Historic District Commission

MANISTEE CITY HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting of Thursday, February 5, 2015 3:00 p.m. - Council Chambers, City Hall, 70 Maple Street, Manistee, Michigan AGENDA I Call to Order II Roll Call III Approval of Agenda At this time the Historic District Commission can take action to approve the February 5, 2015 Agenda. IV Approval of Minutes At this time Historic District Commission can take action to approve the January 8, 2015 meeting Minutes. V New Business VI Old Business Permit Review At this time the Commission may take action to close out any outstanding permits. VII Public Comments and Communications concerning Items not on the Agenda At this time the Chair will ask if there are any public comments. VIII Correspondence At this time the Chair will ask if any correspondence has been received to be read into the record. IX Reports Main Street/DDA Director Museum Curator Museum Director Planning & Zoning Administrator 1 X Members Discussion At this time the Chair will ask members of the Historic District Commission if they have any items they want to discuss. XI Worksession Community Historic Preservation Assessment At this time the Commission will review the responses and recommendations from the Community Historic Preservation Assessment that was prepared by the Michigan Historic Preservation Network and prioritize them. XII Adjournment 2  MEMORANDUM 231.398.2805 City of Manistee Planning & Zoning Administrator Fax 231.723-1546 dblakeslee@manisteemi.gov www.manisteemi.gov TO: Historic District Commissioners FROM: Denise Blakeslee, Planning & Zoning DATE: January 29, 2015, 2014 RE: Historic District Commission Meeting February 5, 2015 Commissioners, the next Historic District Commission meeting will be on Thursday, February 5, 2015. We do not have any agenda items and will go into a worksession to discuss/prioritized the Historic Preservation Recommendations by the Michigan Historic Preservation Network. If you are unable to attend the meeting please call me at 398-2805, see you next Tuesday!  HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Council Chambers, City Hall 70 Maple Street Manistee, MI 49660 MEETING MINUTES January 8, 2015 A Meeting of the Manistee City Historic District Commission was held on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 70 Maple Street, Manistee, Michigan. Meeting was called to order at 3:00 p.m. by Chair Kracht. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Dave Carlson, T. Eftaxiadis, Teena Kracht, Thomas Smith, John Perschbacher, Mary Russell, Members Absent: Vacancy Others: Steve Harold (Museum Curator) and Denise Blakeslee (Planning & Zoning Administrator) APPROVAL OF AGENDA: MOTION by John Perschbacher, seconded by Mary Russell that the Agenda be approved as prepared. With a voice vote this motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MOTION by John Perschbacher, seconded by Thomas Smith that the Minutes of the December 4, 2014 Meeting be approved as prepared. With a voice vote this motion passed unanimously. City of Manistee Historic District Commission Meeting Minutes January 8, 2015 Page 1 NEW BUSINESS: By Law Review Annually the Historic District Commission shall review their By Laws at their regularly scheduled meeting in January. Members of the Commission discussed the By Laws and if any changes were needed. No Changes were made to the By-Laws. Historic Preservation Recommendations for the City of Manistee (MHPN) Last May the City participated in a Community Assessment by the Michigan Historic Preservation Network. Members of the Commission were sent a copy of the assessment/recommendations prior to the meeting. Members of the Commission discussed the report and the recommendations. The report covered the following Categories  Overall Placement - 3.2 (Preservation ethic is developing)  Identification, Documentation and Evaluation  Community Member Involvement  Historic Preservation Organizations  Michigan Main Street Involvement  Preservation Planning  Designating and Protecting Historic Resources  Public Education  Historic Preservation as Economic Development  Heritage Tourism  Municipal Leadership  Rehabilitation Projects  Road Blocks  Unique Assets Staff will prepare an outline that the Commission can review and prioritize at a worksession in the future. OLD BUSINESS City of Manistee Historic District Commission Meeting Minutes January 8, 2015 Page 2 None PUBLIC COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA None CORRESPONDENCE None STAFF REPORTS Steve Harold, Museum Curator – spoke with the commission about the grant for the Lighthouse and the schedule for restoration. MEMBERS DISCUSSION Commissioner Carlson spoke about the information in the packet and how things are going in the district. The Next meeting of the Historic District Commission will be on Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 70 Maple Street. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Mary Russell, seconded by Thomas Smith that the meeting be adjourned. Motion passed unanimously. