The Historic District Commission held a workshop before the July 6 meeting to gather on Zoom with representatives of the Lakota Group, the contractor working to update the commission’s design guidelines.
During the regular meeting that followed, commissioners quickly decided to postpone a vote on accepting the new guidelines. City Historic Preservation Officer Kylee Hevrdejs said the revisions are not yet available in printed form. Some on the panel said they would prefer to use a printed copy to study the changes, which are currently available only in a digital version.
The meeting scheduled for July 20 will be cancelled, giving commissioners more time to review changes. Hevrdejs said she would not be available to prepare the packet commissioners receive before meetings. She also noted that she had not received any applications for the commission to consider.
Hevrdejs submits some applications on a consent agenda, which commissioners can approve without detailed consideration. These applications usually deal with non-contributing properties, or with routine work that the commissioners would typically approve without comment.
At last week’s meeting, commissioners moved two items from the consent agenda for full consideration. Hevrdejs had explained that the properties were non-contributing, but Chair Steve Holifield said the applications included “a lot of construction.”
As they reviewed the two properties listed on the consent agenda, commissioners quickly agreed with Hevrdejs. At 43 Prospect Ave., Lewel McCutcheon received approval to add shutters. Hevrdejs’s review said the shutters would be “appropriate for the window size and type.” She also noted that the house had undergone many alterations, and previously had shutters, and shutters would not change the style of the house.
An application for Robin Busby at 56 Hillside Ave., was also moved from the consent agenda to the table. The neo-Victorian house was built in 1992, and Busby said most of the changes are for safety reasons, including a fire stairway for the third floor. She wants to keep the historic charm of the house, she said, as she explained the reason for the items on her application. Those items included relocating her front door. All approved the application.
In other business:
- Holifield had to vote to break a 3-3 tie when the commission considered an application to add a three-car garage at 37 Council St. for Kenneth and Marylou Kadziela. The house dates to 1900, but the exterior had undergone serious neglect, requiring restoration work in 2021. The doors of the proposed garage would face the street, and the roofline would include two dormer windows. The garage would be partially built into the hillside. In her assessment, Hevrdejs described the location as “appropriate, given the topographical constraints.” She also said the siting and design features were “complementary to this historic home.”
Commissioner Marty Cogan immediately drew a hard line, saying that a three-car garage would not have been appropriate to the house or to the era. She asked if the dormer windows were decorative or functional, and Kenneth Kadziela, attending by Zoom, explained that they would help light a loft inside the garage. Cogan said the dormers were also not appropriate for the house or the neighborhood.
Kadziela said he would be willing to remove the dormers if the project could otherwise go forward, but the vote approved his application as written. Cogan and commissioners Peter Graham and Judy Holden voted no, while Magi Hayde, Dee Bright, and Kyle Palmer voted to approve. Holifield’s affirmative vote broke the tie.
- Another application sharply divided the commissioners. Scott Miskiel, executive director of the Parks Commission, explained a plan to repair the retaining wall at Crescent Spring. In her assessment, Hevrdejs described the wall as structurally unsound, and in need of re-stacking. Some of the limestone rocks in the wall have deteriorated, and Miskiel said any new replacement rocks would go at the bottom of the rebuilt wall.
Everyone at the table agreed with repairing the wall, but Cogan opposed a request to build in two limestone benches. Miskiel said he did not know yet if the costs might prove too high to actually build the benches, but asked for approval in case bids come in at an affordable level. He said the recessed alcoves for the benches would strengthen the wall and would also break up the straight wall.
Cogan said the benches “would not be in keeping with the historical quality of the wall,” and Miskiel replied, “I thought y’all might say that.” Bright, however, said the Preservation Society has had a long-running interest in Crescent Spring, and the board members did not have a preference on this. Cogan also demanded more information about the qualifications of the engineer, and she and Holden voted against allowing the installation of the benches. The others voted to leave that option open, by a 4-2 margin.
- An application to install an elevator at 5 Rogers Alley for Mel Shipley was approved without comment. Hevrdejs had assessed the plan and noted the location of the proposed changes in a recessed area between the original house and an addition built 15 years ago. The exterior of the elevator addition will be covered in limestone, with an exterior footprint of 58×63 inches.
The HDC will next meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 3. Level III applications are due by July 21, and Level II applications are due July 27.