ASHLAND HISTORIC COMMISSION

Meeting Minutes

June 4, 2008

Community Development/Engineering Services Building – 51 Winburn Way – Siskiyou Room

CALL TO ORDER – REGULAR MEETING

At 7:02 pm, Chairman Dale Shostrom called the Historic Commission meeting to order.

Historic Commissioners Present: Dale Shostrom, Terry Skibby, Henry Baker, James Watkins, Allison Renwick, Keith Swink, Alex Krach, Sam Whitford, Tom Giordano

Absent  Commission Members: 

Council Liaison: Eric Navickas, absent

High School Liaison: None Appointed
SOU Liaison: None Appointed
Staff Present: Planner: Angela Barry; Clerk: Billie Boswell

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Mr. Whitford moved to approve the minutes of the May 7, 2008 meeting.  Mr. Baker seconded the motion and they were approved unanimously.  Mr. Giordano abstained because he was absent from the meeting.

PUBLIC FORUM: None

New Business:  Senior Planner, Maria Harris introduced Kimberli Fitzgerald, a Historic Preservationist Consultant to the Commissioners and explained that she will be conducting an evaluation of Ashland’s preservation program.  Ms. Fitzgerald reviewed the process and questionnaire explaining the work must be completed by September 30, 2008 per the conditions of the CLG grant.  She asked the Commissioners to contact her by June 13^th if there were any changes needed to the survey being sent out to the public.  A special study session meeting would be held in the 2^nd or 3^rd week of August to go over the results.  The Commissioners were asked to determine a date and time that would work for most of them and let Ms. Barry know.

PUBLIC HEARING:

A.            PLANNING ACTION:  2008-0766

SUBJECT PROPERTY: 165 Lithia Way & 123 North First Street 

APPLICANT:  Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market

DESCRIPTION:  Request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow the operation of an outdoor farmers market on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. during the months of May through November.  The proposed market would be held in a portion of the existing parking lot for the property located at the Northwest corner of First St. and Lithia Way, and would be limited to 25 vendor booths.

Chairman Shostrom confirmed there were no conflicts of interest or ex parte contact to report.

There were no applicants present and no one in the audience wished to speak so the public hearing was closed.  Mr. Baker raised a concern regarding parking.  Mr. Giordano felt it was a positive activity for the residents.  Mr. Whitford felt the parking would be comparable to the Walker Street market and would not be a big concern.

Mr. Whitford made a motion to recommend approval.  Ms. Renwick seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

B.       PLANNING ACTION:  2008-00359

SUBJECT PROPERTY: 265 North Main Street 

APPLICANT:  Lithia Arts Guild

DESCRIPTION:  Request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow a portion of the former Briscoe Elementary School building and the surrounding grounds to be used for individual artists’ workspaces and community events. The application requests permanent approval for a yearly event that was previously approved on a temporary basis. The applicant is requesting to host 11 additional events per year in addition to the previously approved event. The application also includes a Type II Variance to parking to allow the parking for events to be off-site in the adjacent neighborhood.

Chairman Shostrom confirmed there were no conflicts of interest or ex parte contact to report.  Ms. Barry explained that the applicants had amended their application, after the notices were sent out, and they now plan to hold the current event and 3 additional outdoor events instead of the 11 originally asked for.  She also clarified that the murals and banners mentioned were not allowed by Ashland’s sign code.  Only the Midsummer Nights and First Nations Day event would have amplified music and all of the outdoor events would end by 6 pm. 

There were no applicants present and no one in the audience wished to speak so the public hearing was closed.

Mr. Baker felt the decibel level of the music is the issue and suggested they keep the level below a certain threshold.  Mr. Whitford said the noise is an issue in the residential neighborhoods.  There was also concern for damage to the front lawns and sprinkler systems.  Mr. Giordano asked if clean up plans were included in the proposal.  Ms. Barry said they were not.  Mr. Giordano said he thought it was a good re-adaptive use of the old school building.

Mr. Giordano made a motion to recommend approval.  Mr. Baker seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

C.        PLANNING ACTION:  2008-00741

SUBJECT PROPERTY: 135 Susan Lane

APPLICANT:  Milo Shubat

DESCRIPTION:  Request for a Conditional Use Permit to construct a 21 ½ square foot addition to an existing residence located at 135 Susan Lane and to exceed the Maximum Permitted Floor Area for a single-family dwelling in the Historic District by approximately 20 percent.

Chairman Shostrom confirmed there were no conflicts of interest or ex parte contact to report. Mr. Skibby reported that the plan was reviewed at the Historic Review Board and they had felt there would be no impact.

There were no applicants present and no one in the audience wished to speak so the public hearing was closed.

Mr. Giordano and Mr. Whitford agreed that the addition would have no impact on compatibility.

Mr. Baker made a motion to recommend approval.  Mr. Skibby seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

D.        PLANNING ACTION:  2008-00731

SUBJECT PROPERTY: 358 High Street/ 60 Wimer Street

APPLICANT:  Mark and Elizabeth Schoenleber

DESCRIPTION: Request for a Conditional Use Permit for a three-unit (includes owner’s quarters) Traveler’s Accommodation for the property located at 358 High Street and 60 Wimer Street

Chairman Shostrom asked if there were any conflicts of interest or exparte contact to report.  Mr. Skibby stated he had spoken to the applicant briefly but did not it would affect his ability to remain impartial.  Mr. Giordano said he had spoken to a friend in the applicant’s neighborhood but also felt he could remain impartial. 

Ms. Barry explained that there were three units on two lots in an R-2 zone.  The structures were old, existing, non-conforming.  The applicant, Mark Schoenleber, said they had been renting a 2-bedroom unit above the garage as a traveler’s accommodation and wanted to legalize it.

There being no one in the audience wishing to speak, the public meeting was closed.

Mr. Skibby felt there would be no impact to the neighborhood.

Mr. Watkins made a motion to recommend approval.  Mr. Swink seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

E.         PLANNING ACTION:  2008-00594

SUBJECT PROPERTY: 954 Siskiyou Blvd.

APPLICANT:  Gregory Adams

DESCRIPTION: Request for a Conditional Use Permit and Site Review approval for an office use in an R-2 zone, with an apartment upstairs for the property located at 954 Siskiyou Blvd.

Chairman Shostrom asked if there were any conflicts of interest or exparte contact to report.  Mr. Giordano recused himself and left the conference room because he had worked on the project in its early stages.  Chairman Shostrom and Mr. Skibby said they had met with the applicant about a year ago to encourage him to save the building.

The applicant, Greg Adams, 289 Granite Street, explained how the house had been heavily trashed and gutted.  He wants to add an external staircase because the internal staircase was damaged and he didn’t want the tenants to go through the office area to access the residence upstairs.  He stated there were no residences close by and the corner intersection was one of the busiest in Ashland. 

Mr. Skibby asked if the original siding still existed under the paneling.  Mr. Adams thought it was and intended to restore the exterior as it originally was except for replacing the stone foundation with poured concrete, adding the exterior staircase, and deleting a filigree railing trim piece above the front porch.  Chairman Shostrom felt the stone foundation could be repaired and the interior staircase rebuilt.  Mr. Adams said the costs were too high.  He did plan on using the existing stone from the foundation in some retaining walls on the site.

There being no further questions of the applicant and no one in the audience wishing to speak, the Public Hearing was closed.

Chairman Shostrom suggested concrete blocks would be more historically compatible than poured concrete on the foundation.  He reopened the public hearing to allow the applicant to respond.  Mr. Adams did not want to do concrete block.  The public hearing was closed again.

Mr. Swink, Mr. Whitford, Mr. Skibby and Ms. Renwick felt the proposal to restore the majority of the building was good.

Mr. Whitford made a motion to recommend approval of the project.  Mr. Skibby seconded the motion.  During discussion the Commissioners agreed to add a recommendation to rebuild the interior staircase instead of adding the exterior staircase.  Mr. Whitford amended his motion and Mr. Skibby seconded the change.  It passed unanimously.

Since neither the applicant nor anyone in the audience were present to discuss the Water Street Bridge project, it was moved to follow Old Business.

OLD BUSINESS

A.      Building Permit #2008-00542

      Subject Property:  1070 Tolman Creek Rd. Bellview Elementary

      Owner:  School District #5

David Wilkerson and Julie CiChiro reviewed the exterior color choice for both the historic and new buildings.  They were able to closely match the original tuscan color found on the old building.  They also discussed the stucco finish to be used on the connector building that would be textured to match the original building.  The Commissioners supported all of the choices.

PUBLIC HEARING (cont.)

F.   PLANNING ACTION:  2008-00813

SUBJECT PROPERTY: Water Street Bridge/Overpass.

APPLICANT:  City of Ashland

DESCRIPTION: Request for a Governmental Sign Conditional Use Permit for the installation of artwork on the underside of the Oregon Dept of Transportation bridge/overpass located within the right of way between the properties addressed as 51 Water St and 96 North Main St.  

Mr. Whitford said he felt the project was a great improvement and was not obtrusive.

Mr. Giordano made a motion to recommend approval.  Mr. Baker seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS (cont.)

B.     Review Board Schedule

C.     Project Assignments For Planning Actions – Mr. Swink said the First Methodist Church project was complete.  Ms. Renwick agreed to take the Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market.

D.                 Historic Preservation Week “This Place Matters – Commissioners were very impressed with George Kramer’s speech.  Chairman Shostrom also complimented Mr. Krach on his introduction speech and suggested he be the event spokesman for next year’s event.  Mr. Swink suggested drafting a thank-you letter to Ashland Custom Frame for their willingness to prepare our framed winner’s picture each year at a discounted cost. 

E.                 Parks Archive Project – Mr. Swink reported that a shredder was brought in before any historic review could be done.  Resource information from SHPO was not received in a timely fashion.

F.                  Lithia Springs National Register Nomination – No report

G.                Single Family Residential Design Standards – No report

H.                 Co-Sponsorship with Conservation Commission for Fall Workshop – No report

DISCUSSION ITEMS –  None

NEW BUSINESS – Ballots were cast for Historic Commission Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary.  Results were Chair: Shostrom; Vice Chair: Skibby; and Secretary: Krach. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The next Historic Commission meeting will be on July 2, 2008 at 7:00 pm in the Siskiyou Room.

ADJOURNMENT

It was the unanimous decision of the Commission to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 p.m.