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2005-10-13 Historic Preservation Commission MinutesHISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 13, 2005 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting of the Edmonds Historic Preservation Commission was called to order at 3:30 p.m. in the 3rd Floor Conference Room of City Hall, 121 — 51 Avenue North. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT Stephen Waite, Chair Brian Hall Norma Bruns Barbara Kindness Deborah Binder Michael Plunkett PROSPECTIVE COMMISSIONERS PRESENT Rob VanTassell Christine Deiner-Karr READING/APPROVAL OF MINUTES STAFF PRESENT Rob Chave, Planning Division Manager The Commission postponed approval of the September 8, 2005 minutes until the next meeting. ANNOUNCEMENT OF AGENDA No changes were made to the proposed agenda. REQUESTS FROM THE AUDIENCE Tracy Tallman introduced herself as a member of the Snohomish County Historic Preservation Commission representing the Southwest Snohomish County area. Council Member Plunkett asked for clarification for how the County's Historic Preservation Commission divides the County into districts. Commissioner Tallman answered that two representatives are appointed from each district, and she is one of the representatives for the Southwest Snohomish County district. Council Member Plunkett explained that the Commission meetings are fairly informal, so Commissioner Tallman should feel free to participate. Commissioner Bruns said she was never notified about the meetings the Commission held with the applicants for the vacant Commission positions. Chair Waite apologized for not notifying Commissioner Bruns and said he would add her name to his email list. Chair Waite introduced Christine Deiner-Karr, who was in the audience. He noted that she was one of the applicants interviewed by Commissioner Hall, Commissioner Kindness and himself. They forwarded her application to the Mayor. After interviewing her, he would forward a recommendation to the City Council. Prospective Commissioner Deiner-Karr said she was born and raised in Edmonds. Her family was part of the original Brackett's Barn, so Lunds Gulch is family heritage. She said she has been interested in history for a long time. One of her hobbies, besides genealogy, is historical homes. She has not done any actual restoration, but she collects pictures and models of historical homes. In her personal life she is a Senior Technical Planner for Group Health. She does planning and implementation design, as well as preparation for typical on -going maintenance. PUBLIC HEARINGS No public hearings were scheduled on the agenda. There was no unfinished business scheduled on the agenda. NEW BUSINESS Commissioner Binder reported on her attendance at the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference in Portland. She passed around a booklet outlining the schedule for all the different sessions that were offered. Many of the sessions were located in some of the historic hotels in downtown Portland. She said the conference was inspiring, and she was able to make some good local contacts. She also brought back a pamphlet for all of the Commissioners titled, "The Nuts and Bolts of Commission Operations." In addition, she provided a brochure published by the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions and suggested the Commission consider becoming a member of this organization. The annual membership fee is only $35. Once the Commission becomes a member, they would receive Alliance Reviews on a regular basis, which is a good way to stay connected to other local commissions. They are having a conference next year in Baltimore, and they have a forum every year that is specifically geared towards commissions similar to Edmonds. Commissioner Binder presented a gift to Chair Waite that she picked up at the conference. In addition, she said she was able to find a lot of sources so that the Commission could do some comparison pricing for plaques. She said that while at the conference, she learned that most cities entice people to get on their historic registers by offering attractive incentives. If one of the Commission's main goals is to get people to register, they must seriously think about incentives. Once the get people interested on the local level, they are usually more inclined to apply for the National Register, which offers more protection. Secondly, as she discussed the issue of height in the downtown, which is currently a very political issue in the City of Edmonds, people indicated that the City's problem is really not that significant compared to what many other cities are going through. Instead, people pointed to the larger issue of ugly buildings being constructed in their cities rather than blending in with what already exists. She suggested that the Commission could have a greater impact if they were to make recommendations to the Planning Board and City Council about aesthetics (setbacks, materials, colors, architectural style) being more important than a few additional feet of height. The Commissioners agreed that one of their responsibilities is to make recommendations to the City Council when appropriate. Prospective Commissioner Deiner-Karr agreed with Commissioner Binder's observation. She referred to the City of Philadelphia where a law has been in place for hundreds of years that no building could be taller than William Penn's Town Center. This law was eventually repealed along with the art law, but it resulted in some very ugly buildings. The historical district in Philadelphia has now been overshadowed by this ugly part of the City. She agreed that aesthetics is a very important consideration. Chair Waite pointed out that the Historic Preservation Commission's Ordinance identifies a method for the Commission to make recommendations to the Planning Board and the City Council regarding the development code. In addition, the Historic Preservation Commission Minutes October 13, 2005 Page 2 Commission could provide comments regarding the design guidelines, which make reference to historical elements and historical influence. He concluded that the Commission would have a greater ability to affect change if they had more presence in the community. Commissioner Hall said this issue would be discussed as they considers their Historic Preservation Plan and goals for the next year. Commissioner Binder said the conference was very worthwhile, and she was very impressed with many of the historic programs that have been implemented throughout the United States. Unfortunately, many of the City's historic structures were removed long ago, but they can still work to preserve the remaining structures. Chair Waite asked if there was a discussion at the conference regarding the participation of municipalities in historic preservation. Ms. Binder answered that she did not attend any of those sessions. She said many of the conference discussions came back to the need to educate the public and help them understand that the historic structures that remain in the community are special and should be preserved. The articles that have been placed in the newspaper by Commissioner Kindness have been helpful in getting the public to understand how many historic sites remain in Edmonds and how important it is to take steps to encourage preservation. Chair Waite asked if the National Trust for Historic Preservation offered memberships to local organizations. Commissioner Binder said they have a program called the "National Trust Main Street Center," which is about helping towns like Edmonds hold on to what they have. She provided a brochure that was published regarding the program and opportunities for membership. In addition, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides a resource library for local preservation commissions such as conferences, training, technical assistance, books, forms, etc. She said anyone could become a member of this organization. Chair Waite asked Commissioner Binder to provide more information at the next meeting regarding memberships in organizations that might be of benefit to the Commission. He asked that she provide information regarding the cost of membership, as well. Council Member Plunkett said the City should be able to provide funding for some of these memberships. Commissioner Kindness reminded the Commission that in the early 1980's, the City participated in the Main Street Project, and much of what currently exists on Main Street is a result of that project. Property owners were very interested in participating. Mr. Chave cautioned that this particular aspect of a Main Street Program takes a number of years to put into place. He explained that while the Commission could be part of the organization and have access to their resources, there is a very specific Main Street Program where they actually have design and business experts visit the city and make recommendations. That is the program the City went through. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Report on Promotional Brochure Mr. Chave said he recently spoke with Frances Chapin, who indicated that the Arts Commission is working with a design professional on their tour brochure. He discussed the possibility of using the Commission's $500 in grant funding and an additional $500 from the City to hire the same designer to do a companion brochure for the historic tour. This would result in both an arts tour brochure and a historic tour brochure, and they would be designed to complement each other. Chair Waite said Ms. Chapin also suggested that the Commission start collecting photos, the historic survey, and other information that might be of interest in the design of the brochure. He pointed out that the brochure the Arts Commission is currently working on is intended to reference history, art and the environment. They may do another brochure internally at a later date that would be a general walking brochure that incorporates public art, history and the environment of the City. She indicated that she would like the Commission to participate in this informal brochure in the future. Mr. Chave said the additional brochure would provide a recreational walk, identifying interesting sites along the way. Chair Waite said the Museum is going to conduct a contest to solicit artwork from various artists with a theme, "Reflection of Local History." Ms. Chapin has asked the Commission if they would like to be one of the sponsors of the context, which would be held in March. He said he asked Commissioner Binder, since she has a curator's background, to be the Commission's representative. Commissioner Kindness noted that the flyer that was put out regarding the contest indicates Historic Preservation Commission Minutes October 13, 2005 Page 3 that it is being sponsored by the Edmonds -South Snohomish County Historical Society in partnership with the Edmonds Arts Commission, Edmonds Arts Festival Commission, and Edmonds Historical Preservation Commission. Chair Waite said he recently spoke with Jennifer Gerend, Edmonds Economic Development Director, regarding the Commission's goals and objectives. She suggested the Commission work further on their incentives program. Chair Waite introduced Prospective Commissioner VanTassell, another candidate who was recently interviewed by the Commission for the vacant position. His name was also forwarded to the Mayor for review and possible recommendation to the City Council. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell said he has lived in Edmonds for almost nine years in a home that was built in 1928. He said he has always had an affinity towards historical structures. He works for the Housing Authority on affordable housing programs. They are about to purchase a fourth historical building, the Monte Cristo Hotel in Everett, and he has worked with the Everett Historic Preservation Commission regarding this project. He has also worked with architects, low- income housing tax credits, historical tax credits, etc. He can present something to the Commission from a citizen perspective, a developer's perspective, and a financing perspective. He said he looks forward to working on the Commission. They have a done a good job of getting established and creating some goals, but now it is time to reach out to the next level. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell said he was surprised, in reading a recent newspaper article, to see that there was no mention of the Historic Preservation Commission's involvement in the renovation of the old Edmonds High School site. Council Member Plunkett clarified that this project went through the review process before the Commission was in full operation. He said there is no City requirement that owners of historic structures in Edmonds present their plans to the Historic Preservation Commission. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell pointed out that while the City of Everett did not have an ordinance requiring them to go through a review process with their historic preservation commission, a Section 106 review and a SEPA review were both required. The SEPA checklist requires an applicant to allow the historic preservation commission to respond to the project plans. Mr. Chave said the City's new regulations would allow the Commission to do this type of review. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell said it is good to know that the Historic Preservation Commission is on the SEPA checklist distribution so they can be notified if anything is proposed for or in the vicinity of a historic structure. Mr. Chave explained that, in this case, the owners offered the property for sale and the City had an opportunity to use the site. One alternative to the Public Facilities District was that a private company would develop the property. The Public Facilities District looked at the project as it being better to retain something rather than nothing. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell suggested that the Commission should bring voice to what the community has identified as historical in nature and important to preserve. Mr. Chave explained that if staff determines a proposal could impact a historic structure, they may decide to bring it before the Commission. However, timing makes this difficult because the SEPA Checklist comment period is only 15 days. It might be necessary for the Commission to conduct a special meeting to review the application. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell noted that the intent of the SEPA Checklist is to allow a City to notify all of the applicable agencies that might be impacted. The Commission agreed they would like to come up with a process to allow the Commission to review and provide comment on development applications that have an impact on historical structures. It was noted that the purpose of their review would be to provide comments that would be helpful in guiding the developer and the community regarding what could and should be preserved. WORK SESSION ON GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Commissioner Hall provided a list of the goals and objectives that were earlier identified by the Commissioners. They include: getting people to place their properties on the Register, cultural tourism, and creating a Historic Preservation Plan. He questioned if there are other goals the Commission would want to consider, as well. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes October 13, 2005 Page 4 Prospective Commissioner VanTassell asked for details about what a Historic Preservation Plan would consist of. r. Chave explained that, at this time, the various goals for historic preservation are in different parts of the City's plan, and the intent of the Historic Preservation Plan would be to consolidate these items into a preservation element. He said the Commission could also consider the creation of a strategic plan that could lay out the goals and objectives of the Commission, as well as milestones. Council Member Plunkett said the Commission already has a clear understanding that they have reached the point where it is time to start registering properties. They also need to work more on the preservation plan and provide better internal education. Prospective Commissioner Deiner-Karr agreed with Commissioner Binder's earlier comment that representatives from the Commission should attend meetings of the Edmonds -South Snohomish County Historical Society and other groups such as the Planning Board. However, she suggested that this would be different than cultural tourism. Mr. Chave explained that cultural tourism is a concept that has been highlighted in the arts planning that has been going on for a number of years. The intent is to promote the cultural aspects of Edmonds to attract tourists into the area. Performing arts, visual arts, festival and events, etc. can all contribute to the culture of the local community. Historic preservation would be fit into the City's overall program to promote cultural tourism. He said it is important not to confuse cultural tourism with themes. The Commission unanimously agreed. Commissioner Binder suggested that education and cultural tourism be combined into one goal titled, "education and outreach." The Commission concurred that the three goals should be registration, education and outreach, and the Historic Preservation Plan. Mr. Chave suggested that the Commission list some items under each of the goals to provide further direction. The Commission discussed that "working with owners" could be placed as a strategy under the "education and outreach" goal and under the "registration" goal. "Inventory" could be a strategy of both the "education and outreach" goal and the "registration" goal. Grants and public forums could be placed under the "education and outreach" goal. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell reminded the Commission that they have been having a difficult time getting property owners to register. He suggested that part of their strategy to improve this situation should include education. As a developer, he can understand the property owners' concerns, but there may be benefits that are not as obvious as what some people see as the negative consequences of being on the Register. He suggested that the Commission should educate the property owners in a friendly, non -threatening way. This often results in a domino effect of people becoming interested. Council Member Plunkett suggested that "incentives" should be placed as a strategy under the "registration" goal. The City's regulations for non -conforming structures could be identified as a strategy of the Historic Preservation Plan, but it could also be included as an incentive to encourage people to register. Mr. Chave explained that sometimes in order for historic buildings to remain, they have to do things that do not quite work with the code. If they are treated as a non -conforming building and offered the benefit of not having to work through that rule, it could be considered an incentive. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell suggested that incentives, grants and non -conforming requirements could all work together to encourage people to register. Mr. Chave said that code issues should also be addressed as part of the Historic Preservation Plan. The Commission previously discussed the option of creating neighborhood preservation districts. Properties would not necessarily have to be on the Register in order to preserve a district. This might be related to the character of the area rather than a particular historic structure. Council Member Plunkett suggested that an immediate strategy for the "registration" goal would be to determine what the Commission could do now to get properties on the Register. On the other hand, code issues would have to be worked on before they could be presented to the property owners. Once they are put in place, they could become part of the "registration" goal. They already have incentives in place, but they need to work further on the code issues. Mr. Chave agreed that it would be appropriate to identify strategies that could be immediately implemented to encourage people to register their properties. Council Member Plunkett agreed they need to first identify what they can do right now. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes October 13, 2005 Page 5 Prospective Commissioner VanTassell said it would be important for the Commission to educate themselves as to the strategies other municipalities use to encourage people to register their properties. The remainder of the Commission concurred. Prospective Commissioner Deiner-Karr added that it would also be important to learn more about the national and other historic preservation organizations. Commissioner Kindness said that she has been providing information to the local newspapers, so media should be identified as a strategy under the "education and outreach" goal. Prospective Commissioner Deiner-Karr inquired if there are other historic buildings in the City that the Commission could research that are outside of the core downtown area. Council Member Plunkett noted that the inventory of historic properties that was completed by former Commissioner Marmion was broader than the professional list that was prepared by the consultant. Mr. Chave suggested that "expanding the inventory" would be an appropriate strategy for implementing the "registration" goal. Council Member Plunkett suggested that the three goals would fit well within the setup of the existing committees. He suggested that the "incentives" and "code" strategies be moved from the "registration goal" to the "Historic Preservation Plan" goal. The registration committee's first objective should be to go out and get people registered using the existing incentives. Creating additional incentives could be part of the Historic Preservation Plan process. Mr. Chave pointed that the registration committee may find, as they try to get the property owners interested in registering, that more work is needed to explain the incentives and put them in a form that is attractive to the property owners. Rather than doing more research on incentives, the registration committee could work to make sure the incentive package is available and understandable. The creation of new incentives could be considered as part of the Historic Preservation Plan process. The Commission agreed that a separate committee should be formed for each of the three goals identified as follows: Goals Education / Outreach Registration Preservation Plan Owners Owners Design Guidelines Inventory Inventory (expand) Non -Conforming Partnerships Incentives Code issues Grants Code issues Incentives (New) Other Cities Plaques Districts Action list SHPO (State) Short Term, Immediate Other Organizations (low -hanging fruit) (e.g. National) Education Media Relations Sub -Committee Norma Bruns *Rob Van Tassell Michael Plunkett *Deborah Binder Chris Deiner-Karr *Brian Hall Members Barbara Kindness Steve Waite * indicates sub -committee chair Commissioner Binder said another thing she learned at the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference is that cities that were successful in getting people on their registers helped property owners fill out the necessary forms. The Commission agreed that it would be appropriate for them to significantly help property owners fill out the application for the Register. Council Member Plunkett suggested that each committee should identify a chair to be responsible for reporting to the Commission and making sure progress is made. The remainder of the Commission concurred. The chair of the Education and Outreach Committee would be Commissioner Binder. Prospective Commissioner VanTassell would be the chair of the Registration Committee, and Council Member Plunkett was appointed as the chair of the Historic Preservation Plan Historic Preservation Commission Minutes October 13, 2005 Page 6 Committee. Before the next meeting, each committee chair was asked create a prioritized list of actions, programs and other things that could be done to implement their committee's goals. Commissioner Binder asked why the Commission could only meet at given times as a public forum. Mr. Chave explained that when the group meets as a Commission, they must notify the public. However, a committee that does not constitute a quorum of the Commission is free to meet outside of the monthly meeting without providing notification. Commissioner Binder asked if the individual committees would be able to make big decisions, or if the more significant issues should be presented to the Commission as a whole for approval. Mr. Chave said this would all depend on what the Commission authorizes the committees to do. Absent of authorization from the Commission, decisions about spending money, doing publications, etc. must be decided by the Commission as a whole. Council Member Plunkett said that, over the past few years, the committees have presented their ideas and plans to the Commission. REVIEW OF NEXT MEETING'S PROPOSED AGENDA The Commission did not discuss the next meeting agenda. HISTORIC PRESERVATION CHAIR COMMENTS Chair Waite did not provide any comments during this portion of the meeting. HISTORIC PRESERVATION MEMBER COMMENTS None of the Commissioners commented during this portion of the meeting. ADJOURNMENT The Commission meeting was adjourned at 5:12 p.m. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes October 13, 2005 Page 7