Loading...
Minutes 07-12-10 MINUTES OF THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, JULY 12, 2010 AT 5:00 P.M. AT FIRE STATION #2, 2615 W. WOOLBRIGHT AVENUE, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Barbara Ready, Acting Chair Janet DeVries Gaylord Allan Hendricks Eric Jones John McGovern Linda Stabile Ed Breese, Principal Planner Absent: Warren Adams, Chair 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 5:05 p.m. Ms. Ready sat as Chair. 2. Approval of Minutes Motion Mr. Jones moved to accept the minutes (June 7, 2010). Ms. Stabile seconded the motion that carried unanimously. 3. Subcommittee Update on Education Information Chair Ready explained the Committee had previously discussed using a video to educate the public about the program. Tony Leal, Video Production Specialist, recommended a 30-second video be used as opposed to a three-minute video. Three minutes was too long and 30 seconds would hold the viewer's interest. Four slogans were also developed. She inquired if the committee wanted one person to read all four of the slogans or four different people. The slogans were the basic messages the Committee was trying to convey to the public. Ms. DeVries distributed a handout of photos they had the rights to, which were among others, also on a CD she would be delivering to Mr. Leal. The CD had older photographs and were similar to what she distributed. Other photographs were recently delivered to her that could be added. This would serve the Committee well when they identified different homes with their different architectural styles. She did not know, 1 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL July 12, 2010 however, where the photos were taken. A resident took the photos and donated them. One of the photographs taken of Gentlemen Jim's was now a vacant lot. Other photos were taken seven years ago. Ms. DeVries had included a photo of a mansion by the ocean which was not actually a historic structure. The structure was not in Boynton Beach, but it detracted from the quaintness of the original homes. In the meantime, the contact number that would be listed for information was for Ed Breese. Ms. DeVries reported Steve Anton had volunteered to develop a logo, but there was no further information given. The Committee discussed having a web address and anticipated it would be a page linked to the City's website. A webpage could also be purchased independently for about $7 a month. They could also opt to ask their webmaster to add a page with information on it. Chair Ready thought the Committee should use the free website and there was agreement to move forward with the slogans they currently had. After further discussion, there was consensus to give Mr. Leal permission to move forward with the PSA. 4. Ordinance Status/revisions Revisions had been made to the ordinance and were reviewed as follows: Page 13 had changes. Based on the last meeting, there appeared to be a desire to steer individuals toward paint colors in historic districts and prohibit some outright. Chair Ready explained the intent was to not have black or garish colored homes. Ms. Stabile researched and obtained samples of historic preservation colors and a significant number of them would be in violation of that section or the ordinance. If the idea was to bring outside tourists into Boynton Beach, it was suggested the more unusual the home color, the better. Mr. Breese expressed his understanding was Chair Adams felt to the contrary. Ms. Stabile differed and clarified he wanted to work with the individual rather than have restrictions on the color. Mr. Breese explained the ordinance needed to include a process otherwise the homeowner would just go out and paint. Ms. Stabile inquired whether all residents would have to change the color of their house if they decided to accept the historic designation. She pointed out, if so, it would deter residents from accepting it. Mr. Breese explained those homes would be grandfathered. She also questioned when the homeowners applied for a Certificate of Appropriateness and staff inquired about the paint color, if they would try to steer the individual to a more appropriate color if the color appeared too outlandish. Mr. Breese explained staff added that regulation because previously, there was no staff review at all. After lengthy discussion there was agreement to keep the first two sentences of the paragraph and drop the last two sentences. If the homeowner did not like what staff advised, they could appeal it to the Board. The intent was to have residents approach the City with a color in mind. Mr. Hendricks suggested language be added directing the individual to contact the City. He thought it could be refined but it should not be too restrictive. Mr. 2 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL July 12, 2010 Jones thought there should be language incorporated referring to the matrix and staff review. There was a suggestion made to start the phrase with "Following review by . . ." Page 18 added the words "and Historic Resources Preservation Board" to Section 3. Page 19 added language in parenthesis to try to remove some of the emphasis of the building code. Page 20. This change was requested by the Development Department to address whether the Committee was in favor of sustainable building practices so long as they were not of detriment to the building. The National Trust was working on the same issue and in the absence of any language, staff tried to preserve the historic nature of the structure and provide an incentive for expediting review of the plans. There was discussion mechanical equipment of this nature should be screened, but it was questioned how to screen a solar panel. Mr. Breese explained the building would screen most of it, and some of it would be screened when it was located in the back yard. In some instances, solar panels were place on poles. Adding language indicating the panels were subject to review was suggested. Technology was improving and in some cases, the panels could be made to look like the roof. Mr. Breese explained the Board may have some suggestions as to how to do it without creating visual issues. As the National Trust developed additional language, they would try to incorporate it. After discussion there was agreement to leave the paragraph unchanged. The language regarding the paint color would be forwarded to the members. Once the review was complete, Mr. Breese would forward it to the City Attorney and then move it on to the City Commission. 