HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-06-16 CHC Correspondence (Price)1'l1� QMemorandum
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DATE: June 2, 2016
TO: Cultural Heritage Committee
FROM: Lee Price, Interim- City Clerk
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Item: ins-I&�,ipr�
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RECEIVED
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
SUBJECT: Agenda Correspondence regarding draft minutes of March 28, 2016
Staff has identified minor typographical and formatting revisions in the previously distributed
draft minutes of the March 28, 2016 Cultural Heritage Committee meeting. Please consider the
attached draft minutes, including corrections.
Cultural Heritage Committee Minutes
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DRAFT
SAN LUIS OBISPO
CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMITTEE
MINUTES
March 28, 2016
CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Cultural Heritage Committee was called to
order on Monday, March 28th, 2016 at 5:33 p.m. in the Council Chambers, located at
990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California, by Chair Hill.
ROLL CALL
Present: Committee Members Shannon Larrabee, James Papp (arrived 5:35), Sandy
Baer, Craig Kincaid, Leah Walthert and Chair Jaime Hill
Absent: Vice -Chair Thom Brajkovich
Staff: Senior Planner Brian Leveille, Associate Planner Rachel Cohen, Assistant
Planner Walter Oetzell, Assistant City Clerk John Paul Maier and Recording
Secretary Brad T. Opstad
CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES
ACTION: MOTION BY COMMITTEE MEMBER KINCAID, SECOND BY COMMITTEE
MEMBER PAPP, CARRIED 6-0, to approve the Minutes of the Cultural Heritage
Committee meeting of February 22, 2016, as amended:
Page 3, third paragraph revised to read: "...Project Architect Duffy described the
of the intent to create..."
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS
None.
PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS
71 Palomar Place. ARCH -2193-2015; Review of proposed rehabilitation, adaptive
reuse, and repositioning of the Master List Historic Sandford House property as part
of a 41 -unit multi -family residential project, and review of a Mitigated Negative
Declaration of Environmental Impact; R-4 Zone; LR Development Group, applicant.
Chair Hill noted that substantial correspondence had been received regarding this
item. Committee Members indicated they had had the opportunity to review them.
Draft CHC Minutes
March 28, 2016
Page 2
Senior Planner Leveille and Associate Planner Cohen provided an in-depth staff
report and responded to Committee questions.
Representing the applicant, architect Thom Jess presented the conceptual design,
landscape plan and overview of the demolition and re -build plans. He emphasized
that the Sandford House will remain the tallest building on the site. Truitt Vance,
structural engineer, described the preliminary civil and structural engineering plan
and the process anticipated for re -locating the century -old structure.
Committee questions to the applicant's representatives followed regarding the
property's ownership, the status of the adjacent lot, building height, land grade,
space design and occupancy projections. Thom Jess reported that the applicant
had consulted with the City and had been informed that the highest demand in
affordable housing was for studio units.
Barry Price, Applied Earthworks, explained that his firm prepared the project's
historical inventory and evaluation, complimented the architect and property owner
for adjusting the plans and design several times to comply with the Historic
Preservation Standards and summarized key findings.
PUBLIC COMMENT
The following residents of San Luis Obispo spoke in favor of the project:
Bob Nastase, President of Delta Tau Foundation
Kirk Lemon, President of Alumni
Victor Johnson, President of Delta Tau House Corporation
The following residents of San Luis Obispo voiced opposition to the project, sharing
a variety of concerns including the number of units planned, neighborhood
compatibility, plans to relocate the Sandford House, removal of trees, traffic, noise
and plans to re -open Luneta Drive:
Lydia Mourenza
Tom Norwood
Bob Mourenza
Cheryl McLean
Linda White
Carol Florence, representing neighborhood collective "Save Luneta"
Ed Benson
Mila Vujovich-La Barre
Elizabeth De Haan
Barbara Remillard
Peter Crough
---End of Public Comment---
Draft CHC Minutes
March 28, 2016
Page 3
Committee Members Larrabee, Baer and Walthert expressed concerns about the
number of housing units proposed for the site.
Committee Member Papp observed that the Sandford House is on the Master List
of Historic Resources because of its own characteristics as a structure, not because
of its surroundings and asserted that repositioning the house would not compromise
its historic nature.
