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Minutes 02-08-10 MINUTES OF THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON FEBRUARY 8, 2010, 5:00 P.M., AT FIRE STATION #2 BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Warren Adams, Chair Gaylord Allan Hendricks Steven Holzman Eric D. Jones John E. McGovern (arrived at 5:16 p.m.) Barbara Ready Linda Stabile Mike Rumpf, Staff Liaison Ed Breese, Principal Planner ALSO PRESENT: Janet DeVries, Library Archivist 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 5:11 p.m. Self introductions were made. 2. Approval of Minutes Minutes of December 14, 2009 Meeting: The reference to a "529" should have been a "fine tuning" in the second paragraph on page 2. Staff recommended approval of the minutes with the correction. Motion Ms. Ready moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Mr. Jones seconded the motion that passed unanimously. January 4, 2010 Motion Mr. Jones moved to approve the minutes. Ms. Ready seconded the motion that passed unanimously. 1 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2010 3. Presentation by Guest Speakers: Friederike Mittner advised she currently serves as the West Palm Beach City Historic Preservation Planner, the Chair of the County's Historic Preservation Review Board and was a member of the State Organization of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. She previously served as the Preservation Planner for the City of Lake Worth. Ms. Mittner provided a PowerPoint presentation which defined key phrases used in local historic programs. Also addressed were the purpose, intent, requirements and structure of a model Historic Preservation Ordinance, as well as the significance of preserving properties and the incentives offered. The model also provided for the creation of a historic district, and procedures for review and adoption. Once a Historic Preservation Ordinance had been established and either a district or site had been designated, alterations to a historic home could be made provided they were appropriate to the architectural style of the structure and the neighborhood. Design guidelines determined what was appropriate. The State of Florida has a model Design Guideline handbook, but most cities develop their own. The design guidelines for the City of West Palm Beach could be accessed at www.cityofwpe.org. Ordinances and design guidelines were based upon the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. (Mr. McGovern arrived at 5:16 p.m.) A city could become a CLG (Certified Local Government) once an ordinance and review process had been established and a Board and staff were in place. Cities were eligible for State funding upon achieving CLG status. Florida was one of the most-funded states in the country for historic preservation, and Certified Local Governments were guaranteed 10% of those funds. The grant cycles offered by the State Historic Preservation Office were the special category grant for large grants ($250,000- $500,000), and the small matching category grant ($50,000). Training was important for a Historic Preservation Board. The National Alliance of Preservation Commissions (NACP) provided training for new boards and offered a Commission Assistance and Mentoring Program (CAMP). Additionally, design guidelines from around the country were featured on the NACP website. Websites recommended included "PreserveNet" from Cornell University, which contained excellent resources, and www.municode.com. which provided ordinances on line for various municipalities. Books recommended were Historic Preservation and an Introduction to its History, Principles and Practice by Norman Tyler, and The Politics of Historic Districts: A Primer for Grass-Roots Preservation, by William E. Schmickle. 2 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2010 In response to a question raised with regard to St. Ann Church in West Palm Beach, Ms. Mittner explained West Palm Beach's Downtown Master Plan provided for a TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) program. Historic buildings and open spaces were identified as "sending" sites pursuant to the TDR program. If designated and protected in perpetuity to remain as historic buildings or open spaces, the development rights for those sites could be transferred to another site. Amy Alvarez, Delray Beach Historic Preservation Planner, provided a presentation on Delray Beach's Historic Preservation Program. The city's Historic Preservation Ordinance was adopted in 1988 and amended in 2008. Incentives were provided for historic preservation within the zoning code itself, and the city's Zoning Overlay Districts addressed historic components. Incentives for maintaining historic characteristics in residential office zoning areas included reduced parking requirements and waivers for driveway widths. Delray Beach had five designated historic districts. Old School Square was the only historic district with its own zoning designation and specific uses. Banker's Row had its own plan to preserve historic structures, revive historic characteristics, enhance economic conditions and accommodate adaptive reuses. Benefits of the city's Historic Preservation program included incentives for Ad Valorem Tax Exemptions as well as variances and waivers to the city's Land Development Regulations. Delray Beach's Historic Preservation Board reviewed all variances for properties in historic districts. The criteria were geared towards contributing properties or individually-designated properties. Regulations for the Board of Adjustments would apply for non-contributing properties. In order to obtain a variance from the Board of Adjustments, a hardship would have to be proven. Delray Beach's Community Redevelopment Agency offered programs that were preservation friendly. One such program was the Historic Fa~ade Grant Program wherein up to 49% of grant funds could be used toward interior improvements, while the remainder could be used for the exterior. 