5. Summarize tasks or accomplishments for next meeting Mr. Breese read from the Historic Preservation Outline of Recommendation topics which was distributed to the members. Ms. DeVries advised she was starting school in a few weeks and she would be unable to work on updating the Historic Site Survey inventory list. She had information on the Historic Home Tours that she worked on. It was suggested the Committee make a recommendation on each item to the City Commission and time was of the essence due to upcoming budget hearings. A discussion about housing inventory followed. Mr. Hendricks offered to help identify historic structures in the Southeast District, but he would not do the entire task. The inventory was from 1996. Staff updated the inventory only as it pertained to what homes they knew had been demolished. Other than that, there was no update of any additional buildings. The Historic Trust identified historic structures as anything that was 50 years old or older. Ms. DeVries suggested tabling the item to the next meeting as the task was large. Conversation included looking up the information on the Property 3 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL July 12, 2010 Appraiser's website; however, the information was not always correct. Mr. Breese also pointed out the site inventories were usually conducted as part of a grant application. The members had previously discussed bringing in a professional, or a Florida Atlantic University student or intern to do the task. Additionally, once the City was a Certified Local Government (CLG), there were grants available for the surveys. Chair Ready recommended focusing on what type of presentation they would make to the City Commission. The Committee needed to supply alternatives and costs in the presentation and it needed to occur before they started their budget discussions so they could allocate funding for the program for next year. They could take a bare bones approach or recommend someone be hired. Chair Ready inquired whether the Committee wanted to compile a report, or whether the members would attend the City Commission meeting and comment then. After a brief discussion, it was suggested some type of hardcopy should be provided to the Commissioners prior to the meeting. The program would begin slowly and move forward. Their strong recommendation was to hire someone, but in light of the budget constraints, they recognize it may not happen and the Committee needed the position to be recognized as a staff sub-function but they would need a line item. There was discussion that a consultant would be less expensive than hiring someone. The position would also be beneficial when working with matching grants. The salary for a historic preservation planner was about $75K which was a specialized skill. It was thought a starting salary of $45K to $50K for the position within this economic environment would yield applicants. The Board Activities Budget would include issuing flyers or having some type of published material. Funds were also needed for outreach to convince homeowners to agree to be in a historic district. There were five possible districts, and after discussion, there was agreement $6,000 was an appropriate amount of funding to request. It would cover the Board activities, print promotional materials, publications, operations and outreach. The amount totaled $106,000. There was discussion that since it was unlikely a new position would be funded, they could use Mr. Breese. College interns would be helpful and college cooperative educational programs could be contacted but there should be some stipend available. If an intern would handle the task, they should at least be given travel funds. It was thought attaching funds to the task would attract the top students. The internship would be at least a semester long which was 16 weeks. There was agreement $5,000 would be appropriate. Ideally, an intern would do the inventory and a consultant would supervise. The members discussed a more realistic budget. There was agreement to request $25,000 for matching grants and $6,000 in operating funds. The members were also desirous of funds for grants. There was an aggregate amount of money that could not 4 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL July 12, 2010 be exceeded with the grants, but not all grants were matching grants. The members thought $50K was an appropriate amount to request. In order for the City Commission to entertain funding the Historic Preservation Program and discussing it at the workshop, it was important to get the information to them before they held their workshop. No final decisions would be made then, but direction would be given. It was suggested the Committee appear at the regular meeting and give them everything so they could give it some thought before they even spoke. The executive summary should justify the program. Mayor Rodriguez had attended a meeting in the past and offered his assistance. He could be put on the Committee's August agenda. A member could also advise him in advance they were working on the budget and provide him with preliminary figures. Supplying estimates depicting the value the program would add was recommended. The Committee had booklets with the information they had previously provided that could be redistributed. It was also helpful to compare the budgets for the program with similarly-sized municipalities. It was thought the budget would be commensurate with the City of Delray Beach. Chair Ready agreed to email her contacts. It would be helpful to see if they had statistics for the return on the investment made through the Program. They could start with the area by the Town Square by the Schoolhouse Children's Museum. The program should bring in money if development increased and included restaurants, shops and other activities. Chair Ready and Mr. Hendricks agreed to put together the summary, which would include the proposed ordinance and the Committee's recommendations. It could be a simple one-page document of recommendations and findings. On a different matter, Chair Ready noted Committees normally have a Vice Chair and inquired if anyone wanted to volunteer for the position. Mr. McGovern nominated Acting Chair Ready as Vice Chair. Ms. Stabile seconded the nomination. The members were unanimously in favor of the appointment and she accepted the position. 7. Staff Comments Chair Ready announced she attended the CLG conference and met Michael Zimny who was excited about Boynton Beach's involvement. Mr. Zimny would be an invaluable resource and he offered his assistance to the Committee. Once the City becomes a CLG they could apply for grants. Discussion returned to the budget and the amount of funds to request for the matching grant pool. There was agreement to increase the request for the matching grants to $50,000. They wanted to have a new budget request of $61,000. 5 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL July 12, 2010 8. Public Comments None. 9. Announce date of next meeting The next meeting was August 9, 2010. 10. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting properly adjourned at 6:25 p.m. O~Ll-Uu.' ,-l teL 2J,lAj'LLL Catherine Cherry 0 Recording Secretary 071210 6