Committee Member Kincaid noted that the Commission's purview is the historical
element of the proposed project and not density, streets or City planning. He
indicated he had been compelled by Earthworks' presentation to vote for allowing
the project to move forward.
Chair Hill indicated she was not concerned about shifting the House if it enhances
its status in historic listings. She expressed concern about the "cultural landscape"
and how the project might disrupts that landscape; and voiced her opinion that the
project is more appropriately discussed under the Committee's purview in terms of
massing rather than density. Chair Hill noted that the House is currently
overwhelmed in scale by the large -block nature of the planned multi -unit structures;
addressed comments pertaining to both interior of the private residence and
requested exceptions; suggested new construction should take some detailing cues
from historic structure; and questioned the height of retaining walls and the lack of
long-term bicycle parking availability.
The Committee discussed at length the appropriateness of the relocation of the
House and the proposed multi -unit addition.
ACTION: MOTION BY CHAIR HILL, SECONDED BY COMMITTEE MEMBER
BAER, the Commission continued the item to a date uncertain with the following
direction:
1. Maintain aspects of the cultural landscape of the Sandford House by
reducing the extent to which it is relocated and increase the distance
between the historic house and the right-of-way and the new
development.
2. Re-evaluate ways in which to reduce the scale and massing and detailing
of the new development to ensure that the new construction does not
overwhelm the prominence of the historic residence.
a. New construction should not mimic the historic house, but
elements such as fenestration, window patterns and other detailing
should be considered that highlight the historic elements of the
Sandford House.
Draft CHC Minutes
March 28, 2016
Page 4
Motion passed 4:2:1 on the following vote:
AYES: Hill, Baer, Kincaid, Walthert
NOES: Larrabee, Papp
ABSENT: Brajkovich
2. 1516 Broad Street. ARCH -2225-2015; Review of proposed new two-bedroom
dwelling behind the Renetzky House, a Master List Historic Resource in the Old
Town Historic District; Exempt from environmental review per CEQA Guidelines §
15301 (Existing Facilities); R -2-H Zone; Gary Bagnall, applicant.
Chair Hill noted that the Committee was in receipt of one piece of correspondence
regarding this item.
Assistant Planner Oetzell provided the staff report and recommendation, and
responded to Committee questions.
Applicant Representative and Architect, Jon McAlpin, read for the record a
neighbor's letter expressing support for the revised proposal and provided a
PowerPoint presentation summarizing the plan in context with adjacent properties
and the revised floor plan.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Peg Pinard, San Luis Obispo, (speaking as the owner of the property next door to
project) expressed appreciation for revisions proposed to the project so far but
singled out remaining issues including the height of the structure, slope of the roof
(which infringes on her solar access), and access to underground electrical wiring.
Chair Hill interjected with brief commentary regarding requirements for electrical
connections being completely outside the purview of CHC.
Applicant Shane Bagnall, San Luis Obispo, addressed the issues of garage roof
pitch and access to the power pole, as referenced by Ms. Pinard.
Committee Members Kincaid and Baer shared that it was evident that the Applicant
listened to Committee's suggestions. Committee Member Larrabee concurred and
added that the project is appropriate and a nice upgrade to the site. Committee
Member Papp agreed with the Applicant's position that the lower pitch roof would be
inferior aesthetically and expressed gratitude to the architect for mitigations that
designed the subordinate structure to not compete with the master list building.
ACTION: MOTION BY CHAIR HILL, SECONDED BY COMMITTEE MEMBER
PAPP, the Commission adopted a Resolution recommending that the Community
Development Director find the proposed construction of a two-bedroom dwelling
behind the Renetzky House, at 1516 Broad Street, a Master List Historic Resource
in the Old Town Historic District, consistent with the Historic Preservation Program
Guidelines and with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of
Draft CHC Minutes
March 28, 2016
Page 5
Historical Properties, as modified (Finding #1 of the resolution to read as follows:
"Provide more specific support for finding that there is architectural consistency
between the proposed new accessory dwelling and primary residence, including the
consistency of architectural details and the appropriateness of the roof form and
pitch".) Motion passed 6:0:1 on the following vote:
AYES: Hill, Papp, Baer, Kincaid, Walthert, Larrabee
NOES: None
ABSENT: Brajkovich
3. 1127 George Street. ARCH -2085-2015; Review of proposed addition of three
dormers to the roof of a single-family residence that is a Contributing List Historic
Resource; Exempt from environmental review per CEQA Guidelines § 15301
(Existing Facilities); R-2 Zone; Alan Marten, applicant.
