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HomeMy Public PortalAbout01-02-2019 Minutes HDC Regular MeetingPage 1 of 4 Minutes Historic District Commission 7 p.m. Jan. 2, 2018 Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St. Present: Chair Reid Highley, Candice Cobb, Max Dowdle, Jill Heilman, Laura Simmons and Virginia Smith Absent: Joe Griffin Staff: Public Information Specialist Cheryl Sadgrove and Planner Justin Snyder Guests: Diane Eckland 1. Call to order, roll call, and confirmation of quorum Chair Reid Highley called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Planner Justin Snyder called the roll and confirmed the presence of a quorum. 2. Reading of the commission’s mission statement Highley read the statement. 3. Adjustments to the agenda Snyder noted there was an added item, 7B. It was noted that commission members wished to make updates after Item 7B. 4. Minutes review and approval A. Minutes from the regular meeting Dec. 5, 2018 Commission Member Laura Simmons asked that the minutes be amended to note that Mike Irwin also spoke about how important it is to protect structures from demolition by neglect in the historic district. Commission Member Jill Heilman asked that the minutes be amended to note she was more sympathetic for proposed front porch columns on the Harris home to be white to match the primary structure rather than be stained to match the secondary structure of the screened porch. Motion: Commission Member Candice Cobb moved to approve the minutes as amended. Smith seconded. Vote: 6-0 Changes: Noted above. These changes are on pages 5-7 of the minutes. 5. Old Business There was none. 6. New business A. Certificate of Appropriateness Application: 216 S. Hillsborough Ave. — Applicant Shadetree Construction LLC, on behalf of Candice Cobb and Martha McMillan, requests approval to construct a rear 12-foot-by-12-foot wood screened porch and to replace an existing deteriorating door with a new six-panel wood door at 216 S. Hillsborough Ave. (PIN: 9864-75-3425). Motion: Heilman moved to open the public hearing. Simmons seconded. Page 2 of 4 Vote: 6-0 It was acknowledged that Cobb needed to be excused for this application. Motion: Heilman moved to excuse Cobb from this application. Commission Member Max Dowdle seconded. Vote: 6-0 Cobb and Diane Eckland were sworn in. Snyder reviewed the staff report. Eckland, the contractor for the project, said the homeowners would like the option of having glass panels at the bottom of the screened porch. She added that the commission had approved similar glass panels at 326 W. Margaret Lane and 309 N. Hassell St. There would be one wood rail between the glass bottom section and the screened upper section of the porch. Eckland said the flooring is treated 1-by-4’s, which has the appearance of tongue-and-groove boards. Highley asked if anyone was here to speak for or against the application. No one wished to speak. Smith asked if the commission can consider the inside elements of the porch. Snyder said the commission can because the porch is not yet built, and the interior elements would be visible. The commission can also consider the decking. Highley said he thinks the application is appropriate and noted additional windows would match the existing windows. Highley also noted that they had considered interior porch flooring before on the Commission. Smith asked for more information about the storm door. Eckland said it would be a one-panel, full-view door with white aluminum edges to protect the door on the north side. She said the door would be glass and not plexiglass. Simmons asked Cobb whether she has pictures of what the back of the house used to look like. Cobb said she does not, and she does not know when the old back porch was removed. Heilman checked that there would be 9-over-1 windows in the back, a solid door and no rail proposed for the screened porch unless glass panels are installed. Cobb confirmed those details. Motion: Smith moved to close the public hearing. Heilman seconded. Vote: 5-0 Highley noted the commission had no objection to the glass. Motion: Heilman moved to find as fact that the Shadetree Construction application is in keeping with the overall character of the Historic District and complies with all relevant standards of evaluation based on the commission’s discussion of the application and the standards of evaluation in Section 3.12.3 of the Unified Development Ordinance because the plans are consistent with the Historic District Design Guidelines: Additions to Existing Buildings; Windows and Doors. Smith seconded. Vote: 5-0 Motion: Heilman moved to approve the application as modified with the option to include glass panels on the lower half of the screened porch. Dowdle seconded. Page 3 of 4 Vote: 5-0 Conditions: Approved with the option to include glass panels on the lower portion of the screen panels. Cobb rejoined the commission. 7. Updates A. 2019 Work Plan Snyder said he had updated last year’s work plan, noting progress on tasks like updating the Minor Works guidelines, training with the town attorney, converting to primarily digital HDC packets, completion of required Certified Local Government trainings, creating outreach activities, and working with the Colonial Inn owners to get the plans reviewed and approved. Motion: Dowdle moved to adopt the 2019 work plan. Heilman seconded. Vote: 6-0 Changes: None B. Request to modify a previous Historic District Commission condition at 328 Mitchell St. requiring a galvalume 5V roof to allow a green 5V metal roof instead. Snyder explained that the shed roof is a different color than what was approved. A galvalume, unpainted finish was approved, but the homeowner instead installed one that is evergreen instead. Snyder also noted that a few other changes had been made by the applicant without approval that staff could handle with the minor works, including changing a door material. He also noted that the shed was still unpainted, and the fence was not yet complete. There was interest expressed by several commissioners in the color the owner intends to paint the shed siding. Commission members do not want the shed to be painted red with a green roof. They think leaving the siding a natural color or painting it a goldenrod color to match the house would be most appropriate. Motion: Heilman moved to revise a condition that the 5v metal roof color may be evergreen with the new condition that the shed be natural or be painted the same color to match the house. Smith seconded. Vote: 6-0 Conditions: The applicant shall leave the shed color as natural wood or shall paint the shed the same color as the siding on the existing house if the roof is to remain evergreen in color. If the applicant wishes to paint the shed any other color, he shall be required to apply to the Historic District Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness. C. Commission updates Simmons said someone had raised a concern to her about changes to the salt box-style house on East Corbin Street since a saltbox with a porch is no longer a saltbox. She also expressed concern that Hillsborough lost the integrity of its only saltbox in the district by adding a porch. Snyder said he had raised concerns about adding a character-defining feature to the front of the building during the meeting. Commission members pointed out that most of them voted in favor of the porch because the home is not historic, and the salt box is not traditionally found in North Carolina. There was interest in why the new siding is wider than the removed siding. The commission asked Snyder to look at the application to check whether the applicant requested to replace all the siding. Page 4 of 4 Heilman suggested reaching out to local people through the Public Information Office to make the public aware of the status of the historic house in Daniel Boone Village, which currently houses Pueblo Viejo restaurant. Smith said her husband, Commissioner Mark Bell, had reached out to the Preservation Fund and the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough. Heilman said she wants to put pressure on the developer to do something to preserve the house and to help find someone willing to move it. Snyder said he reached out to Preservation North Carolina about possibly preserving the structure as well. Heilman requested a news release to state that the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners and other groups are aware this house needs to be moved and are working to preserve it and to ask if someone is interested in helping. Snyder said that Planning Director Margaret Hauth has been the primary point of contact with the property owners and that Town Manager Eric Peterson and possibly Mayor Tom Stevens need to be a part of the conversation given the impact of the project. He said that right now the developer says the house is staying in its current location. E. Staff updates Snyder reported that the fencing for Bellevue Mill is finished and that the mill developers are working on getting Certificates of Occupancy for some of the buildings in order to generate revenue for the rest of the project. He said the Town and Orange County had issued provisional certificates of occupancy for some of the buildings. He said the lighting for the parking lot was not yet approved. Snyder said two members of the commission will need to attend Certified Local Government training sessions this year with preference to those who have not attended an event previously. 8. Adjournment Motion: Smith moved to adjourn at 8:02 p.m. Dowdle seconded. Vote: 6-0