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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 12/20/2016 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 138, 2016, DESIGNATAgenda Item 6 Item # 6 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY December 20, 2016 City Council STAFF Cassandra Bumgarner, Historic Preservation Planner SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 138, 2016, Designating the Howell Property Located at 519 East Mulberry Street, Fort Collins, Colorado, as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This item is a quasi-judicial matter and if it is considered on the discussion agenda, it will be considered in accordance with the procedures described in Section 1(e) of the Council’s Rules of Meeting Procedures adopted in Resolution 2015-091. The purpose of this item is to designate the Howell property, located at 519 East Mulberry Street, as a Fort Collins Landmark. The owner of this property, Housing Catalyst, formerly the Fort Collins Housing Authority, is initiating this request. The 1908 vernacular cottage residence is eligible for recognition as a landmark due to its historic integrity and significance to Fort Collins under Designation Standard C, Design/Construction as a hipped box type residence. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION The Howell Property is an example of a vernacular, hipped roof box. Constructed in 1908, the residence exhibits character-defining architectural features, such as minimalist ornamentation and hipped roof. The structure’s physical integrity is essentially intact, with the exception of the addition of synthetic siding over the original wood siding, which is reversible. This house has historically provided housing, both owner-occupied and rental, for working class members of the community. Under Housing Catalyst ownership, the property has provided public housing for nearly 40 years. Housing Catalyst has requested that the City of Fort Collins designate four of its properties as Fort Collins Landmarks: 519 East Mulberry Street, 608 and 608 1/2 South Grant Avenue, 701 Mathews, and 717 and 717 1/2 West Mulberry Street. Housing Catalyst is proposing to sell several of its residential housing units, and to apply the funds from the sales toward the acquisition of replacement units. As a federally funded entity, Housing Catalyst is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to comply with applicable federal regulations, including compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Upon review by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the subject properties were determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. As the sale of these eligible properties to private individuals would result in the properties no longer being subject to federal oversight, the sale has been determined to have an “adverse effect.” One way that the finding of adverse effect may be mitigated is for the properties to become designated at the local level, and subject to local review. This solution will result in a finding of no adverse effect on the sale of the properties, and complies with both SHPO and HUD regulations. Agenda Item 6 Item # 6 Page 2 CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS Recognition of this property as a Fort Collins Landmark enables its owners to qualify for local financial incentive programs available only to landmark designated properties. Based upon research conducted by Clarion Associates, the property will likely see an increase in value following designation. Clarion Associates attributed this increase to the fact that current and future owners qualify for financial incentives; the appeal of owning a recognized historic landmark; and the assurance of predictability that design review offers. BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION This item will appear before the Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) on December 14, 2016. The results of the LPC meeting will be included in a read before memo to City Council on December 20, 2016. ATTACHMENTS 1. Location map (PDF) 2. Landmark Designation application, with photos (PDF) 3. Staff report to Landmark Preservation Commission (PDF) E Mulberry St Smith St Whedbee St E Myrtle St E Magnolia St 519 East Mulberry © Location Map 1 inch = 109 feet ATTACHMENT 1 Revised 08-2014 Page 1 Fort Collins Landmark Designation LOCATION INFORMATION: Address: 519 East Mulberry Street Legal Description: East 50 feet of west 96 feet of Lot 4 and the east 50 feet of the west 96 feet of the north 5 feet of Lot 3, Block 165, Fort Collins Property Name (historic and/or common): The Howell Property OWNER INFORMATION: Name: Housing Authority of the City of Fort Collins, Colorado Address: 1715 W Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80521 Contact: Darcy McClure, Project Manager, dmcclure@housingcatalyst.com, (970) 416-2839; Julie Brewen, CEO, jbrewen@housingcatalyst.com, (970) 416-2917. CLASSIFICATION Category Ownership Status Present Use Existing Designation Building Public Occupied Commercial Nat’l Register Structure Private Unoccupied Educational State Register Site Religious Object Residential District Entertainment Government Other FORM PREPARED BY: Name and Title: Cassandra Bumgarner, Historic Preservation Planner Address: City of Fort Collins, Historic Preservation Department, P.O. Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522 Contact: cbumgarner@fcgov.com; 970-416-4250 Relationship to Owner: None. DATE: 11/22/2016 Planning, Development & Transportation Services Community Development & Neighborhood Services 281 North College Avenue P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580 ATTACHMENT 2 Revised 08-2014 Page 2 TYPE OF DESIGNATION and BOUNDARIES Individual Landmark Property Landmark District Explanation of Boundaries: The boundaries of the property being designated as a Fort Collins Landmark correspond to the legal description of the property, above. The property contains a historic residence and detached, noncontributing shed. SIGNIFICANCE: Significance is the importance of a site, structure, object or district to the history, architecture, archeology, engineering or culture of our community, state or nation. For designation as Fort Collins Landmarks or Fort Collins Landmark Districts properties must meet one (1) or more of the following standards: Standard A: Events. This property is associated with events that have made a recognizable contribution to the broad patterns of the history of the community, State or Nation. It is associated with either (or both) of these two (2) types of events: 1. A specific event marking an important moment in Fort Collins prehistory or history; and/or 2. A pattern of events or a historic trend that made a recognizable contribution to the development of the community, State or Nation. Standard B: Persons/Groups. This property is associated with the lives of persons or groups of persons recognizable in the history of the community, State or Nation whose specific contributions to that history can be identified and documented. Standard C: Design/Construction. This property embodies the identifiable characteristics of a type, period or method of construction; represents the work of a craftsman or architect whose work is distinguishable from others by its characteristic style and quality; possesses high artistic values or design concepts; or is part of a recognizable and distinguishable group of properties. Standard D: Information potential. This property has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. EXTERIOR INTEGRITY: Exterior integrity is the ability of a site, structure, object or district to be able to convey its significance. The exterior integrity of a resource is based on the degree to which it retains all or some of seven (7) aspects or qualities: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. All seven qualities do not need to be present for a site, structure, object or district to be eligible as long as the overall sense of past time and place is evident. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE and EXTERIOR INTEGRITY: Describe why the property is significant and how it possesses exterior integrity. The Howell Property, located at 519 East Mulberry Street, is significant under Fort Collins Landmark Designation Significance C, for its identifiable design, construction, and style, and for its long use to serve the affordable housing needs in Fort Collins. The residence is an example of a Hipped Roof Box type dwelling with intact integrity. The hipped-box form is sometimes known as the Denver Box. This house has historically provided housing—both owner-occupied and rental—for working class members of the community. Under the Housing Authority’s ownership, the property has provided public housing for nearly 40 years. The property’s architectural type remains clearly evident. The structure’s physical integrity is essentially intact, with the exception of the addition of synthetic siding over the original wood siding. A wooden Revised 08-2014 Page 3 ramp was installed sometime after 1997. The ramp has a very low profile, detracting minimally from the home’s appearance, and is easily reversible. An open porch on the rear (south elevation) of the structure existed in 1962, but was enclosed and incorporated into an addition that includes the southeast corner of the residence by 1967. As this alteration has existed for more than 50 years and is part of the house’s architectural history, it has a level of architectural significance in its own right. The original window openings and windows have been retained. The property retains a preponderance of exterior integrity, as follows: Standard A: Location. Integrity of location is defined as “the place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred.” The dwelling is in the location, on this property, where it was originally constructed. Standard B: Design. Integrity of design is defined as “the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property.” The dwelling’s original form, massing, scale, and proportion are wholly discernible. An enclosed rear addition detracts minimally from the dwelling’s overall integrity of design. Standard C: Setting. The setting remains substantially intact. Located within the original 1873 plat of Fort Collins, the Howell property is located in an area of historically single-family dwellings. While it has changed over time, the historically residential neighborhood on the west side of the 500 block of East Mulberry Street still retains numerous late 19th century and early 20th century houses. The character of these houses and the neighborhood has been retained. The area is characterized by a streetscape of mature landscaping, detached sidewalks, front porches, and tree lawns along lot frontages. Standard D: Materials. This property retains much of the historic physical elements that originally formed the property. The addition of synthetic siding has compromised the dwelling’s integrity of materials to a degree; however, the synthetic siding is reversible, and original materials remain underneath. Standard E: Workmanship. This property possesses evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory. This consists of evidence of artisans’ labor and skill in constructing or altering the building, structure or site, and provides evidence of a continuum of common residential alterations over time. Standard F: Feeling. Integrity of feeling is defined as “a property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time.” The property’s physical characteristics and its environment evoke strong feelings relating to what life was like in Fort Collins during the early decades of the twentieth-century. Standard G: Association. Integrity of association is defined as “the direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property.” The property has a strong association with early twentieth-century life in Fort Collins. Revised 08-2014 Page 4 HISTORICAL