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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLandmark Preservation Commission - Minutes - 05/23/2001LANDMARK PRESERVATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting May 23, 2001 Minutes Council Liaison: Eric Hemrick Staff Liaison: Joe Frank (221-6376) Commission Chairperson: Per Hogestad (416-7285) SUMMARY OF MEETING: The LPC moved to approve the awning design presented for the Northern Hotel, approved the request for the designation of the property at 1500 Laporte Avenue for its architectural and historical importance, and approved changes to the exterior of 2902 Ridgen parkway, the Ridgen Farmhouse. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL: W.J. "Bud" Frick called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m. at 281 North College Avenue. Commission members Janet Ore, Agnes Dix, Angie Aguilera, Myme Watrous, Angie Milewski, and W.J. "Bud" Frick were present. Per Hogestad was absent. Carol Tunner, Timothy Wilder, and Joe Frank represented Staff. GUESTS: Karen Murray, Owner, and Mark Delahoy, Contractor, for 1500 LaPorte, Tom Reiff, Transportation Planner for Bike Depot, Gary Dennison, Architect, for Northern Hotel, Felix Rojas of Wheeler Construction, Dana Lockwood, Architect, and J. Vaughn Furness of Jim Sell Design, Inc., for 2902 Rigden Parkway, AGENDA REVIEW: Northern Hotel item added as Other Business. STAFF REPORTS: Ms. Tunner announced that there would be a Museum slide show on May 30`" about the saving the Franz -Smith Cabin. She passed around a postcard announcing the Harmony Store zoning change agenda item at the June 5"' City Council meeting. COMMISSION MEMBERS' REPORTS: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes accepted as written. CONSENT AGENDA: 172 North College Avenue, Northern Hotel — New Awnings (Gary Dennison). Pictures of the proposed awnings were presented, and Mr. Dennison added that the awnings will be operable. Motion to approve awnings as presented by Ms. Aguilera, and seconded by Ms. Milewski. Motion approved unanimously, 6-0. DESIGNATION AND DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY: 1500 Laporte Avenue (Mark Delahoy, Contractor and Karen Murray, Owner). Landmark Preservation Commission May 23, 2001 Meeting Minutes Page 2 This home was, at one time, part of a large farm. In 1922 the home was sold. Ms. Murray purchased it about a year ago. The owner's original plans have been redesigned, in collaboration with the LPC design committee. Staff recommends approval of this designation for its architectural and historical importance to Fort Collins. Ms. Watrous asked if the carriage house in the back is included in this property. Ms. Murray replied that, unfortunately, it is not. Ms. Dix asked about when it was built. If it was constructed in 1900, how can this be, if the original owners lived in it for 10 years, and then it was sold in 1922? Ms. McWilliams replied that she has provided the information gained from the homeowner. This information was gathered by Simmons and Simmons, who usually do a fairly good job, but their source was the assessor's records, which are not always accurate. Perhaps they should say that it was built circa 1900. Ms. Ore said that the style of a house is known by its shape, but there have been two additions that have changed the shape of this building. This is raised only as a discussion — the house is contributing to the district, but as a landmark it's borderline. Ms. McWilliams replied that there aren't established districts in this area, so there will be no district in this area for the next 5 years. Because of this situation, they've been designated. Ms. Ore replied that they need to be careful of what is designated as a landmark. Mr. Frick added that the garage addition is the most intrusive, and could always be taken off and another addition could be added that is much more consistent with the original house. Ms. Milewski asked if the loan program could be used for that. Ms. McWilliams replied that the owner would have to want it. Ms. Watrous said that the forerunner of the Ft. Collins Nursery is in that area. Ms. Murray said that she had also heard that the nursery was there. The kids used to play back there in the orchard. Ms. McWilliams said that the LPC has, in the past, realized that homes need to be lived in by people and evolve with them. Ms. Ore replied that they have to be aware of how much the addition changes the house. If it changes the shape, they need to be careful -- even though houses need to evolve, they must also keep their integrity. In her opinion, the house is on the edge because of the additions, but she indicated that she will go along with staff recommendation. Mr. Frick asked the owner why she wanted to designate it. Ms. Murray replied that she has worked on this project for 9 months and decided that she wanted to do it right. At first she just wanted to do it as a fun project, but now she has changed and has a great deal of pride in it. Mr. Frick replied that the addition is 1,000% better than it was originally proposed, and has been done in a very sensitive nature. Ms. Tunner added that she knows this house and has been it many times. She looked around town