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Home My WebLink AboutREMINGTON ANNEX - MOD. OF STAND. APPEAL - MOD120002 - REPORTS - CORRESPONDENCE-HEARING (3)City Visions •.... Christopher Koziol, Ph.D., AIA, LEED-AP Christopher Koziol is Colorado licensed architect and "historic architect" as defined by in Secretary of the Interior Standards. He has consulted on numerous historic preservation and urban design projects in Colorado and elsewhere. In Fort Collins he has consulted on the Romero House, Preston Farm and Empire Grange. Elsewhere in northern Colorado he has worked on historic preservation projects in Ault, Buckeye, and Walden and on the county award winning Willows -Knoll Plan in Estes Park. He served as an expert panel member for the City of Boulder in their efforts to reconcile their historic preservation and 'green building' ordinances. Further afield he has consulted with the National Park Service on numerous occasions, the US Forest Service, and State of Colorado. He is a regular speaker at professional and scholarly conferences including ones by the International Council of Monuments and Sites, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Association for Preservation Technology and Colorado Preservation Inc. He has served on several non-profit governing boards, and currently is on the Board of Historicorps — "Workforce for Saving Places. "He is a past Board President of Colorado Preservation, Inc.. EDUCATION • Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy, University of Colorado - Denver, 2003 • Master of Architecture, University of Illinois - Chicago, 1986 • Master of Urban Planning & Policy, University of Illinois - Chicago, 1985 • Bachelor of Arts, (Cultural Anthropology), University of Chicago, 1980 OTHER PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE • Managed construction phase for a major District Courthouse renovation. • Conducted numerous historic structure assessments (HSA) for a variety of building and structure types. • Project architect for synagogue complex for 1400 member congregation • Project architect for urban in -fill public housing for families and individuals with special needs. Project architect for renovation feasibility study and systems upgrade for a landmark commercial building. Planner f.,r in -fill multi- family housing developments. • Researched and prepared a nation-wide policy position for hospital energy conservation standards and government fuel pricing policy. • Planned and implemented a strategy for the revitalization of an older urban retail district. • Organized residents of an inner-city neighborhood around several issues including crime, racial discrimination and declining municipal services. TEACHING AND RESEARCH • Director of Master of Science in Historic Preservation Program, University of Colorado Denver (2010 — present) • Associate Professor in Architecture at University of Colorado Denver (August 2007 — to present) • Assistant Professor of Construction Management at Colorado State University. (to August 2007) • Director, Colorado State University Architectural Preservation Institute..(1997-2007) 315 S. Sherwood Street 970.224.4944 Ft. Collins, CO 80521 • Eroded Integrity of the District Context — While Remington Ave. is at the eroded western edge of the Laurel School District (as noted by Commissioner Sladek, LPG 10/12/2011), responsibility for this condition is clearly beyond any one owner or developer. Fort Collins public policy has worked against maintaining a "hard edge" to the district. By having placed five blocks of the properties facing Remington in the N-C-B zoning district, thus separating their development futures and prospects from properties in the N-C-M zone that largely constitutes the rest of the historic district, city policy is reinforcing incremental change along Remington. Even more recently, the City elected to exclude properties facing Remington from the East Side Character Study. The western edge of the study district is properties facing Matthews, one block to the east. Again, the City does not seem to be treating Remington as part of the East Side residential district. • Bad Results by Incremental Deterioration — Finally, as a planner and Fort Collins resident, I'd like to say that while many might prefer a nostalgic streetscape along Remington, policies currently in place through zoning and potential design overlays will not result in this outcome. A realistic look at Remington should convince anyone that current policy (without new development) is leading to clumsy additions, often for egress from permitted rental units in existing structures; haphazard surface parking configurations; and underinvestment in building improvements by absentee landlords. Denying reinvestment along Remington is more surely a path to more incremental decline than to historic - preservation. Again, although I consider myself a historic preservationist I must conclude that the most appropriate outcome for this property and for the integrity of the bulk of the Laurel Street School Historic District is to support reinvestment on Remington (at least the west block face) to an urban design standard and urban density that can support amenities such as high quality housing, structured parking, and well -maintained grounds. Sincerely, Christopher Koziol, Ph.D.. AIA, LEED-AP Principal 315 S. Sherwood Street 970.224.4944 Ft. Collins, CO 80521 City Visions 00000 February 16, 2012 Dear Ms. Bachelet: At your request, I have reviewed issues related to the historic significance and integrity of 711 Remington St., Fort Collins, Colorado. As a licensed Colorado architect, Secretary of the Interior qualified 'historic architect,' and degreed urban planner (formerly AICP), I attempted to consider this property in a professionally holistic way. As a preservationist, I might want to save this and other equally "charming" buildings, but professionally, find that the current condition of the building in the context of the Laurel Street School historic district does not merit regulatory in -situ protection. However, some form of mitigation, such as relocating this structure may contribute to the public good. There are a host of regulatory and policy issues to be considered in this case. I will attempt to address them from roughly the most specific to the most general. • Original Survey of Eligibility - Section 14-5 of the FC City Code follows the US Secretary of the Interior's categories for determining eligibility for preservation. From examining several correspondences it seems that Fort Collins preservation staff (LPC minutes 1011212011) are arguing that of the four stated justifications, they identified 14-5-(3) as the basis for individual landmark eligibility: (3) The property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. Parsing this standard into its component parts and relating these back to the original National Register survey record of 1980 it is hard to justify more recent revisionist interpretations to the original survey. For example, the original surveyor, James Kane noted: "Close inspection indicates that the Button House was probably built in the 1980's (sic). Builder and architect are unknown. The house has little significance other than the two or three years of residence by Russel K. Allen (1903-1905 or 6). Allen was teacher of science and mathematics at the local high school. It is included in the nomination to preserve district continuity and because it is an asset to the architectur (sic) fabric of the area."— Fort Collins Midtown Historic district # 233 — Sheet 8 19A -20A I find in this survey document, which formed the legal basis for the designation of the National Register district, an at best tepid contextual justification for a building that lacked individual architectural distinction. Inadequate Argument for Reevaluation - While intervening years and new information can certainly provide for new interpretations and reassessments, such actions are most persuasive when they are explicit in their arguments as to why a property should be reevaluated. From the project correspondences I have seen this argument is not being made. The LPC minutes of 10/12/2011 note that the "property at 711 Remington Street was reviewed in August 2011, at which time CDNS Director Steve Dush, and the Chair of the Landmark Preservation Commission's designee, Ron Sladek, both independently determined that this house does qualify for recognition as an individual Fort Collins Landmark under Standard 3 — Architecture." I am hard pressed to see what new revelations have occurred to make what was a house of "little significance" in 1980 an individually eligible landmark in 2012. 316 S. Sherwood Street 970.224.4944 Ft. Collins, CO 80521 ATTACHMENT Letter from Dr. Kozial City Visions February 16, 2012