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Home My WebLink About2006-08-10 MinutesMINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION A regular meeting of the Fayetteville Historic District Commission was held on August 10, 2006 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 111 of the City Administration Building, 113 W. Mountain, Fayetteville, Arkansas. ACTION TAKEN Historic Neighborhoods and Mailboxes N/A Commercial Historic District Boundaries Approved Historic District Commission June 8, 2006 Page 2 MEMBERS PRESENT Leslie Belden Ethel Goodstein-Murphee Cindy Kalke Rob Merry -Ship Tony Wappel STAFF PRESENT Karen Minkel, Long Range Planning CITY ATTORNEY Kit Williams, City Attorney MEMBERS ABSENT Tim Cooper Rob Sharp STAFF ABSENT 2 Historic District Commission June 8, 2006 Page 3 CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chair Goodstein-Murphree at 5:34 p.m. L Announcements A. City Attorney Kit Williams informed the Commission that the Petition to Intervene had been submitted to the Public Service Commission and there were good signs that a hearing would be held in Fayetteville. When and where were yet to be determined, but the hearing would be open to the public and possibly held in the district court with an administrative judge presiding. B. Karen Minkel, Senior Long Range Planner, gave an update on the notification of property owners within the proposed commercial historic district; property owners have until August 16r' to voice an objection to the formation of National Register districts. Minkel also informed the commission of a memo that had been sent to the Wilson Park Neighborhood regarding the postal service's policy of requiring the installation of freestanding mailboxes when a new resident or homeowner moves into the neighborhood. The memo suggested that the neighborhood could look at forming a local historic district as a means for addressing the postal policy, which residents were concerned detracted aesthetically from a historical neighborhood. Commissioner Kalke suggested that the three National Register neighborhoods of Mt. Nord, Wilson Park and Washington - Willow meet with the postmaster as a group, so they could exchange information at the same time. C. Chair Goodstein-Murphree shared some of the broad topics that were discussed during the National Alliance of Historic Preservation Commissions conference that Goodstein-Murphree and Minkel attended in Baltimore. These topics included a code of ethics for historic preservation commissioners, how historic preservation fits into "new urbanism" and types of materials used in rehabilitation. II. Approval of the Minutes MOTION to approve the minutes of June 8, 2006: Leslie Belden SECOND: Cindy Kalke VOTE: The vote was unanimous to approve the minutes from the June 8, 2006 meeting, 5-0-0. MOTION to approve the minutes of July 13, 2006: Leslie Belden 3 Historic District Commission June 8, 2006 Page 4 SECOND: Cindy Kalke VOTE: The vote was unanimous to approve the minutes from the July 13, 2006 meeting, 5-0-0. MOTION to approve the minutes of July 31, 2006: Tony Wappel SECOND: Cindy Kalke VOTE: The vote was unanimous to approve the minutes from the July 31, 2006 meeting, 5-0-0. III. Work Plan for Establishing Commercial Historic Districts Staff Report: Minkel reported that Mark Christ from the State Historic Preservation Program (SHPP) had informed City staff that the state would only survey the buildings within the district initially proposed by the state. The Historic District Commission was interested in expanding some of the state's proposed boundaries because a local ordinance district would likely overlay onto the National Register district. Minkel described two options: 1) Leave the state's boundaries as they've have been proposed; or 2) Coordinate a survey of additional structures and submit the findings for consideration with SHPP's survey. Discussion: Belden expressed frustration with SHPP over the mixed message the office seemed to be sending. Belden met with some of SHPP's staff who suggested that the City create a series of small districts over time in order to form one large district. This method would enable the City to qualify for CLG funds if a local ordinance district is established. Several of the commissioners suggested that planning staff clarify whether SHPP wanted the City to add on to a National Register district or establish small local ordinance districts. Goodstein-Murphree suggested that the City could put the Block Street district on hold as that district probably needed the most modification and focus instead on the Dickson Street district, which needed only minor changes. This proposal would take into consideration SHPP's resource constraints, but allow the Commission to consider the boundaries of a local ordinance district simultaneously. The commissioners agreed with this proposal and proceeded to examine the boundaries of the Dickson Street district. Belden proposed extending the boundary south along West Avenue to include Walton Arts Center properties, High Roller and Powerhouse restaurant. Kalke had questions about including the parking lot because if infill projects occurred, the new development might change the ratio of contributing to non-contributing buildings. Merry -Ship and Goodstein-Murphree suggested that the Commission and SHPP could take advantage of the work compiled by the Downtown Improvement District and the accounts available in University archives on the history of the buildings in these areas. MOTION to extend the boundaries of the Dickson Street District south along West Avenue: Leslie Belden 11 Historic District Commission June 8, 2006 Page S SECOND: Rob Merry -Ship VOTE: The vote was unanimous to extend the boundaries, 5-0-0. Staff was directed by the Commission to communicate the Commission's desired approach to SHPP and report back to the commission. MEETING ADJOURNED: 6:46 P.M.