Chair Hill introduced Assistant Planner Oetzell to render Staff Report.
Assistant Planner Oetzell introduced Application for Architectural Review of dormer
addition.
Richard Breska, Applicant Representative and Architect, displayed PowerPoint
images of the dwelling and discussed the intention to access light into the office -use
(permitted 25 years ago) and to remove aluminum skylights, which are out -of -
character with the building. Applicant Breska responded to Committee questions
regarding the design of the dormer.
In response to Committee Papp's further inquiry, Planner Oetzell stated that since a
Contributing Listing building enriches historic nature of an area rather than being an
exemplar of itself, the level of scrutiny allows for more latitude in alterations than in
case of Master Listed buildings; Chair Hill elaborated that the level of threshold in
applying standards in the case of a Contributing Listing building is considering
whether contributing alterations are still identifiable in a particular style.
Committee Member Papp voiced his opinion that the plan to place three dormers
front -and -center radically changes the roof that is integral to structure; suggested
alternative placement concepts that are not visible to streetview. He added that
he'd be more comfortable with an Application to remove the house from the
Contributing List in order to change the fagade.
Committee Members Walthert, Baer and Kincaid shared respective opinions that
proposed dormers positively enhance look of the home, make it more distinctive
and more fitting with architectural genre, and that it doesn't interfere with historic
components of house.
Committee Member Papp retorted that plain hipped roof is defining characteristic of
the house.
Draft CHC Minutes
March 28, 2016
Page 6
Chair Hill indicated she tends to agree with Committee Member Papp about the
dormer being placed in front, but also stated that doing so is not inconsistent with
historic preservation guidelines which allows for alterations such as this to make
these properties viable and going forward into future as living spaces.
ACTION: UPON A MOTION BY COMMITTEE MEMBER LARRABEE,
SECONDED BY COMMITTEE MEMBER KINCAID, the Committee adopted a
Resolution recommending that the Community Development Director find the
proposed Dormer additions at 1127 George Street consistent with the Historic
Preservation Program Guidelines and with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for
the Treatment of Historical Properties. Motion passed 5:1:0:1 on the following
consensus vote:
AYES:
Larrabee, Kincaid, Baer, Walthert, Hill
NOES:
Papp
RECUSED:
None
ABSENT:
Brajkovich
COMMENT AND DISCUSSION
Staff Updates:
Senior Planner Leveille shared updated amendments to the Railroad Historic District's
boardwalk design standard, a longstanding issue that the CHC first reviewed in October
2015 and that Public Works is actively pursuing to resolution; requested Committee
feedback on brick paver installation -as -replacement option.
In response to Committee Member Baer's inquiry, Planner Leveille indicated that the
images shown in presentation material of various brick paver layout patterns were
options to consider as preferred design on which CHC is asked to make an
improvement recommendation. Chair Hill reminded that any amendment to the Specific
Plan would ultimately be subject to CHC review at future date.
The Committee recommended its preference to be more "distressed brick" in
appearance than "concrete" or "tile".
In response to Chair Hill's inquiry, Planner Reveille affirmed that the Railroad Historic
District's is the only historic district Specific Plan that gets down to this Advisory Body
level of detail. Chair Hill stipulated for the record that the CHC strongly endorses and
encourages any unique or unusual public improvements in historic districts be
standards -reviewed by the CHC.
Senior Planner Leveille updated on following: Historic District sign installation now fully
completed by Public Works; Chinatown coming up on last few weeks of archaeological
work & CHC Member tours being scheduled beginning this Friday; April 11th CHC
Special Hearing has been removed from calendar.
Draft CHC Minutes
March 28, 2016
Page 7
Agenda Forecast:
Senior Planner Leveille provided an agenda forecast for the April 25th, 2016 meeting:
Oath of Office for returning Committee Member Brajkovich; Garden Street fagade re-
model; Historic Resources Master List applications for 535 Higuera & 1214 Mill; CEQA
Study Session.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:01 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Brad T. Opstad
Recording Secretary