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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistoric Preservation Agenda Packet 08-13-2015.pdf IOWA CITY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Thursday, August 13, 2015 City Hall, 410 E. Washington Street Emma J. Harvat Hall 5:30 p.m. A) Call to Order B) Roll Call C) Public discussion of anything not on the agenda D) Certificate of Appropriateness 1. 328 Brown Street – Brown Street Historic District (solar panel addition to carriage house roof) 2. 720 Bloomington Street – Goosetown/ Horace Mann Conservation District (screen porch addition) 3. 721 Fairchild Street – Goosetown/ Horace Mann Conservation District (bay window alteration to front facade) 4. 932 East College Street–College Hill Conservation District (roof addition for rear basement entrance on west side) 5. 229 South Summit Street – College Hill Conservation District (Though-wall Air conditioning units added to north and south elevations) E) Report on Certificates issued by Chair and Staff Certificate of No Material Effect – Chair and Staff review 1. 530 Iowa Avenue - College Hill Conservation District (porch steps, side entry steps, and porch skirting replacement) Minor Review – preapproved item – Staff review 1. 11- 15 N. Dodge Street – College Hill Conservation District (replacement of non-historic siding and trim to match existing historic siding and trim ) 2. 603 Rundell Street – Longfellow Historic District (rear deck addition without railing) F) Report on Sabin School/Southside Survey G) Discussion of Historic Preservation Plan priorities and annual work program H) Consideration of Minutes for July 9, 2015 I) Commission Information and Discussion 1. Discussion of potential CLG application 2. Introduction of Historic Preservation Facebook Page J) Adjournment Staff Report August 4, 2015 Historic Review for 721 Fairchild Street District: Goosetown/ Horace Mann Conservation District Classification: Noncontributing The applicant, Linda Gerhold, is requesting approval for a proposed alteration project at 721 Fairchild Street, a noncontributing property in the Goosetown/ Horace Mann Conservation District. The project consists of removing the three ganged windows on the front façade and replacing them with a bay window. Applicable Regulations and Guidelines: 4.0 Iowa City Historic Preservation Guidelines for Alterations 4.5 Foundations 4.11 Siding 4.13 Windows Staff Comments This house is a modern construction built in 1951 and does not contribute to the Historic District. It is a simple side-gabled ranch home. It has wood lap siding over all but the west portion of the north elevation where it has vertical wood siding. The side elevations have double- hung windows and the front elevation has three fixed ganged windows and two sliders. The applicant is proposing to remove the three ganged windows on the front elevation and replace them with a bay window that extends to the roof fascia behind the gutter. The bay will have a new smooth, poured concrete foundation and wood lap siding to make the existing. The three front windows will be fixed and the two side windows on the angle will be double-hung for ventilation. All windows will be metal-clad wood and the trim will be wood. The guidelines recommend using smooth faced concrete for new foundations. New windows should match the size, type, sash width, and trim of the existing windows. Wood siding and trim to match the existing is also recommended In Staff’s opinion, this bay window addition will not adversely impact the appearance of the house. Ranch houses from this period typically had a large picture window located asymmetrically on the front façade. A bay window would not have been typical but it could be considered a variant of the idea. Using three fixed windows on the front would reflect the three equal-sized ganged windows that were originally part of the house. As a typical ranch house with many sizes and types of windows, this house has the three fixed windows on the front, as well as two sliders that are probably not original, and double hung windows on the side elevations. The applicant has proposed to use double-hung windows on the sides of the bay. It is staff’s opinion that casement windows in this location would unify all of the windows in the bay as single pane windows. The house does have a precedent for the use of double-hung so the commission may find that the double hung windows are appropriate. Unifying the siding and trim to match the rest of the house will improve the character of the home. Recommended Motion Move to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness for the project at Address as presented in the application with the following conditions:  Change the side windows in the bay from double-hung to casement windows. MINUTES PRELIMINARY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION JULY 9, 2015 IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY MEMBERS PRESENT: Kent Ackerson, Thomas Agran, Esther Baker, Kate Corcoran, Frank Durham, Andrew Litton, Pam Michaud, Ben Sandell, Ginalie Swaim MEMBERS ABSENT: Gosia Clore, Frank Wagner STAFF PRESENT: Jessica Bristow, Bob Miklo OTHERS PRESENT: RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (become effective only after separate Council action) CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Swaim called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA: Michaud said she did not understand what has to be on the agenda. She said that last month