Historic Preservation Commission

802-223-9506 phone 39 Main Street, Montpelier, VT 05602 802-262-6080 fax www.montpelier-vt.org Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 6:30 PM City Manager’s Conference Room HPC Members Present: Eric Gilbertson, Elizabeth Peebles, Jamie Duggan, Greg Tisher, Jenna Lapachinski Staff: Sarah McShane (Zoning Administrator) Others Present: None Posted Agenda: 1. Call to Order 2. Public Comments 3. Approval of the Agenda 4. Comments from the Chair 5. Review and Approve Minutes from September 12, 2017 6. Discuss work program/CLG project 7. Discuss purpose/intent of the Design Control District 8. Other Business th  VT Advisory Council Meeting- National Register Historic District consideration- Thursday Oct. 19  Next Meeting Date – Tuesday November 14, 2017 at 6:30 PM.  Review RFP submittals at next meeting 9. Adjournment 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:35 PM with a quorum present. 2. Public Comments There were no public comments. 3. Approval of the Agenda Ms. Peebles made a motion to approve the agenda with the recommendation that the Commission provide new members information and background on current projects. The motion was seconded by Mr. Duggan. The motion passed unanimously, 5-0. 4. Comments from the Chair – Chair Gilbertson welcomed the new Commission members and provided a brief background on the current CLG project. 5. Review and Approve Minutes from September 12, 2017 Commission member Peebles made a motion, seconded by Mr. Duggan, to approve the 9/12/2017 minutes. The motion passed, 5-0. 6. Discuss work program/ CLG project 7. Discuss purpose/intent of the Design Control District The Commission combined discussion of agenda items 6 & 7. Staff provided a draft work program for the CLG grant and reported that the RFP was recently re-advertised. Members discussed and reviewed the state enabling statute for design review and historic districts. Members agreed that the City’s district should continue to be a design review district in accordance with 24 VSA 4414(1)(E). Mr. Gilberston suggested that the district purpose statement should draw from state statute and highlight the economic importance of preservation. He recommended that the preamble to the National Historic Preservation Act be reviewed and appropriate language be included. Mr. Duggan recommended that the purpose statement include language regarding preserving the historical integrity including historic materials and fabric. Ms. Peebles stated that she would like the language “up to the forest edge” to be included since the city is a concentrated downtown surrounded by forested hills. Members agreed that geography will play a role in determining district boundaries. Members agreed on the importance of including the preservation of viewsheds. Members discussed the possibility of having different review standards for residential areas and using zoning districts to delineate sub-districts. Members will explore the idea of possibly only regulating alterations that are visible from the public right-of-way. Staff will follow-up with a draft purpose statement including the discussed language and send it to the Commission for further discussion. Commission members requested that staff provide a copy of the existing regulations, the Design Review Committee checklist, and a list of the types of projects that go before the Design Review Committee. Members discussed directly requesting the involvement of the Planning Commission, Design Review Committee, and City Council. Staff will work with the Chair to draft a letter notifying the different groups of the project and invite them to participate or designate a representative.  Ms. Peebles suggested having an outreach event dedicated to listening and informal discussion. Staff added that Town Meeting Day could be used as a platform to get community feedback. Mr. Gilbertson noted that the newspaper is also a tool that could be used throughout the project. 8. Other Business  The VT Advisory Council Meeting is scheduled for Thursday October 19th.  The next meeting will be dedicated to reviewing RFP submittals and discussing the Scope & Authority Statement and required application materials. 9. Next Meeting Date – Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at 6:30 PM. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:15 PM. Respectfully submitted, Sarah McShane Zoning Administrator ***These minutes are unofficial until formally accepted by the HPC.*** These minutes were read and accepted by the Historic Preservation Commission on November 14, 2017.