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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistoric Preservation Commission - MINUTES - 04/16/2025Historic Preservation Commission REGULAR MEETING April 16, 2025 – 5:30 PM Council Chambers, City Hall 300 Laporte Ave Also via Zoom •CALL TO ORDER Chair Rose called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. •ROLL CALL o Commission Members Present – Jim Rose (Chair) Bonnie Gibson (Vice Chair) Margo Carlock Chris Conway Jeff Gaines David Woodlee o Commission Members Absent – Jenna Edwards Aaron Hull o Staff Members Present – Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager Rebekah Schields, Historic Preservation Specialist Heather Jarvis, Assistant City Attorney Melissa Matsunaka, HPC Admin o Guest(s) – None •AGENDA REVIEW Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager, reviewed the published agenda. •COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION ON ITEMS ON OR NOT ON THE AGENDA None. •CONSENT AGENDA REVIEW No items were pulled from consent. Historic Preservation • CONSENT AGENDA 1. CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 19, 2025. The purpose of this item is to approve the minutes from the February 19, 2025 regular meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission. Vice Chair Gibson made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Carlock, to approve the Consent Agenda. Yeas: Carlock, Conway, Gaines, Gibson, Woodlee, and Rose. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. • STAFF REPORTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA None. • COMMISSIONER REPORTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA None. • CONSENT AGENDA FOLLOW UP None. • DISCUSSION AGENDA 2. REPORT ON STAFF ACTIVITIES SINCE THE LAST MEETING Staff is tasked with an array of different responsibilities including code-required project review decisions on historic properties, support to other standing and special work groups across the City organization, and education & outreach programming. This report will provide highlights for the benefit of Commission members and the public, and for transparency regarding decisions made without the input of the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC). Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager, reported on the landmark design review for a front porch project at 718 West Mountain Avenue. Additionally, she reported on a development review for some minor changes, including an elevator addition, at 531 South College Avenue, which was recently listed on the Colorado Register of Historic Properties. Bzdek reported on a civil rights walking tour that occurred in March with students from the Compass Community Collaborative School and provided a reminder of upcoming education and outreach opportunities, including the Friend of Preservation Awards, the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery member night, and a presentation on the life and work of Montezuma Fuller at the Museum of Discovery. She also provided a reminder about the Historic Preservation newsletter. 3. SINGLE-UNIT DWELLING DEMOLITION NOTIFICATION – 712 SCENIC DR. Single-unit dwellings that are at least fifty years old and that are proposed for demolition to clear a property for a new single-unit dwelling are subject to the demolition notification process administered by the Historic Preservation staff and the Historic Preservation Commission. Demolition notification in this circumstance provides an opportunity to inform residents of changes in their neighborhood and to identify potentially important historic, architectural, and cultural resources, pursuant to Section 14-6 STAFF: Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager STAFF PRESENTATION Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager, noted single-unit dwellings that are at least fifty years old and are not otherwise protected as a City landmark that are proposed for demolition are subject to the demolition notification process. She noted the properties are posted with demolition notice signage, information is posted on the Historic Preservation website and in City newsletters, and the Commission is notified which allows members of the public to make comment either in writing or in person. Bzdek provided an aerial map of the 712 Scenic Drive property, which was constructed in 1975 with a barn being added in 1979. She discussed the history of the home and the building permits pulled for the site over time. She showed photos of the house and barn and reminded the Commission that it may acknowledge notification with no further action or initiate landmark designation. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None. COMMISSION QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION Chair Rose stated the Commission will acknowledge notification and take no further action. 4. SINGLE-UNIT DWELLING DEMOLITION NOTIFICATION – 125 W. TRILBY RD. DESCRIPTION: demolition to clear a property for a new single- demolition notification process administered by the Historic Preservation staff and the Historic Preservation Commission. Demolition notification in this circumstance provides an opportunity to inform residents of changes in their neighborhood and to identify potentially important historic, architectural, and cultural resources, pursuant STAFF: Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager STAFF PRESENTATION Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager, provided information regarding the 125 West Trilby Road property, which was constructed in 1963 with a shed structure being added in 1990. She discussed the history of the home and the building permits pulled for the site over time. She showed photos of the house and reminded the Commission that it may acknowledge notification with no further action or initiate landmark designation. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None. COMMISSION QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION Chair Rose stated the Commission will acknowledge notification and take no further action. 5. SINGLE-UNIT DWELLING DEMOLITION NOTIFICATION – 616 W. OLIVE ST. Single-unit dwellings that are at least fifty years old and that are proposed for demolition to clear a property for a new single- demolition notification process administered by the Historic Preservation staff and the Historic Preservation Commission. Demolition notification in this circumstance provides an opportunity to inform residents of changes in their neighborhood and to identify potentially important historic, architectural, and cultural resources, pursuant STAFF: Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager STAFF PRESENTATION Maren Bzdek, Historic Preservation Division Manager, provided information regarding the 616 West Olive Street property, which was constructed in 1923 with a garage attached by a breezeway being added in 1961. She discussed the history of the home and the building permits pulled for the site over time. She showed photos of the house, which has fallen into disrepair, and noted the City had to place a stop work order for demolition that had already started, which is a process through Building Services. Bzdek reminded the Commission that it may acknowledge notification with no further action or initiate landmark designation. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None. COMMISSION QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION Commissioner Gaines asked about the history of the home falling into disrepair. Bzdek replied she has limited information, but the home has been occupied by renters and has been vacant for the past year or two as the owner is in memory care. She stated it is unusual to have demolition occur prior to approval of a demolition permit. Chair Rose stated the Commission will acknowledge notification and take no further action. 6. REPORT ON LAUREL & COLLEGE HISTORIC SURVEY The City of Fort Collins is completing a historic survey of forty-eight (48) properties near the intersection of Laurel Street and College Avenue. This area was selected for survey as it includes a high concentration of older commercial buildings and a number of small businesses that may be subject to the City’s Land Use Code and historic survey requirements for adaptive reuse projects. In addition, the area is within the City’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Overlay Zone and is expected to see more development pressure and infill in the coming decades. As such, the goals of this project are to remove the cost of a third-party survey for small businesses and to provide more accurate and up-to- STAFF: Rebekah Schields, Historic Preservation Specialist STAFF PRESENTATION Rebekah Schields, Historic Preservation Specialist, discussed the importance of proactive historic surveys which allow for the completion of better research, creation of better context, improvement of assessment quality, and provide information to property owners to better plan for future development knowing if their property will be subject to Historic Preservation Land Use Code requirements. Schields discussed the reasons for selecting the Laurel and College area for a proactive survey. Schields stated the project intensively surveyed 48 properties surrounding the Laurel and College intersection regardless of their age. Of the 48 properties, 17 were found to be eligible for listing as local landmarks. Additionally, a likely historic district was identified along West Laurel Street. Schields discussed the history of the area and its association with Colorado State University. She noted the area changed dramatically after World War II in various ways, including the formation of mixed-use buildings wherein a commercial use was added to a residential dwelling. Schields highlighted two of the newly eligible buildings: 203 West Myrtle, which was originally constructed as a residence in 1899 then utilized as an Asian cultural center and import store between 1977 and 2015, and 120 West Laurel which was originally constructed as a residence in 1916 and then served as a boarding house with the subsequent addition of a commercial use. Schields stated a potential historic district has been identified that encompasses ten properties along West Laurel and South Mason Streets. Schields discussed an open house that was held for property and business owners as part of the project and stated staff is working on a final report for the project which will be available on the City’s website when it is completed. The report will include sections on women’s history, local architects, and fraternities and sororities. COMMISSION QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION Commissioner Gaines commended the presentation and asked if staff has a vision for how it would like to see increasing density unfold in the area. Schields replied there are several empty lots in the area that can be infilled and the properties that are not landmark eligible could be significantly modified and heightened to provide additional housing units. Chair Rose asked if any of the meeting attendees with eligible properties had comments about that possibility. Schields replied she did not specifically have any of those conversations, though the owner of 203 West Myrtle did have a conversation with Jim Bertolini. Commissioner Conway asked about the tradeoffs associated with freezing a property in its current built form versus allowing for more flexibility in responding to changing community needs. Schields replied landmark eligible properties can be altered; those changes just need to be made in a sensitive manner. This project helped to identify the character defining features of the eligible properties and now staff can work with property owners to keep those features while expanding or altering properties in ways that work for them. Commissioner Carlock asked about the eligibility of The Colorado Room and Screamin’ Peach. Schields replied The Colorado Room is not eligible; however, the strip mall that contains the Screamin' Peach is eligible as it is the first known strip mall in the city. Commissioner Gaines asked how the decision was made to identify certain properties as not likely to be landmarked. Schields replied all properties go through the same process and are documented on an intensive architectural inventory form provided by the State, and some properties were determined to be unlikely to be landmarked. Commissioner Conway asked how a historic district is identified. Schields replied historic districts