and this month, after consideration of the minutes, incentives for continued occupancy of historic buildings was not on the agenda. Michaud asked if it is officially on the agenda after the minutes or not. Swaim said the Commission did not discuss that item at its last meeting. Miklo said the time to discuss it would be after the minutes during Commission information and discussion. CONSENT AGENDA: CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: 411 East Davenport Street. Bristow said this property is on the edge of the Goosetown/Horace Mann District. She said it was built around 1888 as a vernacular, gable end house with no dormers. Bristow said an addition was built off to the side sometime later. She said the small front entry roof was also built later. Bristow said the applicant wants to add an egress window for the basement. She said it is in an interesting location because of the way that this house is set up. Bristow showed a diagram of the rear of the house with the patio on the rear. She said the basement extends under that patio. Bristow said the owner wants to put the egress window on the foundation wall on the edge of the patio, which would work for code. Bristow said the owner has a plan view of a window about 40 inches long and 40 inches deep. She said it would be a casement window, and the owner would like to have muntin bars to look like a double hung window to match some of the other windows. Bristow said it would also be dark like the other windows. Bristow said that because of its location, there needs to be some kind of cap on the window well. She said there has been discussion of following the building code regarding having just a basic steel grate over it so that it would not really show or present anything that would impact the historic HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 9, 2015 Page 2 of 7 nature of the home. Bristow said that staff recommends approval of this as drawn. She said it would be a Crestline metal-clad, casement window. Swaim asked about the grate over the window. Bristow responded that a person getting out of the window would push that grate up. Sandell asked about the distance between the edge of the window and the property line. Bristow said the property owner believes it is one foot. She said the drawing is not to scale, and the building officials do not have a problem with the distance to the property line. Durham said the existing fence would seem to be on the property line. Bristow said she believes that is accurate. Sandell asked if 40 inches by 40 inches is the typical size for an egress window. Bristow said she thought so and said the owner was provided with the minimum requirements. MOTION: Durham moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project at 411 East Davenport Street as presented in the report. Ackerson seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0 (Clore and Wagner absent). CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS 828 Dearborn. Bristow said this property is in the Dearborn Street Conservation District. She said it is a large, typical four-square home with original siding and windows. Bristow said the house has an approximately 1970s addition on the back. She said it is single-story and slightly L-shaped – mostly one large rectangular room. Bristow said the applicant proposes to repair some of the siding on the historic part of the house and replace gutters and downspouts. She said, however, that the main portion of the work is to move a few of the windows in the non-historic addition. Bristow said that on the south side of the house, the owner wants to break up the group of three windows by moving one window to the east. She said the proposed window pattern would be more consistent with historic window patterns with the pair of windows and then the single off to the side. Bristow said that on the north and east sides, the owner wants to swap the windows because of size. She said that one is larger, and the owner wants to swap them based on the interior remodel. Bristow said the owner does want to put the window that will be newly placed on the east side closer to the corner. Bristow said the owner will be replacing the siding on the non-historic addition and matching the historic siding. She said staff has talked to the owner about matching the historic trim. Bristow said that even though the proportion and scale of the addition is not historic, it will blend in better with the historic home once the work is done. MOTION: Baker moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project at 828 Dearborn Street as presented in the report. Ackerson seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0 (Clore and Wagner absent). HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 9, 2015 Page 3 of 7 REPORT ON CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY CHAIR AND STAFF: Certificate of No Material Effect – Chair and Staff Review. 