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Minutes Historic Pres 2 12 02MINUTES SPECIAL SESSION Tuesday, February 12, 2002 11:00 a.m. Auditorium, Carnegie Stout Library 360 W. 11th Street, Dubuque, Iowa PRESENT: ABSENT: Chairperson Terry Mozena; Commission Members Ken Kdngle, Jim Gibbs, Pam Bradford, Chris Wand and Suzanne Guinn; Staff Member Wally Wernimont. Commission Member Audrey Henson. AFFIDAVIT OF COMPLIANCE: Staff presented an Affidavit of Compliance verifying the meeting was being held ' n compliance with the Iowa Open Meetings Law. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Mozena at 11:15 a.m. MEETING WITH HISTORIC DESIGN REVIEW GUIDELINES STEERING COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS REVISED STREETSCAPE DESIGN REVIEW GUIDELINES: Chairperson Mozena opened the meeting by discussing the changes the Historic Preservation Commission made to the guidelines prior to the guidelines being presented to the City Council for their review and comment. Chairperson Mozena discussed with the Project Steering Committee that on the very first page under "Intent and Purpose,' the City Manager wanted to make it clear that these are only guidelines and they are not mandatory or ordinance changes. The Commission and the consultants from Durrant discussed that a change was made in the last paragraph of the "Intent and Purpose" section which removed a statement that the streetscape and landscape guidelines will serve as the official document used by the City to evaluate and approve applications for Determinations of No Material Effect and Certificate of Appropriateness. Kevin Eipperle from Durrant referred to the meeting notes from the City Council work session that points out the proposed changes that were made in the document. The Commission discussed that the City Manager was concerned that the guidelines were setting unreasonable expectations that the City cannot meet. They discussed that there were several changes to certain sections of the streetscape guidelines where an acceptable category was added, which referenced substitute materials, such as regular pou red, concrete. Mr. Eipperle reported that the City Council and the public would liked to have seen more photos of buildings and also that there was some confusion on the division between what was recommended and what was not recommended. Mr. Eipperle said that they are adding more pictures and that they made it a little more clear what was recommended and what was not recommended in the guidelines. Minutes - Historic Preservation Commission February 12, 2002 Page 2 NOTE: Suzanne Guinn entered at 11:20 a.m. The Commission discussed the possibility of how the guidelines will be accessed by the public, whether through the Internet or copies being made and mailed to each property owner in the historic districts, and having them added to the reference section at the Carnegie Stout Public Library. Mr. Eipperle explained that from the public workshop, people would have liked to have seen a list of contractors; however, he discussed it would be more feasible to use a list of clubs and have them referenced in the guidelines so people can contact those clubs. He explained that the clubs could reference contractors instead of having the City reference contractors, which may be a liability issue if a contractor or company would do poor work. Chris Morris from Durrant explained that there was a lot larger resource section located at the rear of the streetscape design guidelines; however, that has been removed. Staff Member Wemimont explained that with the discussion with the Project Steering Committee, they felt that all that additional resource information could be put in a separate volume and accessed at the Library, and that it added a lot of extra bulk that the majority of property owners would not access. Staff Member Wernimont also explained that the Project Steering Committee was looking at taking just the Jackson Park section out of the streetscape and landscape guidelines and the section on Jackson Park out of the historic structure guidelines which are being drafted now, and placing them together for a master manual for property owners in the Jackson Park District and vice versa for ail the other districts. He explained that all the guidelines for the districts are extremely similar, with the exception of some of the photos, and that it would be repetitious to reprint the same information over and over in one guideline manual, when people are only going to reference one section that refers to their district. The Commission discussed whether or not they would like to have all of the districts located in one manual or have separate manuals for each individ ual district. Neighborhood Development Specialist Jerelyn O'Connor suggested that maybe there needs to be a paragraph located in the streetscape design review guidelines that references other individual sections from the other historic districts and where to access them. Commissioner Wand suggested that maybe that section would need to be included in the methodology under the "defining the district" section. Staff Member Wernimont also discussed the possibility of changing the front cover from where it states that it was prepared for the Plann ng Services Department to being prepared for the Historic Preservation Commission. The Commission also discussed the design of the front of the streetscape and landscape design guidelines. Staff Member Wernimont explained that there is actually a watermark located on the front of the streetscape design guidelines when they are printed in color. However, when they copied the material, the watermark does not show up; thus, the reason why the covers look plain. Minutes - Historic Preservation Commission February 12, 2002 Page 3 Mr. Ei pperle also discussed that City Council Member John Markham would like to have seen some examples of appropriate utility covers that would tie in with the historic districts. He stated that they have been unable to find any type of utility covers. The Commission discussed the possibility of contacting some of the manufacturers of street furniture and seeing if they have anything and the possibility creating something in order to be compatible with the Historic District. The Commission discussed the fabrication of materials for covering utility boxes and also the possibility of creating a plaque that can be placed on the utility box to help describe a view down the street possibly. Commissioner Wand and Mr. Eipperle explained that they are currently working on the design for the Town Clock Plaza and have not come across any type of utility covers that would be compatible with a historic district in their research. The