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 3:36 P.M. MANISTEE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION __________________________________________ Denise J. Blakeslee, Recording Secretary City of Manistee Historic District Commission Meeting Minutes January 8, 2015 Page 3  MEMORANDUM 231.398.2805 City of Manistee Planning & Zoning Administrator Fax 231.723.1546 dblakeslee@manisteemi.gov www.manisteemi.gov TO: Historic District Commissioners FROM: Denise Blakeslee, Planning & Zoning DATE: January 12, 2015 RE: Community Historic Preservation Assessment Commissioners, as we discussed at the January Meeting I have prepared an outline that lists the questions, responses and recommendations from the Community Historic Preservation Assessment that was prepared by the Michigan Historic Preservation Network. The City scored a 3.2 overall rating – Preservation ethic is developing). We discussed rating the items to determine which items are the low hanging fruit (that the commission can address) leaving the items that require more review or assistance. Once we have the items ranked, we will contact the Michigan Historic Preservation Network to see what assistance they can provide to improve our placement.  Historic Preservation Recommendations Michigan Historic Preservation Network - Community Historic Preservation Assessment December 2014 Rank Question/Response Recommendation Which best describes your community’s efforts to Gather all the survey documentation you have amassed over the years. Organize it and identify, document, and evaluate historic resources? confirm that it is still current. If the survey work is more than ten years old, new surveys (3) should be conducted to update and expand previous efforts. Apply the National Register of A community-wide reconnaissance/ windshield survey Historic Places criteria to evaluate the places you survey. The State Historic Preservation was conducted more than 10 years ago, but it has not Office has free survey manuals that can be helpful in evaluating historic resources. Identify been updated and identified historic resources have the resources or areas where intensive research is recommended and conduct research not been comprehensively evaluated. (perhaps with the help of a hired consultant). Determine whether any identified historic areas are eligible for the National Register or a local historic district. Which best describes the level of community Help the group conduct outreach to build their membership and/or Facebook or web member involvement in historic preservation? (4) presence. Encourage group to consider incorporating as a nonprofit organization if it has not Response: There is an existing, functioning group with taken this step. Help them institute a committee structure to allow some members to focus identified leadership that meets regularly to promote on specific activities such as local government collaboration, assisting prospective developers, preservation, take advantage of opportunities to community outreach, education, finance and fundraising, etc. safeguard historic resources, and anticipate problems. Which best describes the organizations working to Support the organization by ensuring that they have access to historic preservation resources. promote historic preservation in your community? Historical societies may need technical assistance with a building to house collections, and a (3) community development organization may need assistance with financial incentives, for There is one or more emerging historical society or example. MHPN and its various partners can assist with information and technical assistance. organization(s) primarily dedicated to historic Training workshops about historic preservation, such as the National Trust for Historic preservation. Preservation’s Preservation Leadership Training, might also be useful for an emerging preservation organization. Meet at least once per quarter with the group’s leaders to discuss ongoing work and emerging issues. Work jointly on creating community preservation goals. Offer assistance (funding, staff time or grant-seeking efforts) to help the group list local buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, conduct windshield surveys, or pursue other historic designations. Which best describes your community's involvement Determine whether your community plans to graduate to the next Main Street membership in the Michigan Main Street program? (4) level. If so, work to meet all necessary requirements. My community is a Selected Level Main Street member. How prominent is historic preservation in your Determine when the next visioning session or short-term or long-term planning session will community's planning processes and documents? (3) be for your community and attend. Encourage others who care about historic places to There is consideration of the value of historic attend as well. Consider advocating both at meetings and also behind the scenes with resources. planning staff and colleagues that historic character and historic resources are community assets that need to be managed. The community’s planning documents may already have statements about why historic places matter and how they contribute to the local economy and sense of place, but consider advocating that this section could also be expanded to include an outline showing which historic places have been designated (either on the National Register, the State Register, or as a local historic district), and the plan for each of these historic places or areas. Will a National Register neighborhood possibly be considered for a local historic district over the next several years? Will there be community meetings to explore the various designations? If a survey of historic resources