325 North Gilbert. Bristow said this home in the Northside Historic District has two roof levels on the back porch addition: the upper roof level is an historic porch that is actually smaller than the railing area, going from one corner to the other. She said there is an addition on the back with a slightly lower roof. Bristow said the applicant is replacing the roof materials because of leaking, basically putting in a membrane roof material. Bristow said this will make sure the difference in the roof levels is evident so that one can tell where the historic roofline was at one point in time. She said that whether or not that ever becomes a porch again, there is a door that goes out to it. 223 South Dodge Street. Bristow said this is a sorority house. She stated that a couple of months ago, there was a certificate to replace some of the windows. Bristow said this certificate concerns replacing the HVAC. She said there are some air conditioning units that will be removed. Bristow said the stone will be patched in, and, based on the masonry construction, it won’t go too thin. She said that removing some of the stone would be problematic, so the owner is going to piece in to try to match the pattern there. Bristow said there are small air conditioning units to be mounted on the back of the building on the west side. She said staff convinced the owner to put them on the ground instead, so there will be three or four two-inch holes in the west side of the masonry to get piping out. Bristow said they also put in two typical AC units, positioned as discretely as possible next to the parking. Minor Review – Preapproved Item – Staff Review. 606 North Gilbert. Bristow stated that this is one of the University houses. She said it had a duplex layout with a window at the stair that was replaced by a door long ago. Bristow said this is being made into a single-family home, so the door is to be removed with a window put back in. She said the head of the window will be what is believed to be the original head of the window height. Bristow said the width of the door opening is probably the same as the width of the windows on the second floor so will match the window heights on the second floor with this window. She said this is not original siding, but the owners will be able to patch it and match it so that it all blends in. 402 North Dodge. Bristow said this property is in the Goosetown/Horace Mann District. She said the house has a few windows that have been replaced: the gable window and one of the first floor windows. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 9, 2015 Page 4 of 7 Bristow said the owner wants to replace and/or repair the five windows on the second floor. She stated that some of them don’t function, and some of them don’t have storms but will get storms remade for them. Bristow said they will all match existing. Intermediate Review – Chair and Staff Review. 932 East College. Bristow said this is the apartment house that used to be a sorority and at one time a fraternity. She said the plan is to replace the roof with a metal roof system to match historic shake shingles. Bristow said the owner also plans to replace the metal cap over the parapet walls and all of the downspouts and gutters. Bristow said there is also a little bay window in the lower corner. She said that the exact same roof system cannot be placed on that, but the owner will put something that is as close as possible to the same roof that is being put up above. Bristow said the owner also plans to take the asphalt shingles off of the side of the dormers. She said there were two options: to put the same shingles there or to make it look a little bit more Tudor. Bristow said the owner is going with the Tudor look, so there will be a hardi-board stucco and more hardi-board as trim around the side pieces. She added that the shingle on the front face next to the windows that will be taken off, and there will be a piece of hardi-board on each side of the window as well. Agran had comments regarding two of these projects. The house at 325 N Gilbert with the double porch roof was just repainted. He said the owners did a really nice job with painting and trim work. It might be a candidate for next year’s Historic Preservation Awards. Agran said the neighborhood area of the house at 402 N. Dodge with the red metal roof is a nice example of when one person started painting his roof and then adjacent property owners have hired the same company to paint their roofs. He said it looks really good to have this roof rejuvenation. DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN PRIORITIES AND ANNUAL WORK PROGRAM: Corcoran said the subcommittee would meet next Tuesday the 14th. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FOR JUNE 11, 2015: Baker said that, regarding the certificate of appropriateness for 1102 East College Street, the property is in the East College District and not the College Hill District. MOTION: Durham moved to approve the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission’s June 11, 2015 meeting, as amended. Baker seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0 (Clore and Wagner absent). COMMISSION INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION: Incentives for continued occupancy of historic buildings. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 9, 2015 Page 5 of 7 Michaud said she was interested in the Unitarian Church relocation. She said the Commission has discussed incentives before. Michaud said she had some ideas about reutilizing the property that she has discussed with a number of people and organizations. She said there are organizations that are interested in promoting downtown, technology transfer, or working with the University in a non-laboratory type way. Miklo said that Michaud had brought up creating more incentives for reuse of historic buildings it was in the context of the issue of the dental clinic on Market Street. Michaud had wanted to talk about incentives in general to encourage the reuse of buildings. He said that, in terms of the Unitarian Church, the Commission should not get into discussion since it is not on the agenda, but the City Council will be discussing this at its informal meeting on July 27. Miklo said the City has been approached by Jesse Allen, who has a purchase offer on the building, although the purchase is not complete. Miklo said that Allen has asked the City about using the City parking lot to the east of the Unitarian Church, the idea being similar to what the Commission put forth to the City Council several months ago about using the parking lot as an incentive to preserve the church building. Miklo said that is being explored at the City Council level, since it is City property. Grant Wood fence. Miklo said the Commission approved the design on the upper portion of the drawing. He said there was quite a bit of discussion of the picket fence and how it would be made. Miklo said that now that this is getting into more detail, the owner is rethinking the design. Miklo said that, rather than exceeding six feet, which kicks in a requirement for a permit, this may be a smaller fence. He said the owner has decided not to do the limestone piers but to do a metal post that would look like a wood post to match the rest of the posts of the fence. Miklo said that might actually be an improvement in that the limestone might have been more than what is seen in this neighborhood. Miklo stated that the gate would actually be just a temporary gate until the design of the artistic part of it is finalized. He said that rather than doing the limestone piers, it would have two limestone blocks on either side for signage. Miklo said that staff wanted to bring this in front of the Commission for a chance to voice any concerns, given that it is a change from what was approved last fall. Durham asked if the scale of the artistic gate would be reduced. Miklo said the owner is thinking of doing it smaller. He said that after looking at the plan more closely, the owner thought it was overwhelming for the neighborhood. Agran asked if there are rules regarding signage in neighborhoods. Miklo confirmed this. He said the new proposal would fall within the guidelines. Swaim asked if this would come before the Commission when the final design is decided. Miklo said that if it is changed dramatically, it could be brought back before the Commission. He asked if the Commission is okay with the plan if done on a smaller scale with the same design. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION July 9, 2015 Page 6 of 7 Sandell asked if the gate is necessary. Miklo replied that the owner wants to keep people from just driving through, as the driveway connects to the alley. Swaim asked if the Commission wants to see the final design if different from the current. The consensus of the Commission was to see the design if changed. Sandell said that he would still like to see an elevation of the four properties in a row. He said there are gradual and not so gradual grade changes, and he had concerns about how that looks in the end. Michaud said she thinks that makes sense, because it is a long block. She said that people might cut through to the other block or the alley, but it is kind of establishing an estate thing. Michaud said it is a statement, but when one sees them in other cities, it is discretely placed, not a big statement. Agran said he would like to see any alterations that might be made to the gate itself. He said he would like to see the end product to see what the scale and everything looks like together. Baker agreed that it may no longer look harmonious now that it will be a shorter fence with different posts. Durham stated that in the original design, the posts were asymmetrical, partly to account for what the grade was thought to be. He said that the revised design is not trying to accomplish the same thing, so he would like to see the final design. Report from Preservation Iowa Summit. Swaim said that Corcoran and Bristow attended the seminar. Corcoran discussed the sessions that she had attended and the venue in Winterset, Iowa and Madison County. Bristow went through a slide show to summarize the concepts of the summit. She said the speaker discussed sustainability in terms of enduring and keeping what one has. Bristow stated that two big factors that she got out of the summit involved education and outreach. Roof and door review passed the first round with the City Council. Miklo said the City Council has approved the first reading requiring review of roofs and doors on single-family homes in historic districts but not conservation districts. He said he anticipates that most of those reviews will be administrative and will not need to come before the Commission. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:27 p.m. Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2014-2015 KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member NAME TERM EXP. 8/14 9/11 10/9 11/13 12/11 1/8 2/12 3/12 4/9 5/14 6/11 7/6 ACKERSON, KENT 3/29/16 X X X X X X X X X X X X AGRAN, THOMAS 3/29/17 O/E X X O/E X X X O/E X X X X BAKER, ESTHER 3/29/18 X X X O/E X X O/E X X X X X CLORE, GOSIA 3/29/17 O/E X X X O/E X X X X O/E O/E O/E CORCORAN, KATE 3/29/16 O/E X X X X X X X X X X X DURHAM, FRANK 3/29/16 O/E X X X X X O/E X O/E O/E X X LITTON, ANDREW 3/29/17 X X X X X O/E X X X X X X MICHAUD, PAM 3/29/18 X X X X X X X X X X O/E X SANDELL, BEN 3/29/17 X X X X X X X X X X O/E X SWAIM, GINALIE 3/29/18 X O/E O/E X X X X X X X X X WAGNER, FRANK 3/29/18 O/E X O/E X O/E O/E O/E X X O/E X O/E