Krippaehne moved and Foll seconded to approve the minutes of the February 6, 2002 meeting as submitted. The motion was unanimously passed.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

Knox reported this property is located on the corner of Laurel and High Streets and has an existing two-story home that consists of two separate residential units - the ground floor unit is 1,416 square feet and the second story unit is 826 square feet. The applicants are proposing to restore the house to a single family residence and until very recently, they were proposing to move the W.C. Daley House from 99 Granite Street to the rear of this property, thus retaining two residences on the property but in separate spaces. The owner of 99 Granite Street, however, has decided not to sell the house for the move, but rather sell the entire property. Knox stated that if the Shrewsburys do not move the house, they would like to get approval to build a similar second dwelling with the same footprint as the Daley House. Knox said the application requires two more parking spaces but there are three on-street credits available. This application was called up for a public hearing because of concerns with the private alley off High Street and another neighbor had concerns about the design compatibility of the Daley House in this location. It is Staff's opinion, however, that the design of the Daley House would fit in the neighborhood, whether it is the Daley House itself or a replica. The Shrewsburys had submitted photos of the Daley House superimposed on the proposed location off High Street and have said their intent is to build a house with the same design.

Applicant Laura Shrewsbury explained when she and her husband first saw the ad for sale of the Daley House, they looked and found a lot that would accommodate it in the same historic district. The property they found had a Victorian house and a large enough lot to move the Daley House. They felt the Victorian house (Dillon Grant House) should be a single family home so they are in the process of restoring it. They have removed the asbestos siding and have constructed a stairway inside the home for access to the upper story. Whatever the outcome of the Daley House, Shrewsbury said they would like to go ahead with the accessory unit. They are willing, however, to hold off on the building permit until a final determination is made by the owner of 99 Granite Street. If they end up building a house, they want to use the same footprint and same roof design as the Daley House. Shrewsbury then wrote the following statement, signed it and submitted it to the Commission: We would willingly defer building permit on the accessory unit at 103 S. Laurel for 60-90 days until final determination on W.C. Daley home @ 99 Granite is made by owner of same.

Foll asked if she would consider a different design for the accessory unit. Shrewsbury said she truly believes the house should be single story with a high gable so she doesn't want to change the design. The trim, door and rafter ends would be much simpler, however, so it would have its own identity.

Chris Abbott Stokes stated she is the daughter of Jeanne and Erik Abbott, who own the property located at 276 Almond Street and includes the vacated alley which abuts Shrewsbury's lot on High Street. She asked about the proposed parking. Shrewsbury said there is an existing single car garage with access off Laurel Street for the existing house. There is also an existing carport/shed that has used the access off the vacated alley (which is the Abbott property) for many years. According to her attorney, Shrewsbury stated that they should have adverse possession of the alley up to the face of the carport. Their desire would be to continue using this access in order to keep the parking space in the carport, which is for one car only. With the on-street credits, adequate parking will be provided. Abbott Stokes said her parents own the "alley" and they are concerned that if they grant access to Shrewsbury's property, they will feel compelled to grant access to other neighbors who want to use it also. Knox said this is a neighbor issue at this point.

Shostrom closed the public hearing and opened the Commission discussion.

Foll said he is concerned about approving a design for the accessory unit without site elevations. Shostrom, however, explained that the applicant has submitted the footprint, elevations, floor plans, photos and a statement of what they would like to build if they cannot move the Daley House. Skibby added the building plans will come to the Review Board also. Knox stated he would like to leave it open for the applicant to make minor changes to allow for some flexibility here. One of the conditions of approval addresses the recommendations of the Historic Commission. Knox also said that once approval is granted, the applicant has up to one year to carry out the proposal. Leighton asked Shrewsbury how long she could wait before bringing in plans for a building permit and Shrewsbury answered they can wait for 60-90 days and are willing to do so.

Foll moved to recommend approval of this Site Review as presented and modified, based upon the applicant's submittal and design statement at tonight's meeting, and including the signed written statement regarding the deferment of submitting building plans for the accessory unit for up to 90 days. Leighton seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

Shostrom stepped down for this planning action because he is the designer/representative. Therefore, Skibby took over the meeting.

Knox reported that in 1998, a different owner of this property received approval for an accessory residential unit. One parking space for the existing house was provided adjacent to the unit as well as the one required space for the new unit. This is a corner lot and no parking is allowed on Granite Street or High Street. Since the primary house had just one off street parking space credit historically grandfathered in, the Planning Department did not require more spaces at the time. The new owner, however, wants to build a single car garage off High Street for the primary house in order to bring the property in to compliance.