4. Questions and Answer Session Q: Was it advantageous to have additional figures and calculations in the amended Delray Beach Historic Preservation Ordinance? A: It did not make a difference. However, the property owners were pleased with the additional figures and calculations. General statements indicated 3 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2010 variances were required to be appropriate and compatible to the architectural style of the structure and the neighborhood. Q: Have waivers been granted because of the new regulations? A. No. The only time Delray Beach granted a waiver as a result of the new regulations was for a request for a time extension relating to a previously- approved project. The plan had to be reviewed based upon the new criteria, and waivers had been requested. Q: Did Delray Beach staff utilize any previous ordinances to assist in the 2008 amendment? A: Previous ordinances were used, as was input from property owners and consultants. Q: Have people embraced preservation over time? A: While the citizens may have opposed it initially, once they understood the process was relatively straightforward and that people would be treated fairly, they did. A strong neighborhood preservation program existed in West Palm Beach since the City's strength was in its residential historic districts. More and more people wanted their neighborhood to be designated a historic district. Q: How did Delray Beach deal with the color issue? A: The City reviewed colors through its administrative process. While gUidelines were followed, no particular palette was currently required. Q: How did the CRA administer the program? A: CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) funds would be used primarily for structural rather than cosmetic improvements. The CRA recently provided $400,000 for the maintenance of structures on Swinton and Atlantic Avenues in the Old School Square district. Delray Beach had one historic district in its target area and funds of up to $40,000 and $20,000 were available for contributing and non-contributing properties respectively. Funds were not available for other districts. 4 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2010 West Palm Beach's CRA provided grants as well. Its CRA area covered one historic district, and up to $10,000 was available for exterior improvements for contributing properties. (Mr. Holzman left the meeting at 6:23 p.m.) Q: Was Delray Beach's Residential Office (RO) zoning established initially as some type of incentive zone? A: No, it was established to provide for mixed uses of a neighborhood office and residential nature. The zoning also added to the preservation-friendly character of the historic districts. Q: Was the term "contributing" synonymous with being on the list of registered properties? A: "Contributing" pertained to historic properties and "non-contributing" to non-historic properties. A historic district would be listed on the local register and contributing or non-contributing properties were differentiated within a district. A home built in 1980 centered in the heart of homes built in 1920 would be kept as a non-contributing property with the hope that it would be designated historic and become a contributing property. The importance of a re-survey was to identify the manner in which those homes originally considered non-contributing properties became contributing properties. It was emphasized re-surveys should be updated every five years. Q: Were West Palm Beach's historic districts and sites self designated? A: Neighborhood representatives and individual owners had approached the City requesting historic designation. In some instances, the City pursued the designation for small groups. For an individual site, however, West Palm Beach would not designate over an owner's consent. It was noted other municipalities with strong programs often designated the site or the district over an owner's consent. Recognizing West Palm Beach and Delray Beach's guidelines, Mr. Rumpf explained the topic of guidelines had been an issue in Boynton Beach as to whether they were merely "guides" or were indeed standards to be strictly followed. Ms. Alvarez commented that during Delray Beach's 2008 ordinance revisions, staff used some of the guidelines from the guidebook and incorporated them into the Land Development Regulations. As such, the "guidelines" were now required. 5 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2010 It was suggested that as a starting point, Boynton Beach's ordinance be concise and drafted in a manner that would encourage the community to consider the merits of preservation. A dialogue could be entered into to determine the community's interest and the direction in which to proceed. Potential neighborhoods could be identified for historic designation and Board members could communicate with the homeowners associations. Thereafter, a community that had the most potential and was the most supportive of historic preservation could be selected. Residential Office (RO) and overlay districts should also be considered. It was suggested Boynton Heights was a neighborhood that would be favorable to preservation. Ms. Mittner advised the City of West Palm Beach applied annually to the State for the small matching category grant of $50,000. The funds would go directly to West Palm Beach as a Certified Local Government (CLG). With regard to staff and administration, Ms. Mittner and one other person served as staff. The Board