Historic Preservation Commission

HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES 1800 South Street – Training Room Geneva, Illinois 60134 January 20, 2015, 7:00 p.m. 1. Call to Order Chairman Roy called to order the January 20, 2015 meeting of the Geneva Historic Preservation Commission at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present HPC: Chairman Roy; Commissioners Abplanalp, Andersson, Hiller, Solomon (@ 7:10 p.m.), Zellmer, Zinke Absent: None Staff Present: Preservation Planner Lambert Others Present: Recording Secretary Celeste Weilandt 3. Approval of the November 18, 2014 Minutes. Deferred to next month. A change in the agenda followed: 5. Secretary’s Report Mr. Lambert shared handouts discussing the activity level in the Community Development Department which reflected increases in permit activity. Those permits that were administratively reviewed totaled 78 permits versus those coming before the commission, totaling 40 permits. He reminded the commissioners of the hours he was budgeted to work, i.e., 24 hours per week. Questions arose regarding commissioner training, the location of the boundary gap in the historic district (which Mr. Lambert said he will get corrected), and whether the budget will change regarding his position. (Commissioner Solomon arrives 7:10 pm). Lambert shared some information regarding funding cuts occurring at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency level. An update was provided by Mr. Lambert regarding the house at 627 James Street. The house has been advertised for relocation with only two inquiries, to date, as reported by Mr. Dave Patzelt. Details followed. Mr. Lambert indicated that the earliest construction for the site is to begin late February or early March but that Mr. Patzelt was in no hurry to raze the home and will entertain any offers. Per staff, membership has been renewed under the IHPC commission. The Six Street School has been purchased from Kane County and will have to come before the HPC since it is a historic building. The HPC ordinance draft is about 90% complete with an internal staff review. Lastly, Lambert shared that Dir. Untch and new director DeGroot did not want the commission to be too concerned about the review dates for the ordinance nor feel pressured to meet those dates. The next HPC meeting is scheduled for February 24, 2015, followed by March 10, 2015 for a discussion of the ordinance only. The March 17, 2015 meeting will be a regularly scheduled meeting. Questions followed as to how the city council will approve the ordinance and whether the council will take into consideration the commission’s revisions. Lambert proceeded to explain the  Historic Preservation Commission January 20, 2015 city council review/approval process for the ordinance and the revision process. For those commissioners who could not attend the future meetings, he asked those commissioners to provide their input/concerns. Lambert shared he will be distributing three copies of the ordinance to the commissioners prior to the meeting – a clean version, a copy of the old ordinance with revisions in red, and a version with text boxes. 4. HPC Review of Building Permit Application A. 227 N. Second Street. New Street Yard Fence. Applicant: Tom Brown, Owner (Case No. 2014-104) - Mr. Lambert summarized this request is for a 42”-inch high fence in a required street yard and is a replacement of an existing fence that had two different heights and was not erected according to current fence code. He distributed pictures of the existing fence as well as the proposed fence. He noted that about 25 feet of the fence line was located in the second street yard and but the remainder of the fence complied with the side?? fence. Mr. Lambert reminded the commissions that any fences located in a required street yard were required to come before the HPC. He noted the reason for the application was due to the neighbor installing a new driveway last year and the owner wanting a taller fence for privacy purposes. Mr. Val Spisovskey, representing the owner, explained that Mr. Brown was requesting a 42- inch fence from the middle of the house to the walkway and currently on the back of the home was a five-foot fence. Mr. Lambert clarified that the rear fence was dealt administratively. Commissioner questions followed as to what type of fence the owner was requesting – cedar, board-on-board or dog-earned, and the specific fence location on the plat of survey. Mr. Lambert stated that the owner told him the fence style would be board-on-board. Motion by Commissioner Abplanalp to approve the request, as submitted, seconded by Commissioner Zinke. Roll call: Aye: Abplanalp, Andersson, Hiller, Solomon, Zinke, Zellmer, Roy Nay: None MOTION PASSED. VOTE: 7-0 Mr. Lambert asked the commissioners if the above petition was the type of fence application they were interested in seeing. Commissioners were fine with these types of requests, although Commissioner Andersson asked Mr. Lambert to bring back the matrix for review. 6. New Business A. From the Commission – Asked what type of project was being planned at First and Stevens Streets, Mr. Lambert explained that it was a proposal for a 30 or 36 residential unit development similar to the Mews. However, because there was a Phase I archeology taking place, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency was questioning why the application was not being reviewed by this commission. Mr. Lambert reported that a trench of limestone 3 feet wide by 60 feet long was discovered between the two homes that face Stevens Street and was not sure what was found. He and Chris Flynn from the Public Service Archeological Service have been unable to find documentation of the limestone trench. Lastly, Mr. Lambert reported the IHPA has been questioning him as to the city’s justification for the past couple of demolitions that have taken place recently within Geneva’s historic district. B. From the Public – None. 2  Historic Preservation Commission January 20, 2015 7. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m. on motion by Commissioner Hiller, seconded by Commissioner Andersson. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote of 7-0. 3