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Minutes 06-11-12 MINUTES OF THE HISTORIC RESOURCES PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012, AT 6:30 P.M., IN CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Dr. Ginger Pedersen, Vice Chair Warren Adams, Historic Resource Roger Cope Preservation Planner Michelle Dion Ed Breese, Principal Planner Eric Salomonsson Linda Stabile Barbara Ready, Alternate Harvey Rosenblum, Alternate ABSENT: Paul Gionfriddo 1. Pledge of Allegiance Vice Chair Pedersen called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Mr. Salomonsson. 2 Agenda Approval There were no additions or deletions to the agenda. Motion Mr. Salomonsson moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Cope seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 3. Approval of Minutes Warren Adams, Historic Preservation Planner, made the following corrections to the minutes: Page 2, Item 5 - Old Business, Item A, first paragraph, fourth line: "Mr. Adams advised there was he rcceived funding available for CLG Training" Page 2, Item A, first paragraph, 13th line: " ...event was held at the Woman's Center Club." 1 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 11, 2012 Page 2, Item A, second paragraph, 11th Tine: " ... ask the Woman's Club Center to present . . ." Page 3, last paragraph, second to the last line: " .. mother was Mrs. Gutman Girtman who had a painted stone ... " Motion Ms. Dion moved to approve the minutes as amended. Mr. Salomonsson seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 4. Election of Chair Ms. Stabile nominated Dr. Pedersen for the position of Chair. Mr. Salomonsson seconded the nomination. Vote The vote was 5 -0. Ms. Stabile nominated Mr. Cope for the position of Vice Chair. Mr. Salomonsson seconded the nomination. Vote The vote was 5 -0. 5. Communications and Announcements None. 6. Old Business: A. Update on the progress of the Historic Preservation Program Staff was still waiting on confirmation of certification from the National Park Service, which was expected any day. The State had advised the City would receive it in late May /early June. The Board had recommended approval of amendments to the Preservation Ordinance tying in the requirements to the Certified Local Government (CLG) application. The amendments were approved on second reading at the May 15th City Commission meeting. 2 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 11, 2012 Mr. Adams was preparing a CLG Small Matching Grant application to be submitted to the Division of Historical Resources to fund a Heritage Trail of about 20 sites. The trail would contain informational plaques with Quick Response codes, and educational brochures. Web pages and an interactive map would be provided on the City website. The City Commission approved the completion and submittal of the grant application. Most of the sites were identified, with several of them owned by the City. Tomorrow night, Mr. Adams would request $2,000 from the Community Redevelopment Agency to help fund the program. The funding would not be required for a match, but since most of the properties were within the Community Redevelopment Agency area and it would attract visitors to the area, Mr. Adams thought the request was valid. Mr. Adams met with the IT department who was preparing an estimate for the QR codes on the website pages and interactive maps. Letters of support for the project were received from Senator Sachs and Craig Clark, the Library Director. Mr. Clark also provided a letter indicating the City Archivist would donate time valued at $350 to help with research. Although the match was not needed, the more services obtained, the more successful the project would be. The Boynton Beach Historical Society agreed to donate about $800 worth of research for the project. Staff was coordinating in -kind and matching services which were starting to accumulate. Work on the Design Guidelines was still ongoing. The City could not move forward with the ad valorem tax incentive project until the CLG Certification was received. Mr. Adams commenced work on the application to designate the property at 331 NW 1st Avenue. He hoped to bring the application to the Board at the July meeting or August at the latest. The applicant still needed to put a sign outside the home and notify the surrounding property owners within a 400 foot radius. When the report is complete, Mr. Adams would email it to the members so they could review it before the meeting. Mr. Adams had previously mentioned holding a program with Delray Beach regarding a Realtors Education Program, held during Preservation Month 2013. They would approach the National Prescrvation Trust Trust for Historic Preservation for funding, which had previously funded the informational brochures. A match would be required. Mr. Adams planned to approach the Community Redevelopment Agency for some funds towards the match for this program as well. The City Commission approved proceeding with the local register designation for Barton Memorial Cemetery, the Boynton Hill street lights, and the Children's Schoolhouse Museum. 