Agendas and Minutes

Historic Preservation Advisory Committee (View All)

Regular Monthly Meeting

Agenda
Wednesday, May 08, 2002

ASHLAND HISTORIC COMMISSION
Minutes
May 8, 2002

 

DISCUSSION ON GOALS

The Historic Commission met at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Center to discuss the 2001-2002 goals. Knox introduced Tom Giordano, who was recently appointed to the Commission. Giordano is an architect, has served on both the Ashland Planning Commission and Jackson County Planning Commission. He has also attended several Historic Commission meetings over the years. Present were Terry Skibby, Dale Shostrom, Gary Foll, Jay Leighton, Rob Saladoff, Joan Steele, Keith Chambers, Joanne Krippaehne and Tom Giordano. Also present were Associate Planner Mark Knox and Secretary Sonja Akerman. No members were absent. Knox related that next year he would like to have a screen saver of historic Ashland photos available to give to businesses. It would be ideal to have this available by National Historic Preservation Week. He said this would be a good tool to promote awareness of our historic resources. The members thought this would also be a good means for educating the public. Also discussed was whether or not the Historic Commission should seek more authority. Pros and cons were talked about; however, a decision was not made as to whether this should be pursued.

CALL TO ORDER

At 7:00 p.m., Chairperson Shostrom called the meeting to order. Also in attendance was Mayor Alan DeBoer (who left the meeting at 7:05) and City Council liaison pro tem Kate Jackson. Mayor DeBoer stated the Historic Commission had the best turn out of all City volunteers during the City's recognition party on May 2nd. Only one person did not make it and DeBoer said he was in attendance to present Chambers his certificate and gift from the City. DeBoer thanked the Commission for the long hours of hard work that the members give to the City every month and said he appreciated what they do. He also stated he goes to meetings concerning the progression of the library every week. During the meeting that day, the front retaining wall on the southeast side of the front steps of the Carnegie Building was discussed. Evidently, the existing retaining wall is deteriorating and has no foundation. The contractor would like to take out 40-50 feet, replace the wall and match it with the rest of the original wall. The Commission agreed that at least the Review Board members would walk to the library on May 9 between 3:00-5:00 p.m. in order to give the contractors input on this.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

Caroline Spear, high school Catalyst Program teacher, introduced Jasmine Eldridge, one of her students who has worked on the Triangle Park walkway for the past two years. When asked about her perspective of the project, Jasmine said it was a great coming together of not only the high school and middle school, but also of the community. The walkway will be there for a long time and she is very proud of it. Chambers thanked Jasmine for coming to the meeting and asked her what she did on the walkway. She responded she was involved in the planning, she cut tiles, helped in the glazing, and put the tiles on the boards. She said it was hard work but it was fun. Spear shared with the Commission the invitation to the dedication ceremony (which will be at 10:00 on May 16) that will be sent out. When Leighton asked about the grant money that was acquired, Spear replied $1,700 came from the National Education Association, $1,500 from the local Carpenter Fund and about $200 from the school district. Steele spoke for the Commission when she thanked Spear and Eldridge for all the work they put in to the project.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Steele moved and Foll seconded to approve the minutes of the April 3, 2002 meeting as submitted. The motion was unanimously passed.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

Planning Action 2002-053
Conditional Use Permit
59 Manzanita Street
Vicki Capp

Knox explained this application is for the expansion of the owner's unit of the Iris Inn Bed & Breakfast. Construction of the 520 square foot addition will be on the rear of the house. All materials will match the existing house. Knox declared the traveler's accommodation is not expanding, only the owner's living quarters will increase in size. The only other change will be the addition of a new sidewalk that will tie in to the sidewalk recently installed at the property on the corner of Manzanita and High Streets.

Owner Vicki Capp stated the roofline will match the existing house, as will the leaded windows, siding and trim. Skibby asked about the sidewalk, noting the grades would have to line up. Capp said she has been working with Assistant City Engineer Jim Olson and Associate Planner Maria Harris on this. The walk will be against the fence and go around the fire hydrant she also has to install.

When asked by Shostrom about the existing shed roof, Capp stated it will disappear and the addition will have a gable roof. She also said the existing skylight will disappear.

Skibby moved to recommend approval of this application to the Planning Commission and Steele seconded the motion. It passed with a unanimous vote.

Planning Action 2002-055
Conditional Use Permit
142 North Main Street
Mary Nelke

This planning action has been postponed for one month.

Planning Action 2002-056
Conditional Use Permit
138 North Second Street
Joanie McGowan

Knox reported this application is for the transfer of ownership of the Second Street Cottages. There have been no complaints filed against this property. He also related the new business owner has signed a document verifying she understands all the conditions of the existing approval.

Chambers moved and Leighton seconded to recommend approval of this application to the Planning Commission and the motion passed unanimously.

INTRODUCTION

Knox took this time to introduce Councilor Pro Tem Kate Jackson to the Commission. She will be taking over Councilor Cameron Hanson's position until he is either re-elected or his position expires.