Commission discussed whether or not the consultants added more pictures to the design review guidelines. Mr. Eipperle stated that they have included more photos, and also they have made it a lot clearer which are recommended and which are not recommended. Commissioner Wand stated that he would like to see some "not recommended" signs located in the sign and graphic section. They discussed the possibility of showing examples of some enclosed sign cabinets and the possibility of taking photo of signs from other cities as not recommended, instead of using specific examples located in the historic districts that are not appropriate. Ms. Morris also discussed the possibility of using examples from other communities of amenities to include in the streetscape design review guidelines. Commissioner Wand also discussed the possibility of using the metal street post that holds street signs like the one located near City Hall. John Klostermann explained to the Commission that to replace all the drive post with these new type of metal street sign posts would req uire them to be concreted into the sidewalk instead of just drilling a hole and dropping the drive post in. The Commission stated that they should only be replaced on an as needed basis. Tammy Pfab, President of the Old House Enthusiasts, explained that they would like to have their club listed in the resource section at the rear of the streetscape design review guidelines. She explained that the phone number to be listed could be the Chamber of Commerce, who always knows the phone number of the Old House Enthusiasts, and she also discussed that they are receiving a post office box for the Old House Enthusiasts Club. The Commission asked that the section that refers to City of Dubuque contacts be changed to local contacts. The Commission discussed how the design review guidelines will be updated or revised. The Commission and Project Steering Committee along with Durrant discussed that the guidelines could be put into a three ring binder and revisions could be created on a single page, so old pages could be removed and new pages inserted, or maybe just have one page that references all the revisions and mail them out so they can be included in the guidelines. The Commission discussed it would be easier to update the Design Review Guidelines on Minutes - Histodc Preservation Commission February 12, 2002 Page 4 the website than Design Review Guidelines that are printed in a manual for individual homeowners. The Commission discussed the possibility of having updates that occur only once a year. Mr. Eipperle suggested they add a section at the beginning of the book that states the guidelines will be updated periodically once a year. Rehabilitation Supervisor Jolene Patterson suggested that under the City of Dubuque contacts reference section, that all the items listed under each department should be bulleted. Staff Member Wernimont explained that some of the Council members would have liked to see the streetscape design guidelines pages numbered. In reference to the revision, the Commission discussed that they would like to see a single page that shows the revisions each year with the date on which it was updated sent to each property owner to be included in their manual. The Historic Preservation Commission also discussed how the design review guidelines would be reproduced. They discussed the possibility of having them printed if they are black and white, instead of being copied, or the possibility of having color. Staff Member Wemimont explained that the consultants from Durrant could go back and make the proposed changes that they suggested at this meeting and have them presented at a Historic Preservation Commission meeting in the future, or they could vote on them right now to approve the streetscape design guidelines with the proposed changes that were discussed today. Chairperson Mozena stated that he did not want to hold up the consultants any longer, and that he would rather have a motion today to approve the streetscape design guidelines with the proposed changes so they would be able to be put on the next available City Council agenda. Motion by Guinn, seconded by Wand, to approve the Streetscape and Landscape Design Guidelines as they currently exist, with the additional changes discussed in the meeting today, and for them to be submitted to the City Council for adoption. Motion was approved by the following vote; Aye - Kringle, Gibbs, Bradford, Wand, Guinn and Mozena; Nay - None. The Historic Preservation Commission discussed when the next available City Council meeting would be. Staff Member Wernimont explained that the next City Council meeting will be Mamh 4, 2002 with the deadline of February 25, 2002 at noon for submittal of Council agenda items to the City Manager. The Commission asked if Durrant could meet the February 25th deadline. They stated that they should be able to submit something to the Planning Services Department by then. Chairperson Mozena asked Durrant if they could come before the Historic Preservation Commission on the February 21~t meeting to provide an update on the guidelines and where they are at in the process of making the changes. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION: Chairperson Mozena mentioned that Julien's Journal contacted him about writing an article on the streetscape design rewewguidelines for their publication. Minutes - Historic Preservation Commission February 12, 2002 Page 5 ITEMS FROM STAFF: The Historic Preservation Commission reviewed the process for the allocation of funds for infrastructure improvements in the Historic Preservation Districts. Staff Member Wernimont stated that Planning Services Manager Laura Carstens was unable to attend today's meeting and report on the proposed allocation of funding. Staff Member Wernimont suggested they review the material and be able to comment on it at the February 21~t Historic Preservation Commission meeting. The Commission had questions on what would be deemed as a neighborhood group and the possibility of whether or not one person in the neighborhood group or blockwho refuse to agree to the new proposed infrastructure upgrade, would be enough to halt the project. The Historic Preservation Commission also discussed the section that references what projects would receive priority over others. Consensus was to continue discussion at the next meeting ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Guinn, seconded by Wand to adjourn the meeting. Motion was approved by the following vote: Aye - Kringle Gibbs, Bradford, Wand, Guinn and Mozena; Nay - None. The meeting adjourned at 12:17 p .m. Respectfully submitted, Wally Wernimont, Assistant Planner Adopted