are united by a historic theme or aesthetic, and the theme for the potential district identified in this project was the modifications and the fact that the buildings are tightly grouped. Bzdek noted this is a planning tool; the area has not been given a historic district label. Chair Rose commended the project as helping to get ahead of the game to help provide staff and the Commission with a better plan of action. Bzdek commended the report and the information as a storytelling vehicle for the future. Vice Chair Gibson also commended the report and the work of architectural historians. Commissioner Conway commended the report and asked how long it takes to prepare such a report and where the next survey is intended to be conducted. Schields replied the report took approximately a month to complete, though not full time. The survey itself took nearly two years to complete. She stated she is just now completing the 80 plus survey forms for the North College survey, which is an area that is also expected to see a great deal of development pressure in the future. Additionally, staff is beginning work on a mid-century modern religious properties survey. Commissioner Conway asked if the Historic Preservation Commission would ever consider making statements or taking positions in favor of the kinds of developments seen in the Laurel and College area, such as adding a commercial use to a residential property. He noted many of those types of projects from the past are praised today, yet are not allowed to be built today. Bzdek noted the Commission could issue a memo to Council or staff at any time on any policy matters that it feels are related to preservation concerns. Chair Rose stated some of that work is done with design review. Commissioner Conway noted the Land Use Code typically outlines what cannot be built and suggested the Commission could make a statement related to the city’s history with home conversions into commercial properties or neighborhood grocery stores, for example, and encourage that type of allowed use now. Commissioner Carlock stated that while she would like neighborhood grocery stores to return, it may not be financially feasible. She also stated she would be hesitant to guide something for the future as it may be a bit of a stretch for the mission of the Historic Preservation Commission. Commissioner Woodlee noted a memo or sending a representative may be the only way these types of discussions get conveyed to Council. Bzdek noted the Council liaison, Tricia Canonico, will be attending an HPC meeting at some point in the spring which would be a good opportunity for the Commission to speak directly to a member of Council. Additionally she noted the Commission has in the past provided letters of support for specific initiatives or projects it feels intersect in some way with preservation policy or regulations. Commissioner Conway stated he would like to see the Commission take a stance on downtown parking, noting many of the historic properties in the area would look completely different with the parking requirements that exist today. He stated he would like to see the Commission recommend to City staff that eliminating parking minimums would help alleviate concerns about losing the historic character of the community. Vice Chair Gibson concurred with Commissioner Conway’s comments and stated historic properties should be allowed to come up with interesting solutions using historic preservation funds. 7. HPC OFFICER ELECTIONS Chair Rose stated he does not desire to retain the Chair role. Commissioner Carlock nominated Vice Chair Gibson for Chair. Commissioner Woodlee seconded the motion. Vice Chair Gibson nominated Commissioner Conway as Vice Chair. Commissioner Conway declined the nomination. Commissioner Gibson nominated Commissioner Carlock as Vice Chair. Commissioner Conway seconded the motion. The motions were both adopted unanimously. • OTHER BUSINESS Commissioner Woodlee asked if he could contact other municipalities’ Historic Preservation Departments on his own behalf or if he needs to cc the other members of the Commission. Assistant City Attorney Jarvis replied it would be better not to cc the other members given open meetings rules, though any Commissioner may do research on their own and identify themselves as a member of the Commission. Commissioner Conway noted Council will soon be considering the parking minimums for commercial properties and asked if the Commission would have any interest in sending a memo to Council regarding support for eliminating parking minimums in commercial districts or all together. Commissioner Woodlee suggested the Commission could recommend a moratorium on building more parking structures and on changing any use to parking in the downtown area. Commissioner Conway clarified that eliminating the parking minimums would simply eliminate the requirement for additional parking spaces to be added for new developments or redevelopments and would not remove any existing parking. Bzdek stated it may be helpful for the Commission to hear a presentation on parking minimums and associated impacts on historic preservation in order for the Commission to respond in memo form. Assistant City Attorney Jarvis noted there was a State bill that recently passed eliminating parking minimums for multi-family residential development, adaptive reuse for residential purposes, and adaptive reuse for mixed purposes. Commissioner Conway suggested staff could prepare a draft memo for the Commission to consider during and after a presentation from staff regarding parking. Bzdek requested additional detail on what the Commission would like to see in such a memo. Commissioner Conway stated he would assist in providing guidance for a memo. Newly elected Chair Gibson asked if the May work session will be rescheduled. Matsunaka noted there are three planned absences for the work session, including the newly elected Chair and Vice Chair. Members opted to hold the work session on the originally scheduled date with Commissioner Gaines acting as Chair for that meeting. Newly elected Chair Gibson thanked Chair Rose for his service as Chair. • ADJOURNMENT Chair Rose adjourned the meeting at 7:10 p.m. Minutes prepared by and respectfully submitted by Melissa Matsunaka.