it said that awnings were optional, based upon owner and tenant, correct? City of Fresno Page 3 Historic Preservation Meeting Minutes - Final January 28, 2019 Commission Groves van Onna: The signage and awnings in the proposed image are there only for conceptual purposes; they have not been officially proposed. Commissioner Jason Hatwig: This is more in line with the historical architecture. This brings it closer with the intent of what the building was originally designed for. Commissioner Don Simmons: This is similar to what happened in the Rowell Building and Hotel Virginia. Assistant Director Dan Zack: Yes, a lot of the upper floors in these buildings are in good shape, but the ground floors were modified. Putting something back that is more like the original can be a big job, but it can really alter the building for the better. Commissioner Kristina Roper: I think this is a great idea. Sevak Khatchadourian (owner, 1101 Fulton St): I just wanted to clarify how the existing storefronts are not historical. Some of the stores are lower than others and now the storefronts will look the same. It will look almost like the original building. Simmons: This may sound picky but some of the tile is exterior as well as interior, will any of that be able to remain? Dan, do you know what I’m talking about? Some of the ceramic tiles on the floor are as old as the building. Zack: Do you mean on the entryway? The proposal that is here tonight leaves the northernmost storefront intact and that has the original tile. The other entries have been altered so drastically I am not sure that any original tile remains. Hatwig: Generally those tiles are pitched so that water could get out, and a finished floor would have to be brought up so that it could be level. City of Fresno Page 4 Historic Preservation Meeting Minutes - Final January 28, 2019 Commission Zack: Right. The finished floor is six to nine inches higher than the sidewalk. Mr. Khatchadourian, other than the northernmost storefront, do you recall if any of the other ones have tile mosaics on the floor of the entryways? Khatchadourian: I don’t believe so. Boyd: Like many of our projects, a lot of interesting archaeology can come up as the projects go along. It will be interesting to see what we find when the newer facades are taken down. Zack: I would be shocked if there weren’t any surprises under there. No Public Comment The application by the property owner for tenant improvements and storefront remodel was approved with conditions 5-0 on a motion by Commissioner Hatwig and a second by Commissioner Simmons. B. ID19-1165 CONSIDER AND MAKE FINDINGS ON APPLICATION P18-02192 BY THE PROPERTY OWNER FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE WAREHOUSE ROW BUILDINGS’ SITE (NR; CR; HP #003) LOCATED AT 700 P STREET PURSUANT TO FMC 12-1606(a)(2) AND 12-1617. Attachments: Warehouse Row App Attachments Chair Boyd recuses himself at 6:15 p.m. Historic Preservation Specialist Laura Groves van Onna presented the staff report of the proposed new project. The project is a new 3 story office building. Because this project is new construction next to existing historic structures it requires review by the Historic Preservation Commission. Primary concerns for staff include the compatibility of new construction with the historic materials, features and spatial relationships that characterize the property as well as its effect on the essential form and integrity of the historic property. Staff reviewed the applicable regulations that apply to new construction of buildings near historic proprieties. Staff recommends approval with conditions. City of Fresno Page 5 Historic Preservation Meeting Minutes - Final January 28, 2019 Commission Hatwig: This property already went through entitlements a while ago, is that correct? When they did adjacent building, they had this area as a future office, right? Zack: My understanding is that the building was called out; however the design of this building was not refined. There was a master plan for the whole block; however this building needs to go through its own entitlement process. The interesting thing about this one is that a vacant lot next to a historic building might not always come before the HPC; however, because of the way the National Register designation was done, this is a National Register site. Since this is a historic site (even though the listed building is gone) we brought it to you. Hatwig: So we’re looking at adjacency with this project. Thank you. William Dyck (2025 Gateway, Ste 101, owner of 700 P St): You’ve seen this project many times before. According to my notes November 6, 2009 was the first time you saw it. We’ve come a long way. Buildings A, B, C, and D are all completed and occupied. We’ve finished Phase II which is the parking lot across the street. We’ve finished Santa Fe Avenue and upgraded all the utilities. The capstone of this project is Building E. Building E was called on the original plans, but like Dan said we didn’t have the final designs because we needed to remediate the soil. The Ice House had underground storage tanks that leaked, and we didn’t get closure on that until 2014. In 2009 we had been proposing a four story building, but we think that three stories would fit in better for the neighborhood. It’s nothing new, but it has been designed and is ready to go. Hatwig: This project seems like a good fit. Simmons: This has been a while. This is a great project to see finally coming along. I appreciate this. I’d like to make the motion when its time. No Public Comment City of Fresno Page 6 Historic Preservation Meeting Minutes - Final January 28, 2019 Commission The application for new construction within the Warehouse Row Buildings site is approved with conditions 4-0 on a motion by Commissioner Simmons and a second by Commissioner Roper. Chair Boyd returned at 6:25 p.m. VII. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT VIII. UNSCHEDULED ITEMS A. Members of the Commission None. B. Staff 1. Maintenance Monitoring Staff is continuing efforts regarding maintenance monitoring. Staff met internally on December 18th to strategize. Staff would like to invite commissioners to attend these meetings. Three members can attend at maximum (if four or more members attended it would qualify as a public meeting and would need to be noticed as such). Would the Commission like to form a subcommittee to attend? Roper: I would like to attend. Simmons: I would like to attend. Groves van Onna: I will include you both on future correspondence. Boyd: Can we extend an invitation to the commissioners who are not here? Groves van Onna: I will reach out to [Commissioner Paul Halajian] and [Commissioner Robin Goldbeck] to see if either of them are interested. Boyd: When is the next meeting? Groves van Onna: February 26, 2019. City of Fresno Page 7 Historic Preservation Meeting Minutes - Final January 28, 2019 Commission Roper: No, the next Maintenance meeting. Groves van Onna: I don’t have an exact date, but would like to meet within the next month. Winter is a dangerous time for our vacant properties. Boyd: Did Police and Fire respond? Groves van Onna: I have been including them in correspondence but not official response. Code Enforcement has been very involved. Boyd: Do we have friends in either of those departments we could reach out to? Groves van Onna: I don’t have a direct contact with Police. Zack: We’ll reach out and continue to try to find someone. Do we have a contact in Fire? Groves van Onna: Yes, I have a couple of contacts. Zack: That’s key, too. There’s a pretty good working relationship between DARM and Fire. We’ll try to bring PD into the fold. Boyd: Great. If PD is connected and had the information at the ready it could make things much easier. Groves van Onna: Our watch list and our Historic Preservation Database should be up soon. We’re working on getting it integrated with FresGo. Meeting with FresGo staff next week. C. General Public 1. Boy Scouts The Boy Scout Troop 8900 from the VFW Group 8900 attended the public meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission. City of Fresno Page 8 Historic Preservation Meeting Minutes - Final January 28, 2019 Commission Boyd: Thank you for coming! IX. NEXT MEETING: February 25, 2019, 6 PM Conference Room A, City Hall. X. ADJOURNMENT Chair Boyd adjourned the meeting at 6:34 PM. City of Fresno Page 9