INFORMATION The residence at 519 East Mulberry Street was built in 1908 for William and Sarah C. Howell. William Howell was born in Wales in 1846, and, according to the 1910 United States Federal Census, immigrated to the United States in 1856. His wife, Sarah, was born in New Jersey. The couple had five children, only two of whom were still living in 1910. William worked as a laborer. They resided in the home until 1912, at which time they moved to 802 E. Myrtle. By 1917, William H. and Bertha Jackman lived in the home. William worked as a machinist at Great Western Sugar. From 1919-1925, Albert L. and Mary West owned and lived in the home. Albert Lee West was a native of Missouri, where he was born in December 1862. The couple and their son Perry (Oscar Perry West) had previously lived in Washington Township, Missouri, where Albert served as a constable. When the couple first moved to Fort Collins, they lived nearby on Stover Street. Prior to becoming a police officer for the City of Fort Collins, Albert worked as a teamster. Perry West and his wife, Minnie, lived with his parents in the Mulberry Street home. Perry, an electrician, sadly passed away in November 1925. Shortly after, Albert and Mary West sold the property to John C. and Stella Funk in 1926, who lived in the home to 1931. John’s occupation was listed as a road worker. Between 1931 and 1938, the house was owned and occupied by James and Lora E. Holmes. James worked as a laborer. The next owners were Fred W. and Minnie B. Newberry. Fred also worked as a laborer. The Newberrys sold the property to John and Margaret G. Moya in the mid-1940s and the Moyas lived there until 1950. John Moya worked at Charles Ridel Construction. The Moyas sold in 1950 to Russel and Louise Rogers who owned the property until selling to Clifford and Cleo K. Woodhams in 1952. The Woodhams were ranchers and owned the property from 1952 to 1959 as a rental property, but resided at 924 Sycamore. Mrs. Myrtle Sigward, the widow of Edward Sigward, killed in France during WWII, lived as a tenant at this address from 1954 – 1962. The property was sold to Charles D. and Lucille E. Curtiss in 1959, with Mrs. Sigward, who supported herself as a housekeeper , remaining here until 1962. At that time, Curtiss sold this property to Mrs. Valesca L. Saunders and she lived there until 1965, when she sold it to Howard K. and Lou Ann Delozier. The Deloziers never lived at this address, but had a series of tenants until selling to Jack and Dorothy Greybar in 1972. The Greybars held the property for about a year, then sold to local realtor Ray Dixon. Dixon owned the property as a rental for four years. During Dixon’s ownership, Mrs. Jeanette Huber and her sons lived at this address. Dixon then sold to Paul Pownall in 1977, who then sold to Theodore and Viola Versteeg. The Versteegs sold to realtors Gerald Brumit and Marty Falk in 1978 and in 1979, the Fort Collins Housing Authority acquired the property from Brumit and Falk. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION Construction Date: 1908 The residence at 519 East Mulberry Street is a Hipped-Roof Box type dwelling that was constructed in 1908. It measures 24’ N-S (across) by 31’ E-W (deep), with its façade facing toward Mulberry Street to the north. Supported by a low concrete or parget concrete stone foundation, the dwelling is of wood frame construction, with its exterior walls clad with horizontal aluminum (or vinyl) siding. The house is covered by a low-pitched hipped roof, with asphalt composition shingles, with boxed eaves. The front door, protected by a white synthetic storm door, enters the façade from an open front porch with painted white turned wooden posts supporting a low-pitched hipped porch roof. A handicap-accessible ramp extends from the front porch to the front sidewalk paralleling the street. The façade contains two 1-over-1 double- hung sash windows, located respectively on either side of the front porch and entry door. The windows on the secondary elevations are also primarily 1-over-1 double-hung sash. Windows appear to be original. The east elevation has two 1-over-1 double-hung windows. The south elevation has a hipped roof over the enclosed porch addition and one double- hung window and 1-beside-1 horizontal sliding window. The west elevation has two 1-over-1 double hung windows. Revised 08-2014 Page 5 Construction History: An accessibility ramp was added between the front entrance and public sidewalk after 1997. Between 1962 and 1967, an open porch on the rear (south elevation) of the structure was enclosed and incorporated into an addition. Synthetic siding was added, likely during the 1980 rehabilitation. A non-historic shed is located in the backyard, near the southeast corner of house. This shed is approximately 6’ x 8’ x 7’ high, and is situated on concrete blocks, and clad with particle board/paneling. REFERENCE LIST or SOURCES of INFORMATION (attach a separate sheet if needed) “Ancestry.” http://www.ancestry.com/ “Find A Grave.” http://www.findagrave.com/ This form was created with the information provided to Staff from the following Architectural Inventory Form: Sherry Albertson-Clark, Architectural Inventory Form for 519 E Mulberry, Resource number 5LR1872, September 10, 2016. Revised 08-2014 Page 6 Front, north elevation Revised 08-2014 Page 7 East elevation Revised 08-2014 Page 8 South elevation Revised 08-2014 Page 9 Noncontributing shed Agenda Item 3 Item # 3 Page 1 STAFF REPORT December 14, 2016 Landmark Preservation Commission PROJECT NAME 519 EAST MULBERRY - APPLICATION FOR FORT COLLINS LANDMARK DESIGNATION STAFF Cassandra Bumgarner, Historic Preservation Planner PROJECT INFORMATION PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This item is to consider the request for a recommendation to City Council regarding landmark designation for The Howell Property, a 1908 hipped roof box type dwelling at 519 East Mulberry Street. APPLICANT: Housing Authority of the City of Fort Collins 1715 W Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80521 OWNER: Housing Authority of the City of Fort Collins 1715 W Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80521 RECOMMENDATION: As all seven aspects of integrity are intact and the history of the property supports designation under Standards C, staff finds that The Howell Property a 519 East Mulberry qualifies as a Fort Collins Landmark. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND The Howell Property at 519 East Mulberry Street consists of a hipped roof box type residence and a noncontributing shed. The residence is a typical example of the hipped-box form, sometimes known as the Denver Box. This form was popular between 1910 and 1930. The residence is a good example of a Hipped Roof Box type dwelling with intact integrity. This house has historically provided housing—both owner-occupied and rental—for working class members of the community. Under the Housing Authority's ownership, the property has provided public housing for nearly 40 years. The Howell Property, located at 519 East Mulberry Street, is significant under Fort Collins Landmark Designation Significance C, for its identifiable design, construction, and style, and for its long use to serve the affordable housing needs in Fort Collins. The structure’s physical integrity is essentially intact. The current owners of this property have submitted an application requesting consideration for Fort Collins local landmark designation. COMMISSION ACTION Chapter 14, Article II of the Municipal Code, “Designation Procedures,” requires that the Commission shall determine if the Howell Property meets the criteria of a Fort Collins landmark. Properties eligible for designation must possess both significance and exterior integrity. In making a determination of eligibility, the context of the area surrounding the property shall be considered. According to Sec. 14-22(a), “If all owners of the property to be designated consent in writing to such designation, ATTACHMENT 3 Agenda Item 3 Item # 3 Page 2 the Commission, upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present, may adopt a resolution recommending to the City Council the designation of the landmark or landmark district. . .” Significance is the importance of a site, structure, object or district to the history, architecture, archeology, engineering or culture of our community, State or Nation. Significance is achieved through meeting one (1) or more of four (4) standards recognized by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service. These standards define how properties are significant for their association with events or persons, in design or construction, or for their information potential. Section 14-5(2) contains the standards for determining significance: a. Events. Properties may be determined to be significant if they are associated with events that have made a recognizable contribution to the broad patterns of the history of the community, State or Nation. A property can be associated with either (or both) of two (2) types of events: 1. A specific event marking an important moment in Fort Collins prehistory or history; and/or 2. A pattern of events or a historic trend that made a recognizable contribution to the development of the community, State or Nation. b. Persons/Groups. Properties may be determined to be significant if they are associated with the lives of persons or groups of persons recognizable in the history of the community, State or Nation whose specific contributions to that history can be identified and documented. c. Design/Construction. Properties may be determined to be significant if they embody the identifiable characteristics of a type, period or method of construction; represent the work of a craftsman or architect whose work is distinguishable from others by its characteristic style and quality; possess high artistic values or design concepts; or are part of a recognizable and distinguishable group of properties. This standard applies to such disciplines as formal and vernacular architecture, landscape architecture, engineering and artwork, by either an individual or a group. A property can be significant not only for the way it was originally constructed or crafted, but also for the way it was adapted at a later period, or for the way it illustrates changing tastes, attitudes, and/or uses over a period of time. Examples are residential buildings which represent the socioeconomic classes within a community, but which frequently are vernacular in nature and do not have high artistic values. d. Information potential. Properties may be determined to be significant if they have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. Exterior integrity is the ability of a site, structure, object or district to be able to convey its significance. The exterior integrity of a resource is based on the degree to which it retains all or some of seven (7) aspects or qualities established by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. All seven (7) qualities do not need to be present for a site, structure, object or district to be eligible as long as the overall sense of past time and place is evident. Section 14-5(4) contains the standards for determining exterior integrity: a. Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred. b. Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan space, structure and style of a property. c. Setting is the physical environment of a historic property. Whereas location refers to the specific place where a property was built or an event occurred, setting refers to the character of the place. It involves how, not just where, the property is situated and its relationship to the surrounding features and open space. d. Materials are the physical elements that form a historic property. e. Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory. It is the evidence of artisans' labor and skill in constructing or altering a building, Agenda Item 3 Item # 3 Page 3 structure or site. f. Feeling is a property's expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time. It results from the presence of physical features that, taken together, convey the property's historic character. g. Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property. A property retains association if it is the place where the event or activity occurred and is sufficiently intact to convey that relationship to an observer. Like feeling, association requires the presence of physical features that convey a property's historic character. Context: Section14-1 provides the definition of context: “Context shall mean the totality of interrelated conditions in which a site, structure, object or district exists. The context of an area is the sum of the existing buildings and spaces, and the pattern of physical development in the area. It can also be a measurement of the scarcity or profusion of a particular resource type.” STAFF EVALUATION Applications must contain a description of the property proposed to be designated; detailed information on the reasons why the property should be designated; and reasons why the boundary should be determined as described in the application. Staff has reviewed the application, and finds that all required elements are present in the application. Staff finds that the Howell Property at 519 East Mulberry Street qualifies for Fort Collins Landmark designation under Designation Standard C because of its hipped-box form and retains a preponderance of exterior integrity. The structure’s physical integrity is essentially intact, with the exception of the addition of synthetic siding over the original wood siding. A wooden ramp with a very low profile detracts minimally from the home’s appearance, and is easily reversible. An open porch on the rear (south elevation) of the structure existed in 1962, but was enclosed and incorporated into an addition that includes the southeast corner of the residence by 1967. As this alteration has existed for more than 50 years and is part of the house’s architectural history, it has a level of architectural significance in its own right. Original window openings and windows have been retained. As the seven aspects of integrity are intact and the history of the property supports designation under Standard C, staff finds that The Howell Property at 519 East Mulberry Street qualifies as a Fort Collins Landmark. SAMPLE MOTIONS If the Commission finds that the Howell Property meets one or more of the criteria for Fort Collins landmark designation, the Commission shall adopt the following motion: That the Landmark Preservation Commission pass a resolution recommending that City Council designate the Howell Property at 519 East Mulberry Street as a Fort Collins Landmark in accordance with Municipal Code Chapter 14, based on the property’s significance under Standard C as an excellent example of hipped roof box and its exterior integrity based on all seven aspects of integrity. If the Commission does not find that the Howell Property meets the criteria for landmark designation, it shall adopt a motion noting which designation standard(s) it does not qualify under, in accordance with Municipal Code Section 14-21, and state its reasoning. ATTACHMENTS -1- ORDINANCE NO. 138, 2016 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS DESIGNATING THE HOWELL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 519 EAST MULBERRY STREET, FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, AS A FORT COLLINS LANDMARK PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 14 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 14-2 of the City Code, the City Council has established a public policy encouraging the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of historic landmarks within the City; and WHEREAS, by Resolution dated December 14, 2016, the Landmark Preservation Commission (the “Commission”) has determined that the Howell Property located at 519 East Mulberry Street in Fort Collins as more specifically described below (the “Property”) is eligible for landmark designation for its high degree of exterior integrity, and for its significance to Fort Collins under Landmark Standard C (Design/Construction) as contained in Section 14-5(2)(c) of the City Code; and WHEREAS, the Commission has further determined that the Property meets the criteria of a landmark as set forth in City Code Section 14-5 and is eligible for designation as a landmark, and has recommended to the City Council that the Property be designated by the City Council as a landmark; and WHEREAS, the owner of the Property has consented to such landmark designation; and WHEREAS, such landmark designation will preserve the Property’s significance to the community and its exterior integrity; and WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the recommendation of the Commission and desires to follow such recommendation and designate the Property as a landmark; and WHEREAS, designation of the Property as a landmark is necessary for the prosperity, civic pride, and welfare of the public. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. That the Property located in the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, described as follows, to wit: EAST FIFTY FEET OF WEST NINETY SIX FEET OF LOT 4 AND THE EAST FIFTY FEET OF THE WEST NINETY SIX FEET OF THE NORTH FIVE FEET OF LOT 3, BLOCK 165, FORT COLLINS -2- be designated as a Fort Collins Landmark in accordance with Chapter 14 of the City Code. Section 3. That alterations, additions and other changes to the buildings and structures located upon the Property will be reviewed for compliance with City Code Chapter 14, Article III, as currently enacted or hereafter amended. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 20th day of December, A.D. 2016, and to be presented for final passage on the 3rd day of January, A.D. 2017. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 3rd day of January, A.D. 2017. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk