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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 12/20/2016 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 139, 2016, DESIGNATAgenda Item 7 Item # 7 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY December 20, 2016 City Council STAFF Cassandra Bumgarner, Historic Preservation Planner SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 139, 2016, Designating the Kimball Property Located at 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue, 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 Kimball Property, located at 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue, as a Fort Collins Landmark. The owner of this property, Housing Catalyst, formerly the Fort Collins Housing Authority, is initiating this request. The 1924 bungalow is eligible for recognition as a landmark due to its historic integrity and significance to Fort Collins under Designation Standard C, Design/Construction. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION The Kimball Property is a 1924 bungalow that exhibits the character-defining form, massing, scale and proportion. The original materials are presumably under the aluminum siding and the alterations are reversible. The residence is an example of a bungalow-style residence. The apartment at the rear of the property was used as rental housing for working class tenants initially and later, its proximity to the campus of Colorado State University led to its role for several decades as student rental housing. Under Housing Catalyst ownership, the property has provided two units of 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 7 Item # 7 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 for 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) S Loomis Ave W Myrtle St S Grant Ave 6RXWK*UDQW$YHQXH © Location Map 1 inch = 109 feet ATTACHMENT 1 Revised 08-2014 Page 1 Fort Collins Landmark Designation LOCATION INFORMATION: Address: 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue Legal Description: South half of Lots 1 and 2, Block 5, West Lawn, Fort Collins Property Name (historic and/or common): The Kimball 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 no other structures. 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 Kimball Property, located at 608 / 608 ½ South Grant Avenue, is significant under Fort Collins Landmark Designation Significance C, for its identifiable design, construction, and style, and for its long use to serve the public affordable housing needs in Fort Collins. The residence is an example of a bungalow- style residence. The apartment at the rear of the property was used as rental housing for working class tenants initially and later, its proximity to the campus of Colorado State University led to its role for several decades as student rental housing. Under the Housing Authority’s ownership, the property has provided two units of public housing for nearly 40 years. The property’s bungalow style remains clearly evident. The structure’s physical integrity is essentially intact, with the exception of the addition of aluminum siding and a pre-1948 addition to the back of the Revised 08-2014 Page 3 structure. The screening on the front porch has been removed and the basement apartment entrance on the north side of the structure was added. While not original, the basement entrance has existed since 1964. The alterations have existed for more than 50 years and are part of the house’s architectural history; and as they are more than 50 years of age, they embody a level of architectural significance in their own right. 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 house is clearly identifiable as a Bungalow type dwelling. The residence’s original form, massing, scale, and proportion are wholly discernible. A rear addition detracts minimally from the dwelling’s overall integrity of design. Standard C: Setting. The setting remains substantially intact. A part of the West Lawn Addition, annexed in 1920, the Kimball Property is located in an area of historically single-family dwellings. 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 the 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. HISTORICAL INFORMATION On October 21, 1924, building permit #677 was issued to Emma Kimball for construction of a five-room frame bungalow, to be constructed at an estimated cost of $3,000. Emma Sophronia Kimball was the wife of Harry Clifford Kimball. Born in Lodi, Nebraska in 1887, Emma was the second child of Martin and Mary Ellen Ward. Nine years her senior, Harry Kimball was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1878. The couple was married in Lodi in June 1908. Harry became an undertaker, and in 1917 he had his own parlor in Broken Bow, Nebraska, where the couple lived with their young son Clifford Hugh. Unusual for a married woman Revised 08-2014 Page 4 of the time, while in Broken Bow, Emma Kimball served as a teacher in the public schools. By the early 1920s, the family had relocated to Fort Collins and arranged for the construction of their Grant Street home. Harry was employed by the Great Western Sugar Company. They owned this property from 1924 until 1946. The home was either originally constructed with a rear apartment or altered shortly after its construction, as by 1929 the separate apartment is documented in the city directories. Walter C. and Georgia Drusch are its first known occupants; Walter was a salesman at the Fell Motor Company. Soon after, the apartment was taken over by Hugh Kimball, his wife, Bernice, and their newborn daughter, Barbara. Hugh, a student at the time, soon was supporting his young family through his position as the Assistant Manager/Supervisor at the Poudre Chevrolet Service Station on South College Avenue. From 1936-1940, the rear apartment was occupied by Alphonzo A. and Odelia (or Adella) Burnett and his father Russell Burnett. Alphonso was a driver for the Riverside Ice and Storage Company. Occupants of the apartment between 1941 and 1946 are unknown since local directories were not printed during the war years. In 1946, the Kimball’s sold the property to Lloyd E. Williams, a local attorney. Williams owned this property from 1946 until 1978 and lived there until 1971. He pulled a building permit in 1964 for a basement apartment. Another permit in 1970 was for a 4’ x 9’ outside covered stairwell to the basement apartment (later removed). His wife, Jane K. Williams died in 1971, and Williams moved from this house to a house in Johnstown, Colorado that year. He continued to own this property and rented both apartments to CSU students until 1978, when he sold the property to realtors Gerald Brumit & Marty Falk, who then sold to the Fort Collins Housing Authority the same year. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION Construction Date: 1924 The bungalow residence at 608 South Grant Avenue was constructed in 1924. A poured concrete foundation supports the single, story, wood frame dwelling. The basement level residential unit has high foundation walls above grade penetrated by 1-over-1 sash and 1-beside-1 horizontal sliding basement windows. On the north elevation, a set of concrete steps, flanked by a black wrought iron railing, descend to a basement-level entry door. The house’s exterior walls are currently clad with beige color horizontal aluminum (or vinyl) siding over wood frame construction. The roof is a broadly-pitched front gable, covered with asphalt composition shingles and with clad boxed eaves. The dwelling’s asymmetrical façade faces toward Grant Avenue to the west. A wooden front door, covered by an aluminum storm door, enters the façade from an open front porch. This open front porch is approached by a set of six concrete steps flanked by a black wrought iron railing, and features a wood frame half wall, painted white square wood posts, and a gable roof. A paneled rear entry door, with one upper sash light, enters an enclosed gabled extension on the east elevation from a concrete sidewalk. The home’s windows consist of several original 1-over-1 double-hung sash windows, and two non-original casement windows, as follows: front (west elevation) contains one double-hung and one vertical casement window; the north-facing wall contains two double-hung sash windows and one casement window; the south-facing wall contains three sets of paired 1-over-1 double-hung sash windows; the east elevation, of the enclosed gabled extension, contains a set of paired 1-over-1 sash windows, located south of the rear entry door. Construction History: City directories indicate that an apartment was located at the rear of house between 1929 – 1946, which may have been when the rear addition was added; porch screens removed after 1977; permit for remodel for basement apartment in 1964; incompatible exterior covered stairwell to the basement apartment (north face) was added between 1969 and 1977, and removed after 1977; structure was rehabbed (no specifics provided) in 1980 and may have included installation of aluminum siding. Single-car garage 12’ x 20’ on the north side of house was demolished after 1977. See attached copies of photos from Larimer County Assessor’s Records (photos dated 1948, 1969 and 1977). Revised 08-2014 Page 5 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 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue, Resource number 5LR1868, September 10, 2016. Revised 08-2014 Page 6 Front, west elevation Revised 08-2014 Page 7 North elevation Revised 08-2014 Page 8 East elevation Revised 08-2014 Page 9 South elevation Agenda Item 3 Item # 3 Page 1 STAFF REPORT December 14, 2016 Landmark Preservation Commission PROJECT NAME 608 AND 608 ½ SOUTH GRANT AVENUE - 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 Kimball Property, a 1924 bungalow- style residence 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue. 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: Staff finds that the Kimball Property at 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue qualifies as a Fort Collins Landmark under Standard C with all seven aspects of integrity intact. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND The Kimball Property, located at 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue, is significant under Fort Collins Landmark Designation Significance C, for its identifiable design, construction, and style, and for its long use to serve the public affordable housing needs in Fort Collins. The residence is an example of a bungalow-style residence with intact integrity. Emma and Harry Kimball were the first owners of the home after moving to Fort Collins in the early 1920s. They owned the property from 1924 until 1946. The apartment at the rear of the property was used as rental housing for working class tenants initially and later, its proximity to the campus of Colorado State University led to its role for several decades as student rental housing. Under the Housing Authority's ownership, the property has provided two units of public housing for nearly 40 years. 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 Kimball 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, 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. . .” ATTACHMENT 3 Agenda Item 3 Item # 3 Page 2 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, structure or site. Agenda Item 3 Item # 3 Page 3 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 Kimball Property at 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue qualifies for Fort Collins Landmark designation under Designation Standard C as an example of a bungalow with a preponderance of exterior integrity. The addition of synthetic siding has compromised the dwelling’s integrity of materials; however, the siding is reversible, and the original materials remain underneath. The addition on the rear of the structure and basement apartment entrance are both over 50 years of age and embody a level of architectural significance in their own right. It continues to meet all seven aspects of integrity: materials, association, design, feeling, location, workmanship, and setting. As the seven aspects of integrity are intact and the history of the property supports designation under Standard C, staff finds that the Kimball Property at 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue qualifies as a Fort Collins Landmark. SAMPLE MOTIONS If the Commission finds that the Kimball 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 Kimball Property at 608 and 608 ½ South Grant Avenue as a Fort Collins Landmark in accordance with Municipal Code Chapter 14, based on the property’s significance under Standard C for its bungalow style and its exterior integrity based on all seven aspects of integrity. If the Commission does not find that the Kimball 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. 139, 2016 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS DESIGNATING THE KIMBALL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 608 AND 608 1/2 SOUTH GRANT AVENUE, 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 Kimball Property located at 608 and 608 1/2 South Grant Avenue 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: SOUTH HALF OF LOTS ONE AND TWO, BLOCK FIVE, WEST LAWN, FORT COLLINS be designated as a Fort Collins Landmark in accordance with Chapter 14 of the City Code. -2- 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