for properties to do a project on, and there were several houses like this, four -squares. The LPC has already designated four -squares that have had additions. The farm was an important part of the town. Landmark Preservation Commis • • May 23, 2001 Meeting Minutes Page 3 Ms. Milewski said that she agrees with Ms. Ore in that they must be very careful with local landmark designation. She considers it to be for properties worthy of protection. The homeowner worked to protect this house with the sensitive addition. The 60's garage could be removed, and this may be something the owners would consider someday. Looking at it from a purely preservation standpoint, the owners want to protect this house, and have put time and money into its protection. Ms. Ore replied that if she were a surveyor, she would have to look at it a long time to decide. Mr. Frick replied that it meets standards 8 and 9. Public input: none. Ms. Aguilera moved that the LPC approve the request that we designate the property at 1500 Laporte Avenue its architectural and historical importance. The LPC recognizes, however, that the garage is a non-contributing element. Motion seconded by Ms. Milewski, and approved unanimously, 6-0. CURRENT REVIEW: 1) Northeast Corner of Laport/Mason — Complimentary Review of proposed transportation Oriented Building (Tom Reiff, Transportation Planner) Mr. Reiff set out his proposal for a bike -depot — a public/private community support facility designed to promote bike use. He has met with various agencies and groups to look at feasibility of a bike depot, which would be based around the Mason Street transportation corridor. The City is considering the possibility of two different bike depots, one downtown and one in the south Ft. Collins. Services would include bike parking, retail sales of accessories, bike repairs and rentals, restrooms and changing rooms, electric bicycles, safely classes, and a bicycle registration program to help the Police Department to restore bikes to their owners. There is also a potential commercial sleeve, which might include a food market, cafe, convenience store, and leasable office space. This will be located next to the freight depot, at the corner of Mason and Laporte. The design will be based on the design of the freight depot, in order to complement it, buy may be modeled on the old freight depot, which was tom down to put in Laporte Avenue. The rendering shown does not conform to section 9 of the Standard, particularly because it is not to scale. Ms. Watrous asked if there is some kind of arcade area in front of the building. Mr. Reiff replied that, no, the front area will be all glass doors, built right on top of the street, with no setback. Ms. Aguilara asked if the City considered rehabilitating an old building for this purpose instead of building a new building. Mr. Reiff responded that they did not. The ones that would be suited to the purpose are not well located. Ms. Aguilera asked if they could break out the different parts of the building, like the retail, the commercial, so it's not so Landmark Preservation Commission ,..� May 23, 2001 Meeting Minutes Page 4 big. Ms. Reiff responded that this would increase the cost and he didn't think the funding agents would approve it. Mr. Frick said that the original freight depot didn't have such extensive mass to it, and said that perhaps multiple buildings, attached in a certain way, would be better. He asked why there has to be a retail component. Mr. Reiff replied that the retail component offers a way to offset the costs for the City. Ms. Tunner asked how the bike shops feel about the City offering free repair at the bike depot. Mr. Reiff replied that all the bike shops want to operate it. A private company would operate the property, and the City would lease the commercial component to the chosen private company. Ms.Tunner asked if there are other instances where the City leases to a private company. Mr. Reiff said that all the golf shops are like that — the City leases the space to a private company. The parking garage is also like that. Ms. Ore said that in the design, the box is too dominant. She felt that the site will be overburdened if it must include a bike shop, retail, housing, etc. Ms. Aguilera asked if the City would be interested in a Design Review Committee. Mr. Reiff replied that if the Mason Street corridor gets built then they'll look into it. Once they get to the design process, it would be good to meet with the Design Review Subcommittee. Ms. Watrous asked if the other site will be at Spring creek and Mason Street, which is the flood site. Mr. Reiff replied that it will actually be on the west side of the railroad tracks, where the park area is. They may look at Spring Creek Park, but that will be more like a rest stop. One Commission member added that there used to be a little park in front of the Depot that used to spell out Ft. Collins in marigolds. If you could add something like that and it would be touching on history. 