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2007-03-08 Historic Preservation Commission MinutesHISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION SUMMARY MINUTES March 8, 2007 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Kindness called the meeting of the Edmonds Historic Preservation Commission to order at 4:00 p.m. in the 3rd Floor Conference Room of City Hall, 121 — 5' Avenue North. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT Barbara Kindness, Chair Christine Deiner-Karr, Vice Chair Steve Waite Brian Hall Deborah Binder Norma Bruns Michael Plunkett Commissioner VanTassell was excused from the meeting. READING/APPROVAL OF MINUTES STAFF PRESENT Rob Chave, Planning Division Manager (arrived at 4:06 p.m.) COMMISSIONERS ABSENT Rob VanTassell COMMISSIONER BINDER MOVED THAT THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 8, 2007 BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. COMMISSIONER HALL SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ANNOUNCEMENT OF AGENDA No changes were made to the proposed agenda. REQUESTS FROM THE AUDIENCE Chair Kindness introduced Janice Freeman, Edmonds Planning Board, who was present in the audience. PUBLIC HEARING There were no public hearings scheduled on the agenda. COMMITTEE REPORTS Registration Committee Commissioner Deiner-Karr announced that 15 nominations for the Register are ready to go before the City Council for approval. Education and Outreach Committee Commissioner Binder reminded the Commission that she sent out an email to each of them asking for feedback on the Commission's recent presentation before the City Council. Chair Kindness noted that this topic would be discussed later in the meeting. Commissioner Binder asked how much money the Commission had to spend on plaques. Mr. Chave answered that the City Council allocated $2,000 per year for the plaque program. Commissioner Binder announced that she has received information from three different plaque manufacturing companies, and she is ready to place an order. Mr. Chave asked Commissioner Binder to bring all of the information to the Planning Department, and staff would place the actual order. Commissioner Binder reminded the Commission that they previously agreed the plaques should be generic in nature, so they could be reused, if necessary. Council Member Plunkett suggested the Commission discuss who would own the plaques. Ms. Binder said that unless a private property owner wants to purchase their own, the City of Edmonds should have ownership of the plaques. Mr. Chave agreed to with work with the City Attorney to come up with a simple agreement an owner could sign, requiring him/her to return the plaque if the property is ever taken off the register. Commissioner Binder reported that she has been working with Mr. Chave on the text and pictures for the next brochure. The document is nearly ready to give to the designer. She indicated the Commission could review the draft materials later in the meeting. Preservation Planning Committee Commissioner Waite reported that the Preservation Planning Committee met last week to review and make recommendations related to the City's Design Guidelines for Historic Preservation. Commissioner Hall briefly reviewed the matrix the Committee prepared as they reviewed the guidelines and identified gaps and possible changes. The Commission discussed the process for moving their recommendation forward. They specifically discussed whether to take the document directly to the Planning Board for review or if they should present it to the City Council first. Council Member Plunkett recalled that the City Council previously indicated their desire to see the Commission's proposal before it is presented to the Planning Board. However, Commissioner Deiner-Karr suggested that a better process might be for the Commission and Planning Board to work together first to create a draft proposal for the City Council to consider. Mr. Chave recalled that the City Council directed the Commission to prepare a final draft document for them to review and refer to the Planning Board. Mr. Chave suggested that the Preservation Planning Committee continue to work on their proposal and report back to the Commission on April 12'. They could pre -schedule a time on the City Council's agenda to present the finished draft. If the Commission is unable to approve the draft document at their next meeting, the presentation to the City Council could be rescheduled. The Commission agreed that would be the appropriate process to follow, and the Preservation Planning Committee indicated they would have a new draft available for the Commission to review at their next meeting. The Commission discussed key points of the proposal and provided direction to the Committee as follows: • Should Commissioners sit with the Architectural Design Board when reviewing any development within the BD1 zone to make sure the new historic standards are met, or would this only be appropriate when reviewing historic buildings? The Commission discussed that they want the new buildings to be compatible from a historic standpoint, and it would be helpful to have input from people who have expertise in historic preservation. Another option would be to require that at least one ADB member have some background in historic preservation. They agreed that the best option would be to have some type of input on all projects that are proposed for properties in the BD1 zone, but they expressed concern about time constraints and whether the City Council would offer their support. The Commission agreed to consider the option of expanding their membership to provide additional people to attend the ADB meetings. • Should the historic design standards apply only to properties that are identified on the Register, or should properties on the BOLA Report be included? Should historic properties in the downtown BD1 zone be treated Historic Preservation Commission Minutes March 8, 2007 Page 2 differently than non -historic properties, or should all properties in the downtown be require to meet the historic design standards? How do you distinguish between properties that are historic and those that are not? It was discussed that properties identified in the BOLA Report have already met the test of criteria to be considered historic. Council Member Plunkett cautioned that he did not think the City Council would agree to institutionalize the BOLA Report and consider all of the properties within the report to be historic. Unless they agreed to do so, the BOLA Report could have no formal standing in land use decisions. The Commission agreed that the Council must be further educated about what is considered historic. Mr. Chave suggested the Commission give the Planning Board several options to consider for identifying historic properties in the downtown. OTHER REPORTS Edmonds South Snohomish County Historical Society Commissioner Bruns did not provide any new information regarding the activities on the Edmonds South Snohomish County Historical Society. Draft New Brochure Commissioner Binder provided the Board with a working draft of the Commission's new brochure, which she put together with the help of Mr. Chave and Commissioner Bruns. She reported that they would work with the same designer and use a similar template to the one that was used for the previous brochure. She invited Commissioners to forward their input to either her or Mr. Chave as soon as possible. They are hoping the new brochure will be user-friendly and informational, and they hope to have the preliminary design ready for the Commission to review at their next meeting. NEW BUSINESS Main Street Conference The Commission inquired if there are any staff slots available for Commissioners to attend the Main Street Conference. Mr. Chave answered no. He advised that the Planning Board is splitting up one registration amongst various Board Members. The Commission requested that staff collect all the information they can while attending the event. Historic Preservation Commission Website Commissioner Binder emphasized that the Commission's website needs to be updated. Commissioners Binder and Deiner- Karr agreed to forward the necessary changes to Mr. Chave as soon as possible. International Existing Building Code Technical Advisory Group Commissioner Waite announced that the Building Code Council is starting up the International Existing Building Code Technical Advisory Group, and he would be representing the Commission. He noted that this code would probably replace the Historic Code of the State of Washington. Association of Preservation Technology Conference Commissioner Waite reported on his attendance at the Association of Preservation Technology Conference in Vancouver, B.C. last weekend. HISTORIC PRESERVATION CHAIR COMMENTS Chair Kindness did not provide any comments during this portion of the meeting. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Historic Preservation Commission Minutes March 8, 2007 Page 3 None of the Commissioners provided comments during this portion of the meeting. ADJOURNMENT The Commission meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes March 8, 2007 Page 4