Shostrom related that this is the fourth time he has been involved with this property. Several years ago, he did a historic restoration of the porch, then a family room addition, then the accessory unit, and now the garage (three different owners). The roof of the garage will tie in and match the existing roofline. The siding, roofing material and trim will all match the existing house. The existing fence, which is the length of the frontage on High Street, will be removed along the second half of the property toward Church Street. The portion along the first half will be moved in five feet so it is out of the right-of-way. The garage door will by 7 feet by 9 feet.

Skibby clarified the garage will be added on to the family room addition so the original house will not be disturbed. Since no one was in the audience, he then closed the public hearing.

Foll commented that he has a problem with attaching garages to older homes. Although the design fits perfectly with the existing house and he doesn't know what other solution there may be, he just doesn't think a garage should be attached. Maser agreed and asked if there was a way to make it not look like a garage. Shostrom said he would find a more historic looking garage door to mimic an older door and agreed Maser and Foll made a good point.

Foll then moved to recommend acceptance of this proposal with the condition the garage door be more compatibly historical. With a second by Maser, the motion was passed with a unanimous vote.

Review Board - Following is the March schedule for the Review Board, which meets every Thursday from 3:00 to at least 3:30 p.m. in the Planning Department:

Skibby said he likes the variety and feels Krippaehne has come up with a good design, which is a little more contemporary, but compatible with other buildings in the area. The Commission agreed this is a very nice design.

Park Rows and the Proposed Sidewalk on Eighth Street - Knox explained the City received a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to construct sidewalks on Eighth Street. He explained that standards have already been set for sidewalk construction but deviation can occur to accommodate trees that are in the rights-of-way. Typical sidewalks in this district are constructed as park rows. Because the Railroad District is on the National Register of Historic Places, this project also needs to be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Neighbors that are affected by the sidewalks went to the City Council to voice their concerns. As a result, the Council gave Staff direction to seek an alternative to park rows. Public Works Director Paula Brown is asking for input so a letter can be forwarded to SHPO.

Foll presented the last portion of an e-mail letter that was sent by Brown regarding moving the sidewalks against the curb from "A" Street to "C" Street. He described reasons why the neighbors (including him) are requesting to deviate from the park rows that were proposed. Some of the trees would need massive pruning to accommodate the park rows. Also, sidewalks would be closer to some homes than to the street.

Because of the uniqueness of that block, the Commission felt comfortable with Brown's first two suggestions in the e-mail, which were (a) moving the sidewalks on the section from "A" Street to "B" Street so that the sidewalks are against the curb, and (b) in the section from "B" Street to "C" Street, other than the tree that we intend to bump around, we can stay with the sidewalks and park row on the section closest to "C" Street. The Commission maintained it would be best to keep as much of the park row as possible on Eighth Street and would like to be consulted again before the final design is approved.

Joint Study Session with Planning Commission - The Historic Commission met with the Planning Commission on February 26 to discuss residential design standards. The Commission felt this was a good first step and a useful dialogue resulted. Knox related this could come back to both commissions before too long.

Shostrom reported there was an open house to view the final design for Siskiyou Boulevard earlier in the day. He explained the landscape plan for the area in the Historic District between Mountain Avenue and the Fire Station still needs input. The biggest issue seems to be the view shed. Historically, the median should have a three-foot grassy area on each side with trees and plants in the middle. He asked the Commission if it was important to keep the grass and if so, if a native grass would be appropriate. The members all felt it would be important to keep the grassy area and that with a state-of-the-art irrigation system and the right type of native grass, this should be achievable.

The Commission was notified there are two four-foot by eight-foot pieces of glass, one with City of Ashland lettering, that are currently in storage and in danger of being damaged. Members were asked to think of ways the glass, especially the one with the lettering, could be used. Maser responded there could be many uses: 1) it can be incorporated into the Hillah Building - it can have silver painted on the back to make a mirror, be framed and hung on one of the walls, it can be put on the inside of an energy efficient window, it can be used in a skylight, it can be used as a partial room divider, it can be hung in the conference room or the lobby area; or 2) it can be made into a mirror and sold to a restaurant/bar. Maser said she could always come up with more ideas if needed.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Knox declared the Siskiyou-Hargadine District passed the State Historic Advisory Committee with flying colors.

The Commission was reminded of the brown bag workshop on bungalow kitchens and bathrooms on March 15. Leighton will be attending the workshop and will introduce Jane Powell.

The next Historic Commission meeting will be on April 3, 2002.

It was the unanimous decision of the Commission to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 p.m.