is needed, suggest that mention of a future survey should be included in the planning documents. Which best describes your community's efforts to Consider whether some historic places that are not currently designated should be. Consider designate and protect historic resources? (3) a thematic approach to your designations. Consider plaques on buildings and/or specially There are one or more state historical markers and/or marked street signs indicating special districts or areas. Initiate an MHPN training workshop National Register designations AND a local historic for your historic district commissioners. district (PA 169). Which best describes your community's efforts (both Reach out to the local historical society, library or neighborhood association (as a partner) to municipal and non-governmental) to educate the conduct a series of progressive public educational presentations/ workshops. Explore more public and engage preservation-minded individuals complex preservation issues such as educational efforts on historic designations, economic on historic preservation issues? (3) incentives for downtown property owners, how to assess a historic building, the value of There are some educational resources and periodic Main Street, Sec. of Interior Standards, etc. Also, encourage the more enthusiastic property events but these are neither consistent nor owners to join together to create a local preservation group that facilitates these educational coordinated. workshops, compiles local preservation resources and serves as advocates for preserving/ rehabbing local historic buildings. Which best describes your community's efforts to link Create local incentive programs to encourage revitalization/ rehabilitation including façade its historic preservation efforts to its ongoing grants, low interest loans for rehab projects, elevator grants, etc. Explore how to establish a economic development efforts? (3) National Register district in downtown to become eligible for the federal tax credit program. There are dedicated staff within the downtown Explore the value of a renaissance (or similar) tax abatement program for a designated development authority, economic development historical area. corporation, or planning who are responsible for at least some historic preservation efforts. Which best describes your community's efforts to Work jointly with multiple public, private, and nonprofit sector partners to find creative and market its historic assets as heritage tourism coordinated ways to promote local sites using various statewide and regional outlets opportunities? (3) (particularly web-based). Consider working with a web specialist to design a local heritage There are both ad hoc efforts underway, such as tourism page that could be incorporated in existing community websites (for all relevant signage, website, walking and driving tours, plus groups). Include a map of historic resources, photos, and heritage event calendar. Also, multiple coordinated efforts to market and promote pursue state markers to promote significant local landmarks local historic sites, objects, structures, buildings and districts Which best describes the cultural festivals and events Broaden marketing efforts to attain more visitors. Consider utilizing a search engine in your community? (5) optimization specialist to enhance promotion with out-of-town heritage travelers. Pursue There are one or more cultural events or festivals each programs to download apps for IPODS and smart phones that identify historic resources for year that are explicitly linked to historical assets and visitors and residents and include event program of cultural event/ festival. places, that are coordinated with numerous groups, and that showcase those historic assets and places. Which best describes the involvement of local Encourage municipality to partner with local historic preservation groups to create joint government officials (paid or elected) in your public preservation educational programs. Attend regional and state preservation-related community's historic preservation efforts? (2) conferences/ events to learn how other municipalities and locals work together on Local government officials are supportive of existing preservation projects/ issues. historic preservation groups. Which local government officials are demonstrating  City Manager commitment and leadership on historic preservation  Downtown Development Authority Director issues with tangible results?  Zoning Director In which historic preservation efforts are local  Inviting Michigan Historic Preservation Network or State Historic Preservation Office government officials currently involved? representatives to the community to assist in education and advocacy efforts related to protecting resources and promoting preservation and/or rehabilitation. In the past five years, have there been any major Yes - Ramsdell Theater and Vogue Theater rehabilitation projects on historic properties (either city-owned or privately owned) in your community? What road blocks or issues make it difficult to Funds and support from property owners. incorporate historic preservation principles/ programs in your community? What unique assets or programs contribute to your The Manistee County Historical Society/Museum assists the Historic District Commission with community's historic preservation efforts? research and processing request to the Commission.