Olde Towne Preservation District Commission

City of Slidell, Louisiana Olde Towne Preservation District Commission Agenda November 9, 2022 at 5:00pm Council Chambers, 2045 2nd St, Slidell, LA Agenda packet available at myslidell.com/planning/boards/otpdc For questions or to provide public comment before the meeting, email OTPDC@cityofslidell.org or call (985) 646-4320 (M-F 8am to 4:30pm) SCAN ME for the OTPDC website 1. Call to Order and Roll Call 2. Minutes. Review and approve minutes from October 12, 2022 3. Public Hearings There are no requests for public hearing. 4. Other Business a. T22-03 A request to amend Appendix A - Zoning, Section -2.23 Sign Regulations of the City of Slidell Code of Ordinances; to delete and replace with new sign regulation. b. Training and Education Plan. Discussion and approval of plan to add twenty (20) minute training and education sessions to meetings with small number of Certificates of Appropriateness applications and direction to staff to coordinate with Chairperson on the scheduling. c. Building Code and Historic Structures. City of Slidell Chief Building Official will present and discuss how State and City adopted building codes affect historic structures. 5. Informational Items 6. General and Public Comments 7. Adjournment The next Olde Towne Preservation District Commission meeting will be December 14, 2022. Olde Towne Preservation District Commission Agenda for November 9, 2022 Page 1 of 1  City of Slidell, Louisiana Olde Towne Preservation District Commission Minutes October 12, 2022 at 5:00 pm Council Chambers, 2045 2nd St, Slidell, LA 1. Call to Order and Roll Call. Meeting called to order by Chairperson Darby at 5:05 p.m. Commissioners Present Commissioners Not Present Staff Present Darren Darby, Chair Sam Caruso, Jr Theresa Alexander, Historic Officer Dawn Crippin, Vice Chair Eric Lundin, Planning Support Michelle Cramer Jessica Fawer arrived (5:25) 2. Minutes. Motion by Commissioner Cramer to approve minutes of July 13, 2022 as written; Commissioner Crippin seconded. A vote of 3 YAYS, 0 NAYS, 0 ABSTAIN approved the minutes. 3. Public Hearings a. CA 22-45: A request for Certificate of Appropriateness for exterior alterations, specifically the painting of a mural on street facing wall, at 285 Cousin St, located at the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Cousin St. and First St. Eric Lundin reviewed the application, and the attached staff report to include the recommendation that the proposed sign should not be issued a Certificate of Appropriateness. Eric Lundin reviewed the mix of signs and murals located on other buildings at the intersection and noted that the item up for consideration was itself a mix of sign and mural. He informed the Commission that elements of the item constituted signage in that it they were advertising products on sale within the establishment. Eric Lundin reminded the commissioners that, currently, the City of Slidell does not have any regulations on the size, location, or design of murals. There was discussion between Chairperson Darby and Eric Lundin on whether the Commission should be reviewing only the mural aspect or should they be reviewing the whole item for appropriateness. Eric Lundin responded that the Commission should be determining the appropriateness of the whole item regardless of classification whether it is a sign or a mural, and that it was not the Commission’s responsibility to distinguish what parts might be sign and need a sign permit and what parts might be considered a mural. Eric Lundin pointed out that even if this was a stand-alone sign permit it would still need a Historic Appropriateness determination to be approved. Commissioner Cramer posed a hypothetical wherein the Commission approved the historic appropriateness, but it did not meet the City’s sign regulation-- what would happen.? Eric Lundin responded that every application undergoes concurrent reviews – Historic Preservation, building code, and Planning. All departments must sign off on the application from their area of authority before an item can be approved. If the Preservation Commission determines it is Olde Towne Preservation District Commission Minutes for October 12, 2022 Page 1 of 3  historically appropriate, but the Planning Department determines it exceeds the allowed square footage for a sign, then the permit would be denied. Commissioner Cramer then followed up with a question about something being historically appropriate in the 1950s, such as a painted-on wall sign for Barq’s Root Beer, but not historically consistent in a different era. Eric Lundin responded that when determining historic appropriateness, Commissioners should be considering period of significance as an element. As an example, he said a painted on Barq’s Root Beer Sign on a commercial building in operation in the 1950s would be consistent with walls signs of that time but that same sign would not be appropriate on a building built in 1656. Eric Lundin further offerd that the Commission needs to consider the period of significance of the surrounding area as well as the building itself, especially if the building in question was not a historic structure. Commissioner Cramer pointed out that there are other murals in the area that did not come before the Commission and that the Commission may not have determined them to be historically appropriate. Eric Lundin proffered that different areas in a preservation district have different character or historic context -- some are residential, and some are commercial. Even amongst commercial areas, there are differing periods of significance and historical context. The task before the Commission is to decide if the item applied for is consistent with this intersection and corridor, not what might or might not be appropriate at a different location. Chairperson Darby commented that this intersection is the heart of Olde Towne, whether its buildings are contributing elements to the district or not and needs protection. He also commented that the applicant and their neighboring businesses have done a great job revitalizing this area. After some discussion about some elements being appropriate and others not, Eric Lundin made the suggestion that the Commission could postpone a decision to next month and request the applicant, who was not present, attend and better explain their intent. Eric Lundin recommended that if the Commission postpones or denies the application, that the Commission offer some guidance on how the item could be revised to be more consistent with the character of the area. Chairperson Darby asked if the applicant was aware their application would be presented tonight. Eric Lundin confirmed they were informed, but that the administration was not aware of reason why the applicant was not in attendance. The Commissioners then discussed the mural/sign and were uniform in their opinion that the mural/sign lacked cohesion or integrity and was a hodge-podge of elements. Vice Chairperson Crippin made a motion which, after discussion amongst Commissioner, was withdrawn in favor a motion proffered by Commissioner Cramer. Commissioner Cramer made a motion to deny the application as not historically appropriate and to form a committee of two commissioners, Commissioners Crippin and Fawer, to work with the applicant to revise the design and hopefully resubmit. Commissioner Fawer seconded. A vote was taken and with the result of 4 YAYS, 0 NAYS, 0 ABSTAIN the motion was approved. Olde Towne Preservation District Commission Minutes for October 12, 2022 Page 2 of 3 4. Other Business a. Amendment to C-3 Central Business District to permit light industrial as a conditional use. Eric Lundin informed the Commission that on next month’s agenda will be an item asking the Commission for a recommendation to City Council on the proposed amendment to the zoning C-3 Central Business District to add light manufacturing as a conditional use. A staff report on the amendment was included in the Commissioner’s agenda packet. b. Replacement of the City’s sign regulation with a new sign regulation. Eric Lundin informed the Commission that the Administration is proposing a new sign ordinance and it will be on the Commission’s agenda next month for a recommendation to the City Council. A copy of the proposed sign ordinance will be forwarded to the Commission members before next meeting. 5. Informational Items a. Federal Historic Tax Credit Program. The National Park Service will be holding an online training session on updates to the Historic Tax Credit Operations/programs on October 20, 2022. A link was provided to register for the training. b. State Historic Tax . Eric Lundin provided reminder that the residential tax credit program was still suspended but would hopefully be reconsidered in the next legislative session. 6. General and Public Comments. There were none. 7. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 5:56 p.m. on motion by Commissioner Darby, second by Commissioner Fawer, and a vote of 4 YAYS, 0 NAYS, 0 ABSTAIN. Olde Towne Preservation District Commission Minutes for October 12, 2022 Page 3 of 3