NEW BUSINESS

Initial Plans for Building on Corner of "A" and Pioneer Streets - Knox then introduced architect Gary Caperna (Batzer Construction), who presented initial plans for the building across from A Street Marketplace on the corner of "A" and Pioneer Streets. Caperna explained that plans for the pre-application conference will be turned in within the next few days but he wanted to run the plans by the Historic Commission first. This building is currently used for storage. The idea is to retain the basic structure and fill in the sides, thus reusing the existing siding and canopy. Galvanized siding will be used on the walls and a concrete lean-to will be added in the back. The same industrial feel will be kept, which will match A Street Marketplace but not mimic it. The building will house glass blowers.

The Commission did not feel it was necessary to have the grid work on this building similar to what was added to the Marketplace across the street. Leighton suggested clumping some of the windows in order to give more of a grid like appearance.

Shostrom remarked there is a lot of concrete on the corner and no planters. He asked why only trees are being proposed as plantings. Knox responded the idea is to give the corner an urban feel, however, Shostrom said this is almost emphasizing the urban feel too much and planters would be a good idea. Shostrom then asked if the roof pitch of the lean-to would be different than the main building and Caperna said it would be different to make it clear that portion of the building is an addition and not part of the original.

Revised Plans for Addition on 234 Vista Street – Sid and Karen DeBoer, along with their designer, Ted Fletscher, presented revised plans for adding on to their home, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The DeBoers are proposing to add approximately 4,000 square feet on to their home, which is currently approximately 3,000 square feet. Sid DeBoer stated that he realizes there has been a lot of controversy over their proposal so he wanted to give the reasons why the addition is necessary. Both he and Karen grew up in Ashland and they want to continue living here. As his successful business is continuing to grow, they host many business-related events in their home and they need a large space in order to do this. Therefore, it is valuable to his business to have a large enough place to host events, and he stated the importance of doing this in his home. Secondly, their family is part of the history of this town. There are 21 members locally and it is critically important to have a large place for them to gather together. Thirdly, this is of value to the community. They are large donors of such entities as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland Community Hospital and the YMCA. As such, they host events for various occasions but their existing house is not adequate. DeBoer said he and his wife love their house and don’t want to move. He stated the latest design for the addition is one and a half stories high, is set back from the original house and it meets code requirements. He also added that when they are gone, it will not go to their children but will pass on to his foundation for educational purposes. It will be controlled by the Oregon Community Foundation.

DeBoer noted the original house will not be altered, nor will the landscaping. Also, he assured the Commission no new walkways or rockwork will be done.

Considerable discussion followed the DeBoer presentation, with Commissioners expressing a variety of concerns about the effects of the massive proposed addition to the National Register Frank Clark house. It was pointed out that the addition would more than double the size of the house, extending its width along Vista in a manner that is out of keeping with the neighborhood streetscape and the scale of this important historic structure.

Commissioners explored with the DeBoers and their designer alternative possibilities. These suggestions stressed the need to maintain the integrity of the existing house by making any additions as unobtrusive as possible and taking care not to allow the overall mass of the addition to overpower the Frank Clark house. Among suggestions discussed were the construction of a separate (unconnected) pavilion for guests and entertaining, making the connector between the existing house and proposed addition less prominent and single story, and setting back the proposed addition more notably from the facade of the existing house.

The DeBoers said that a separate pavilion would not work, but they would consider the single story connector. Giordano suggested constructing a walkway on the roof portion of the connector so there would be access on the second floors also.

It was agreed that Fletscher would work with the DeBoers on revised concepts and drawings to bring to an upcoming Review Board.

With a motion by Skibby and second by Foll, it was the unanimous decision of the Commission to extend the meeting past 10:00 p.m.

OLD BUSINESS

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

May 9

Skibby, Giordano and Leighton

May 16

Skibby, Saladoff and Steele

May 23

Skibby, Leighton and Foll

May 30

Skibby, Chambers and Krippaehne

Project Assignments for Planning Actions

PA #99-108

340 Oak Street (A Street Marketplace)

Shostrom

PA #2000-039

410 Siskiyou Boulevard (library)

Skibby

PA #2000-124

51 Winburn Way (Hillah Temple)

Foll

PA #2000-120

485 "A" Street (Steve Hoxmeier)

Shostrom

PA #2001-029

455 Siskiyou Boulevard (Fire Station)

Skibby

PA #2001-047

269 Maple Street (Ashland Orthopedic Association)

Saladoff

PA #2001-052

39 Fourth Street (Jean Moseley)

Saladoff

PA #2001-064

237 North First Street (Ashland Comm. Food Store)

Shostrom

PA #2001-059

50 Sixth Street (Qwest)

Leighton

PA #2001-079

685 East Main Street (Talent Properties)

Shostrom

PA #2001-075

348 Iowa Street (Eva Cooley)

Maser

PA #2001-088

61 Nutley Street (William Machado & Denise Byron)

Steele

PA #2002-002

472 Scenic Drive (Kirt Meyer & Vadim Agakhanov)

Saladoff

PA #2002-010

103 S. Laurel Street (Laura Shrewsbury)

Leighton

PA #2002-021

25 Granite Street (Carol Dutra)

Foll

PA #2002-023

660 "B" Street (Susan Dempsay)

Foll

OLD BUSINESS

National Historic Preservation Week § May 12-18, 2002 - The members were reminded to attend the events if at all possible, especially the award ceremony on May 17.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The next Historic Commission meeting will be on June 5, 2002.

ADJOURNMENT

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

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