HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-21-13 Historic Preservation Advisory Board MinutesBozeman Historic Preservation Advisory Board
Minutes, November 21, 2013
I. Call to Order: 6:30 pm
Present: Mark Hufstetler, Jillian Bertelli, Lora Dalton, Steven Keuch, Lisa Verwys,
Bryce Ledbetter, Courtney Kramer (liaison), Cyndi Andrus(Commission liaison), Wendy Thomas, Pat Jacobs (City staff), Andy Holloran, Rob Pertzborn (members of the public).
II. Approval
of prior meeting minutes: Minutes were approved for the August, September and October meetings.
III. Public Comment: by any member of the public interested in commenting on
preservation
matters: None at this time
IV. Disclosure of ex parte communication: none
V. Introduction of invited guests: Pete Brown, historic architecture specialist from SHPO is here to talk
about SOI standards.
VI. Project Review and Recommendations to Staff
- No formal reviews scheduled at this time.
VII. Discussion with Pete Brown, Montana State Historic Preservation
Office
Pete gave us a presentation explaining the SOI standards. He gave us a lot of context and guidance about application which should be invaluable to us. Pete’s powerpoint and a
recording of his talk will be available to us as soon as Lora can get it done, so we will have this for future educational purposes. We also discussed tax abatement and standards for
the awards program (which we are working on). Pete advised us to use the SOI as exemplary for those things.
Pete’s presentation and powerpoint slides will be available to the Board
and on our website.
VIII. Chair’s Report
- Discussion of the proposed demolition of the Kenyon Noble building, 25 East
Mendenhall Street, a National Register-eligible property. A hotel
is proposed to be built at the site. This demo did not come before the BHPAB. Wendy wished us to be informed, and explain why this did not come before us. The letter of the code is that
demo of a building that is not contributing, or is intrusive, can be decided administratively by staff. Wendy has directed Courtney to write the scope for an inventory of B3, and wants
to prioritize finding a way to inventory other resources within the conservation overlay, and throughout Bozeman, in hopes of preventing the further loss of important buildings in the
community.
Mark pointed out that if the planning staff continues to decide, as they did in this case, not to involve BHPAB, then any building under 80 years old is fair game, and can’t
be addressed. It leaves a tremendous amount of exposure to historic resources. The process is designed to exclude consideration of historic values for projects that are considered to
be urgent by city staff. Wendy wants to be very clear that code was followed. Mark’s concern is that the historic fabric
of Bozeman cannot withstand the consequences of this gap in the process. Courtney has a list of approaches the BHPAB may wish to take to address this, including some code revisions.
Mark pointed out that the 1984 inventory’s inaccuracy is a double-edged sword, and if used as a standard it may prevent good development where buildings no longer have historic value.
Mark suggested that the simplest, quickest solution would be an addition to code that a property that is more than 50 years old shall have a National Register evaluation by City staff
or a qualified professional. Also, inventories will naturally become obsolete, but we may look at updating the eligibility definitions in the existing inventory. This would be helpful
to the decision-making of staff and the Commission. Mark explained the distinction between “listed on the Register of Historic Buildings” (an honorary designation) and “National Register
eligibility”, which is an evaluation that can be used in a regulatory way.
Rob Pertzborn and Andy Holloran, members of the public, spoke about the process of determining that the Kenyon-Noble
building was not usable, and we saw the drawings for the proposed development.
The DRB has asked for a HABS-II documentation of the building. Wendy indicated that would be considered.
Discussion
of upcoming meeting dates: there is normally no December meeting. The retreat will be on a Saturday in January. We tentatively planned a holiday get-together at Tarantino’s on a date
to be determined.
IX. Staff Liaison Report:
Courtney has passed out new binders to the board, and called our attention to the budget, and expenditures to collaborate with the Extreme
History Project (walking tours) and the School of Architecture (exhibit on Modern-era architecture in Montana, kicked off with a lecture by Courtney and reception). Can we fund catering
for the reception? This was not on our agenda, so we will meet briefly in December to approve funding.
Courtney talked about updating the B3 zoning district. This is in process. She
is writing a CDB Grant to evaluate the neighborhood conservation overlay and attendant zoning issues.
The SAT grant had performance deadlines, and they are finalizing the grant contracts
and conservation easement.
X. Meeting Close
Lisa moved to adjourn; it was seconded and approved. Meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Dalton, Secretary