Historic Preservation Commission Meeting

September 3, 2014 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION DATE: September 3, 2014 APPROVED TIME: 7:00 p.m. PLACE: Council Chambers, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801 MEMBERS PRESENT: Scott Dossett, Matt Metcalf, Alice Novak, Gina Pagliuso, David Seyler, Trent Shepard, Kim Smith MEMBERS EXCUSED: None STAFF PRESENT: Jeff Engstrom, Interim Planning Manager; Kevin Garcia, Planner II OTHERS PRESENT: Angela Urban 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Urbana Historic Preservation Commission Chair, Alice Novak, called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. The roll call was taken, and a quorum was declared present. NOTE: Welcome Matt Metcalf to the commission! and Welcome to Kevin Garcia, Planner II to the City Planning staff! 2. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA There were none. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the January 8, 2014 Historic Preservation Commission Meeting were presented for approval. With no changes proposed, Ms. Smith made a motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Dossett seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously as written. 4. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS There were none. 5. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION There was none. 1  September 3, 2014 6. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS There were none. 7. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 8. NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS There were none. 9. NEW BUSINESS There was none. 10. MONITORING OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES Mr. Engstrom reported on the following:  Case No. HP-2014-COA-01 - Tiernan’s Block/Masonic Hall Certificate of Appropriateness to allow the replacement of the existing red asphalt shingle roof section with new red asphalt shingle roof section of the same style at 115 West Main Street. The Certificate of Appropriateness was approved administratively on March 21, 2014. He presented pictures of the materials that the owners planned to use and pictures of what they would be replacing. He announced that the work has been completed.  Case No. HP-2014-COA-02 – Certificate of Appropriateness to allow the replacement of the front wing walls and concrete steps and sidewalk at 810 West Main Street. The Certificate of Appropriateness was reviewed and approved administratively in August of 2014. He noted that the work had not been started yet.  Case No. HP-2013-COA-05 – Freeman Sutton House Certificate of Appropriateness to allow the replacement of a side porch at 504 West Elm Street. The Certificate of Appropriateness was approved by the Historic Preservation Commission on January 8, 2014. He presented pictures showing the progress of the improvements so far. Mr. Shepard inquired about the Royer House. Does anyone know if someone purchased the property because it had been for sale? Mr. Engstrom replied that City staff can check the property records to see if it was sold. Mr. Dossett asked about the Urbana Landmark Hotel. He wondered if anyone knew what was going on, what the level of concerns are, and if City staff has taken any action on the list of concerns that Councilman Dennis Roberts expressed in some emails back in June of 2014. Mr. Engstrom responded that there have been several concerns with this property with building maintenance and fire code. The owner is trying to work on these issues before working on the exterior and historic issues. Chair Novak added that the area that Councilman Roberts refers to in his emails is on the 1970s addition. She agreed that it does not look good, but it is a non-contributing portion of the 2  September 3, 2014 building so it has different set of rules. In fact, it could be potentially torn of and not affect the listed property in either the National Register or in the local designation. Mr. Dossett stated that he would like for City staff to report back to Councilman Roberts to let him know that the Historic Preservation Commission has discussed this property and that it is a non- contributing structure. City staff should provide him with some rationale for the Historic Preservation Commission’s reasoning of his concerns. 11. STAFF REPORT Kevin Garcia, Planner II, presented the Certified Local Government Annual Report for the fiscal year July 2012 – June 2013. He reviewed the cases for Certificate of Appropriateness and Economic Hardship requests and for the local Landmark and Historic District nominations. He also talked about the 65 historic surveys that were performed in 2012 and noted that there were no nominations of properties to the National Register. He mentioned the properties that were monitored and listed the activities such as the installation of plaques, Landmarks Illinois- a statewide preservation conference that was held in Evanston, Illinois, and "A Leaf Out of History" self-guided tours. 12. STUDY SESSION There was none. 13. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Novak announced the seminar “Seizing Historic Tax Credit Opportunities in Illinois” sponsored by Landmarks Illinois. It will be held on Thursday, September 4, 2014 from 12:00 p.m. (Noon) until 2:00 p.m. at the Public Library in Kankakee, Illinois. She mentioned that part of meeting the requirements for being a Certified Local Government is to meet four times a year. If the Commission members can think of any monitored properties that they would like placed on an agenda, please let City staff know. They will need to meet at least two more times in the next three months. 14. ADJOURNMENT With no further business Mr. Dossett moved that the meeting be adjourned. Ms. Pagliuso seconded the motion. With all Commission members in favor, the meeting adjourned at 7:22 p.m. Submitted, Jeff Engstrom, Interim Planning Manager Historic Preservation Commission Recording Secretary 3