3 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 11, 2012 7. New Business A. 204 NW 1st Avenue demolition application Mr. Adams explained this was the first determination the Board would make regarding demolition. The Florida Master Site File shows the house was built circa -1926 in a Mediterranean Revival and Mission style. At one time, it was known as the Knuth House and the owner was a pioneer and former Mayor of the City. The entry stated it was an excellent example of Mediterranean Revival architecture and it represented the development of Boynton during the boom times. The details tied into the building record card. Mr. Adams reviewed a PowerPoint presentation. The house was located at the south west corner of NW 1st Street and NW 1st Avenue. There was a discrepancy over the date the photographs were taken. The applicant felt they were not representative of the condition in 2010; however, he took photographs in 2011. In fairness, they agreed he would take updated photographs which were taken earlier in the day. The windows of the home were changed. There was a small addition added to the back of the structure and there was decay to the exterior. Mr. Adams did not know when the owners last entered the home, but significant water damage was visible. There were missing coping tiles and damage to the windows, which likely allowed water to enter the premises. There were gaping areas along the soffit in the rear of the structure which were exposed to the elements. The back drain pipes were completely gone. Estimates and photographs taken to repair the home from August, 2010 were provided. The owner, who had a Miami address, was from London and she spent a lot of time out of the country. She indicated she wanted to demolish the home because there were concerns about liabilities associated with a vacant property. There were no proposals to replace the home. A photograph taken through a window showed damage to the interior. There appeared to be large areas of the ceiling that collapsed on the first floor and there appeared to be mold as well. Half of the floor on the side of the small addition located at the back of the home was covered with dead bees. The owner forwarded a report to Mr. Adams over the weekend, which he forwarded to the members. Mr. Adams commented the Board was moving on this quickly because she had applied for a demolition permit. In the report, the owner had indicated she felt she only had a limited time to prepare a response. Mr. Adams explained normally, the matter would not have come to the Board until July, and he offered to postpone it until then, but she did not respond. 4 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 11, 2012 The applicant was unaware there was a requirement to have a proposed design for a replacement home. Mr. Adams responded the concern was if the lot became vacant, it would become another vacant lot, which potentially, could become overgrown and be used for dumping. The lot had to be maintained. The Florida Master Site File indicated the home was in excellent condition; however, the File was nearly 30 years old and the document was recorded in 1986. Such a reference could not be relied on as a contemporary record of the building's condition. The 1996 update indicated the home was restored and appeared to be in a good condition. Mr. Adams noted the owner's photographs reflected the condition of the property two years ago, before the elements and lack of habitation caused further damage. The photograph exhibited in the report reflected a nicely painted white building, but it did not show the damage to the property since it was pressure - cleaned in 2010. Mr. Adams noted his photographs taken in 2011 reflected the damage to the pressure - cleaned building and the additional water damage. The estimated repair costs, as of August 2011, were $143,250. The owner pointed out more damage occurred since the estimate was obtained and it did not include the cost of a new kitchen, bathroom or many other costs noted as pending. The estimate was considered conservative at this point in time. The owner expressed the tax exemptions and waivers were good incentives if an owner had money for repairs, but they did not. The issue was the owners purchased the home and closed in December 2010. The Historic Preservation Ordinance took effect in December 2010 after the closing. The Board did not approve of demolition by neglect, but the building was not designated as a historic building, so it did not fall into any applicable categories. Prior to the purchase, the applicants contacted several individuals in the City and State to ask about the site's historic status and were told the site was not designated. The list on the report reflected the individuals the owners contacted. Mr. Adams noted very few individuals with historic properties who make an issue about it have done their due diligence. These individuals did and were correctly told the property was not designated. The initial recommendation made by Mr. Adams was to not move forward with demo ion designation and he noted the Ad Hoc Committee had stressed they did not want to force designation on anyone. If they did, it could place the Board in a difficult legal position. Even if moving forward with a designation, the applicant would submit a Certificate of Economic Hardship indicating they could not afford to carry out the repairs and they would appeal to the City Commission. The applicants were saddened the building would be destroyed, but they did not see any other options. They were willing to work with Mr. Adams over the last week to find a solution, find someone to move the building, or find available funding or anything else. 5 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 11, 2012 He suggested renting the property, but it was not possible because they could not carry out the repairs. Having seen the condition of the house, his recommendation was to work further with the applicant to try to find some possible way to keep the house, have it moved or salvage the materials as the owner did indicate