Historic District Commission Meeting

HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES OF November 5, 2018 The Historic District Commission of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met for the Regular Meeting on November 5, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. Notice and Agenda of the meeting were posted at 201 West Gray Building-A, the Norman Municipal Building and at www.Normanok.gov twenty-four hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. Interim Chair Cameron Brewer called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. Item No. 1, being: Roll Call. MEMBERS PRESENT: Russell Kaplan Glen Roberson Emily Wilkins Greg Heiser Michael Zorba Rick Hall Elizabeth Foreman Mitch Baroff Cameron Brewer MEMBERS ABSENT: None A quorum was present. STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Anaïs Starr, Planner II Roné Tromble, Admin. Tech. IV Jeanne Snider, Assistant City Attorney GUESTS: Donnie Stecklein, ARIA Real Estate Teddi Clanton, ARIA Real Estate Lee Hall Because there are four new Commissioners at this meeting, Mr. Brewer asked each Commissioner and Staff Member to introduce themselves. * Item No. 2, being: Approval of the Agenda. Motion by Russell Kaplan for approval of the agenda; Second by Glen Roberson. The motion as approved unanimously. * Historic District Commission November 5, 2018 Page 2 of 5 Item No. 3, being: Approval of the Minutes from the October 1, 2018 Regular Meeting. Motion by Emily Wilkins to approval of the minutes; Second by Glen Roberson. All approve, with Mitch Baroff abstaining. * Item No. 4, being: HD 18-15 – Consideration of the Certificate of Appropriateness request for the installation of wood railings and composite decking on the front porch for the property located at 320 Castro Street. Anais Starr presented the staff report. Donnie Stecklein, 1613 Rolling Stone, represented the applicant; he is the Maintenance Supervisor for the real estate company that manages the property for the owner. The property owner hired his father to do the work on the house. Commission comments and discussion touched on several items:  Guideline 3.6.3 says replacement should match the original. The plywood that was replaced by the composite was not original; however, we know the original was not composite. You are allowed to replace like with like, so they could have replaced the porch decking with plywood.  The wood that we presume would have been used in 1923 was of a higher quality and would have been a harder wood.  The historic surveys did not indicate what the original porch flooring was.  You can still get 1x4 wood tongue and groove for the porch decking; it is harder to work with (because the sizes are not exactly the same) and requires more maintenance.  The rail is a safety issue, but it is in character to this house.  The two houses to the west still have wood decking, and they do not have the porch railings. If the renovations had required a building permit, they would have been required to install railings.  Will the Commission allow composite decking in the future? Comments specific to the deck railings:  There are other houses in the neighborhood with railings; there are also houses two and three to the west that do not have railings.  This is a basic house and a basic rail.  If someone ever wanted to take the railing out, it would damage the historic structure.  The handrail would match the porch rail better if a couple of balusters were added. Motion by Russell Kaplan to approve the railings as submitted; Second by Greg Heiser. The motion passed by a roll call vote of 9-0. Comments specific to the porch deck materials:  They can use plywood for the decking. But there are materials made out of wood for decking that could be installed. Historic District Commission November 5, 2018 Page 3 of 5  We don’t know what they would have proposed if they had brought an application before installing the composite decking.  We could find examples of what that era of house had for the porch decking. Motion by Glen Roberson to deny the Certificate of Appropriateness on the grounds that it does not match Guideline 3.6.3; Second by Emily Wilkins. Comments during voting:  Russell Kaplan: On the basis that there are materials that we think are a better match, I will vote yes.  Greg Heiser: I’m a little worried that we may be putting ourselves in a position where the best is the enemy and we will push people into going with the plywood option. I will vote, on that basis, no. The motion passed by a roll call vote of 8-1. Ms. Starr explained to the applicants that the CoA for the railings has been approved; the CoA for the decking is denied. There are 10 days to appeal this decision through the City Clerk’s office. * Item No. 5, being: Staff report on active Certificates of Appropriateness since October 1, 2018 and consideration of six month extension requests.  549 S. Lahoma – The Court of Civil Appeals issued a ruling on Friday, November 2, 2018, which ruled that Norman’s ordinances are not unconstitutionally vague, and remanded it back to the District Court. They want to give the applicant time to go to the Board of Adjustment; our process doesn’t go to the Board of Adjustment. The applicant could also file an appeal to the Supreme Court.  717 W. Boyd – In the process of getting bids to construct the door and carport.  710 S. Lahoma – They still have a siding issue with the contractor.  540 S. Lahoma – We don’t anticipate the applicant will do anything until next spring or summer. He would have to apply for a building permit by next March.  321 E. Apache – They were going to do modifications of the windows and the wood decking over the front porch. They have not started. The porch is concrete with a large crack by the front door. * Item No. 6, being: Staff report on projects approved by Administrative Bypass since October 1, 2018.  231 E. Symmes – Mary Abbott House – Their rear yard fence was moved to allow for installation of a playset. * Historic District Commission November 5, 2018 Page 4 of 5 Item No. 7, being: Progress report of the Historic District Guidelines Update Subcommittee. Ms. Starr reported that no responsive proposals were received for the second RFP for consultants; one proposal was received for $29,000. SHPO suggested that we use the remainder of the money for a different project. SHPO is working on a means for all the CLG cities in Oklahoma to have a mechanism in place that would allow them to modify their guidelines in a more streamlined manner that would be more cost effective within the allotment of money available. They hope to reveal that process in March in time for cities to make application again in April for the 2019-2020 funds. Cameron Brewer stated that the subcommittee would like to continue its work to review the guidelines to at least eliminate gray or conflicting areas. * Item No. 8, being: Discussion and consideration of amending the projects for the FY2018- 19 Certified Local Government (CLG) grant contract with State Historic Preservation Office. Ms. Starr explained the new proposal for expenditure of the CLG grant funds, including the following:  C.A.M.P. training session $7,000.00  Educational mailing 225.00  Staff Attendance at National American Planning Association Conference in San Francisco in April, 2019 1,500.00  Window Repair Demonstration Workshop 1,375.00  NAPC Membership dues 150.00  OK Preservation Conference in Chickasha 700.00 TOTAL $11,250.00 Motion by Rick Hall to recommend to City Council that they amend the CLG grant contract; Second by Mitch Baroff. The motion was adopted unanimously. * Item No. 9, being: Discussion and consideration of the Historic District Commission Meeting Calendar for 2019. Ms. Starr presented the proposed Historic District Commission meeting calendar for 2019. There were no objections to the proposed calendar. * Historic District Commission November 5, 2018 Page 5 of 5 Item No. 10, being: Announcements.  The Oklahoma Preservation Conference, April 24-26, 2019, being held in Chickasha has a theme “Celebrating Women who Built History”.  Mr. Brewer thanked the new members for serving on the Commission.  Ms. Starr stressed that it is important for Commissioners to have the agenda, staff reports, and Guidelines with them at meetings for reference. If you don’t want to print them, she can provide you with a printed copy.  Mr. Brewer asked for an emailed PDF copy of the Guidelines. * Item No. 11, being: Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:16 p.m. Passed and approved this _________ day of ______________________, 2018. ______________________________ Cameron Brewer, Interim Chair