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
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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
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None of the Commissioners provided comments during this portion of the meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
The Commission meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.
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