the demolition contractor would salvage materials. The house would also be recorded. Discussion followed repairs were usually done right away. It was unknown if the home had a mortgage. Demolishing the home would lower the owners property taxes and insurance. The cost of demolition was about $5,000; however, it was asserted the cost of selective demolition was $9,500. An inquiry was made why the owners were not told the home was a potential historic home as it was on the Florida Master Site File. Mr. Adams responded, at that time, the Ordinance was just introduced and no one could say for certain when the program would be available, when the tax credits would be available, and when the home would be designated. According to the owner, they contacted several individuals about the matter, and he assumed it was true. The Florida Master Site File only indicated the house was 50 years old, not that it was historic. Discussion followed that the standards clarified, if the home was deteriorated up to 75 %, it was still salvageable. Mr. Adams explained anything that was salvageable would be saved. This issue was a matter of cost and whether the City had the legal right to force a demolition. Mr. Adams explained the City Attorney indicated the Board could move forward with the process, but there could be legal ramifications. Mr. Adams got the impression if someone was willing to take the house, they would work with them to hold off on the demolition. In this instance, something would need to be developed within a week. Mr. Adams agreed to approach the Community Redevelopment Agency, but his impression was they did not want to move any more homes because they were not interested in the home near the Woman's Circle. Discussion followed that any home constructed in the 20s would be expensive to renovate. Ms. Stabile commented in the past, individuals were given free rent in turn for rehabilitating the home. Very lengthy discussion continued about the various options and an inquiry was made if the owner would contribute the cost they would spend to demolish the home to relocate the structure to another site. Ms. Stabile had a vacant lot the home could be moved to. Other questions for the Board were should the home remain in its original location? Should they garner press coverage as there may be someone interested in taking the property or purchasing it? The owner had agreed if someone was interested in taking the home, they would give it to them. It was also important the Board establish good will. In any event, the home would need to be 6 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 11, 2012 documented and Mr. Cope commented he had an intern that could take the measurements, thereby creating a permanent record. The Board could also request a stay to explore different options. Motion Mr. Salomonsson moved not to designate the home but ask for a grace period of 30 days to have the house documented and to explore other options. After discussion, Mr. Salomonsson amended his motion to not move forward with historic designation and ask for instead a 60 -day window where the Board could document the house and explore other options. Ms. Dion seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Mr. Adams thought it was important to discuss all options, deliberate them and come to agreement. The Board would be rationale and it would enhance the reputation of the program. Mr. Adams agreed to ask permission to enter the premises. 8. Other Chair Pedersen explained at the May 21st, Boynton Beach Historical Society meeting, there was a discussion of instituting the original street names and double naming the streets. Signage under the current, legal street name would reflect the original name of the street. The only street retaining its original name in the downtown area was Ocean Avenue. This program was instituted in West Palm Beach and Delray Beach, and Palm Beach instituted it for their centennial celebration. Pearl City in Boca Raton also did so with a different color street sign. She requested the Board consider it and make a recommendation to the City Commission. The program would pay homage to the original street names as they stood at the time the town was platted in 1898. The only streets that would be affected were streets on the original 40 -acre plat. Mr. Adams agreed to investigate the number of signs needed, the cost of the signs and who would pay for them. He did not recommend bringing the issue to the City Commission until all of the pertinent information was gathered. The motion would be to direct Mr. Adams to investigate the feasibility of double naming the streets. Motion Dr. Pedersen so moved. Ms. Stabile seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Mr. Adams agreed to email slides of the street signs to the members and apologized for not bringing the slides to the meeting. 7 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 11, 2012 9. Comments by members Ms. Stabile inquired about the status of the building the Women's Circle owned. Mr. Adams responded the owners were scheduled to come in for a planning meeting in two weeks. They still intended to move ahead with the demolition, but were bringing in a proposed new design. He noted that could be an option to pursue. The party was not planning on doing anything with the building until December. 10. Public comments None. 11. Announce date of next meeting The next meeting would be held on July 9, 2012. 12. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was properly adjourned at 7:37 p.m. 0 ,± 7' WK-c ULA j ',.k+, Catherine Cherry Recording Secretary 061212 8