met once monthly from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and minutes were prepared by staff. Approximately 10 cases appeared before the Board each month, 40 cases were handled at staff level and two or three cases appeared before the City Commission. The city handled Section 106 programs internally. Newsletters were sent out and neighborhood meetings were attended. Ms. Alvarez advised Delray Beach had not taken advantage of funding because of the 50-50 match requirement. Seven members served on Delray Beach's Historic Preservation Board which met on the first and third Wednesday of the month. Applications were handled administratively. Staff was attempting to amend its matrix to provide more authority to staff. She noted the Board of Adjustments reviewed variances and was independent of the Historic Preservation Board. The fees charged by the City of West Palm Beach were $10 for level 1 staff review, $40 for level 2 staff review and $100 for Board reviews. The Board review fees for Ad Valorem Tax Exemptions and District Designations were $250 and $500, respectively. Ms. Alvarez advised that Delray Beach's review fees were $60, but were in the upper $500 range for new construction or demolition. Applications for demolition were required to be supported by plans for the new construction. s. Update on Informational Mail-out A draft of the mail-out entitled Historic Preservation in your Community"was distributed based upon comments previously provided by the Board. The Facilities Department had the ability to accommodate one 81f2 x 11, two-sided flyer in its mass mailings. March and May had been reserved as dates for the mailing. Arrangements would be required 6 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2010 to be completed within the next two weeks for the March mailing. It was noted flyers printed in color were twice as expensive as black-and-white flyers. The members complimented staff on the flyer. Suggestions relating to the flyer included the following: . Include language encouraging "greening." . Add contact information, either by website or email. . Add the Mission Statement and phrases suggested previously. . Use paragraph headings, bullet points and different fonts. . Place "economic benefits" higher up on the page. The Board was encouraged to review the flyer and email staff with any further thoughts or comments. 6. Update on Webpage Development A draft outline was provided for the Board's review. Ed Breese, Principal Planner, reviewed the topics to be included on the proposed webpage. It was suggested the following sites relating to Historic Preservation be added as links: . National Parks Services. . National Trust for Historic Preservation. . The National Alliance of Preservation Commissions (NACP). . PreserveNet. It was suggested the meeting minutes not be included on the webpage as they were accessible through the City's Website. It would be verified whether the minutes could be accessed through the City's website. Other suggestions were that "Identity" should appear first and "Administrative" should appear second on the webpage, and that the webpage be user friendly. 7 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2010 7. Summarize Tasks or Accomplishments for Next Meeting Chair Adams received additional information regarding the Preservation Fund grant. Application could be made for three grants in any two-year period. The grant could not be used for historic resource review surveys, but could be used for consultant fees, speakers, mailing costs, website development and some materials, provided the cost did not exceed 10% of the project budget. It appeared all of the suggestions proposed by the Board were acceptable. Applications for the next grant cycle were due by June 1, 2010. Applicants would be notified in two weeks if the application was approved, and the funds would be received in one month. Approval was based upon the costs and a cash match of $5,000. The City would be applying for the grant, if it were willing to provide the funds. The City was not required to be a CLG (Certified Local Government) in order to apply. Chair Adams emphasized it would be necessary to determine whether the City would be willing to provide a $5,000 cash match, or if not, an alternative amount. Thereafter, it would be necessary to determine the costs for the video production, printing and mailing, leaflets, brochures exhibitions, charrettes and educational supplies. It was suggested that when the Board made its presentation to the City Commission, a proposal emphasizing the merits of preservation, the purpose of the request and an itemized list of how the funds would be spent be included. Board members would obtain prices relating to brochures, printing and mailing, leaflets, exhibitions, charrettes and educational materials for the next meeting. Thought would be given to forums and facilities to be used for public audiences and events, mailings to various districts, districts to be considered for historic designation, and to providing the City Commission with updates on the Board's activities. Staff would discuss video production and BBW broadcasting costs with Tony Leal, Video Production Specialist for the City. It was suggested the City Commission be approached for cash match funding in March or April. Chair Adams would begin working on the application in the beginning of May if the match were authorized. 8. Staff comments None. 9. Public comments None. 8 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2010 10. Announce date of next meeting March 8, 2010, 5:00 p.m., Fire Station #2 11. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting properly adjourned at 7:40 p.m. ~~~~ Stephanie D. Kahn Recording Secretary 022510 9