2) 2902 Rigden Parkway, Rigden Farm House — Addition of Deck, North Door, Condenser Pad (Felix Rojas, Wheeler Construction, Dana Lockwood, Architect, Laughn Furness, Jim Sell Design, Inc.) The applicants for 2902 Ridgen Parkway request exterior changes, including a vinyl porch, the replacement of the north side exterior door, gutters and downspouts and the addition of a 3' x 3' concrete air conditioning condenser pad. Ms. Tunner recommends that substitute materials be used in place of the vinyl proposed, replacing it with a vinyl that is less shiny. The concrete condenser pad tucks into a comer and Ms. Tunner anticipates no problems with that. Landmark Preservation Commis • May 23, 2001 Meeting Minutes Page 5 Mr. Rojas brought a sample of the vinyl material they would like to use for deck. Unlike the example, however, the vinyl used won't be smooth, but will have wood -like texturing. A two -rail fence in that same style will be used throughout the community. This building will be the neighborhood center, used for neighborhood gatherings. The residence will be used for the caretaker, to allow for contact between him and the residents. Since the office will be used in the community center, the City has required that there be a ramp up to it. The ramp will have to be a 45" ramp. Originally, there was going to be a retail store in there, but the project has been scaled back quite a bit. Ms. Aguilera asked if they can't you use one of the other buildings for the office. Mr. Lockwood said that the bam is already full of stuff and the bunkhouse is really tiny, and would, then, need to be heated. This building needs to be a mixed -use building. It will be a residence and an office. Mr. Frick asked why they need such a big deck. Mr. Lockwood replied that it will be an extra space for the people using the house. It will also hide the ramp and the mismatched bricks, Ms. Ore replied that this is a landmark, though. They're adding a whole new, vinyl deck, where a deck never was before. Ms. Milewski added that the 48 feet of ramp surprised her, too. They could hide the brick with landscaping, and put in a lift, and keep the patio there. Mr. Rojas said that they have had to have a community center for the size of development they're building. Ms. Ore said that even if they need a ramp, do you have to have a deck? Could the ramp go in the back. Mr. Rojas said that they'd still need a landing at the top of the ramp, so that's really a deck. The Commission decided that they could not approve the deck at the meeting because they don't know what was approved before. More facts have to be gathered in order to approve No. 1 on the agenda. Discussion continued on items 2, 3, and 4. Ms. Watrous asked where the air conditioner will be located in relation to the front of the house? Mr. Rojas replied that it will be at the southeast corner, on a pad on the ground. Ms. Ore asked if the door that will be replaced is an original door. Mr. Rojas replied that the door is a veneer door. He believes that the original door must have been solid core, so the current door is not original. Mr. Frick said that they might want to consider a more craftsman door, instead of the one proposed. Ms. McWilliams added that if they would like to propose a different door, we would be willing to propose it (for the side door). Mr. Rojas said that they would be open to that. He asked if someone could draw him a picture so he would know what to Landmark Preservation Commission May 23, 2001 Meeting Minutes Page 6 get. Mr. Frick added that the LPC leave off the decision for the door, to the time when the applicants come back with the other information. Ms. Aguilera moved to approve the exterior changes, in items number three and four for 2902 Ridgen parkway, the Ridgen Farmhouse. Motion seconded by Ms. Dix, and approved unanimously, 6-0. Ms. Aguilera moved to approve Number 2, with a wood frame, with the option that the applicants come back with a style more in keeping with the house, and painted in a color to match the trim of the house. Motion seconded by Ms. Milewski, and approved unanimously, 6-0. Mr. Frick excused himself from the meeting. OTHER BUSINESS: Northern Hotel (Gary Dennison) In the 1936 photo of the Northern Hotel, the fire escape has no ladder from the lowest landing to the ground. However, there is a ladder there now. The owners of the Northern Hotel would like to remove the ladder. They would like to rehabilitate the hotel to the 1936 version. Furthermore, the ladder has a large bracket that comes down and hits one of the stucco pillars. It does not align with the store front windows that they are restoring to. Also, because a fire escape is no longer needed, the owners will have to make the ladder inoperable, so people can't jump up there. The existing drop down piece is bulky and not in keeping with the rest of the fire escape. Ms. Watrous moved to approve the removal of the counter -balanced ladder on the NE side of the Northern Hotel, leaving the historic material of the fire escape. Seconded by Ms. Aguilera. Approved unanimously, 5-0. Ms. Tunner informed the LPC that, due to the Northern Hotel construction, a Coors beer truck backed into a building in the alley, hitting and damaging a building. The truck company needs to repair the brick, doing as good a job as possible. They wanted to put a steel plate in there, but this was disallowed by staff. Meeting adjourned at 7:48 p.m. Minutes submitted by Connie Merrill, Secretary