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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-16-1983 HPC Minutes CITY OF SARATOGA HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES DATE: November 16, 1983, 3:30 p.m. PLACE: Arts and Crafts Room, 19655 Allendale Ave., Saratoga TYPE: Regular Meeting ROUTINE ORGANIZATION ROLL'CALL Present: Commissioners Cameron, Heid, Kvamme, Landshess, Voester, and Chairman McArthur Absent: Commissioner Henderson MINUTES The Commission determined that an addendum to the minutes of October 19, 1983 was necessary. The addendum would be as follows: "Commissioner Cameron reported the results of his review of the General Plan of the City as it relates to heritage perservation. A list of pertinent goals and policies, area plan guidelines, and various citings of the text of the General Plan were passed out to the Commission. Com- missioner Cameron indicated that there might not be a need for a Historic Element for the General Plan since the existing General Plan provided a sufficient basis for the actions taken by the Commission including new or- dinances or the modification off, existing ordinances. Commissioner Kvamme delivered a brief progress report on her efforts to computerize the City's inventory of Heritage Resources. It was also noted that staff had been responsible for placing the legend on the Historic Inventory Map. Minor corrections to the list of poten- tial candidates for the Heritage Inventory were made by Commissioner Voester." With the addition of the addendum, the reading of the minutes for the meeting of October 19, 1983 was waived and the minutes approved unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS A. Commissioner Kvamme briefly updated her progress on creating a computer generated inventory booklet. Sample sheets, including reproduction of photographs, was passed around for Commission Review. (2) Discussion then ensued on buying binders for the inventory sheets. Staff indicated that the budget for the Community Development De- partment did not include funds for that purpose, but staff would look into the matter. Commissioner Kvamme offered to donate some extra binders she had to the Commission for each of their inventories. Discussion then followed on the items in the inventory that were to be deleted. It was determined that any item not in the City's sphere of influence should be deleted. Commissioner Kvamme asked for some- one on the Commission to review her draft inventory for errors. B. Commissioner Landshess briefly discussed her conversation with Mrs. Brozda regarding the use of her property and its possible designation as a Heritage resource. It was decided that this item should be discussed at the next Commission meeting. II. NEW BUSINESS A. Chairman McArthur introduced Robin McKinnis, a former Gilroy planner, who was primarily responsible for the historic studies done for Gilroy, Ms. McKinnis described the start of the study which began at about the same time as the update of Gilroy's General Plan. One of the major issues in Gilroy was allowing high density residential use in the downtown area where many older homes were located. The ugly apartments associated with high density developments provided the impetus for creating a historic preserva- tion element. She indicated that a lot of publicity for the project was provided by the local paper especially when older buildings were being demol- ished. Her efforts were strongly suRported by the Planning Director of Gilroy. Ms. McKinnis briefly described the survey work which was done by 2 people and which she worked at full time for several months. At the time her project began the local Historical Society has had ceased to exist although that group had managed to preserve the old City Hall. She became a member of the Historical Society and got the membership involved in the process. She stressed it was impor- tant to let people know what you are doing. This was accomplished by walking/talking tours and through classes. The community's "old- timers" put in a lot of time and effort. Some of the information from the books generated by her study were put into the 1980 General Plan for Gilroy. A committee was formed including members from the City Council, Planning Commission, His- torical Society and one at-large member. They met about once a week when the Committee began. They reviewed and discussed their General Plan and others to determine what changes were needed. When the General Plan had been made supportive of historic preservation, they began working on changes to the Zoning Ordinance. Copies of Gilroy's historic ordinance were passed out to the Com- mission. Ms. NcKinnis described the contents of the ordinance which included a combining zone and several overlays with various restric- tions. Commissioner Cameron briefly described Saratoga's ordinance and how it worked. (3) Ms. McKinnis then described the groundwork layed to get the General Plan and zoning ordinance amendments that were needed. A town meeting was conducted and brochures were passed out (samples of these were passed around the Commission). At the meeting experts described the advantages of historical preservation including tax advantages, rehabilitation loans, etc. No one at these meetings expressed a completely negative reaction. Part of the reason for the positive response to historic preservation proposals was that the Historical Society really got involved and used their network of contacts so that friends described the ordinance to other friends to build support. Ms. ~cKinnis then described provisions of the ordinance that held if someone was in a historic district and wanted to get out they would have to go through a zone change and the environmental assess- ment associated with that proposed change. The Historic District was put on the zoning map at the same time it was updated to be in conformance with the General Plan. The objections to the ordinance were dealt with early to accomplish this. Commissioner Heid stated that since Saratoga was a historic landmark, a historic district could be created covering the whole town. He indicated that he also had a map showing the location of the buildings that were considered historic at the time the landmark designation was applied for. These original buildings could form the basis for a his- toric district boundary. Ms. McKinnis stated that the last thing done was the designation of specific sites and neighborhoods as historic resources. They focused first on the procedures and contents of the ordinance which was easier to do. They then looked at the areas it would apply to. When the ordinance was first adopted they did not get bogged down in specifics which would make it harder. They looked more at general things and built agreement on those. Commissioner Heid expressed the idea that a Historic District Overlay might be necessary to support the City's Heritage Preservation Ordi- nance. The Commission could have public hearings and establish the district area for the Council, then proceed to specific buildings where restrictions would be applied. Commissioner Cameron stated that an overlay zone would have ordinance requirements which esta- blish criteria as in Gilroy. These requirements would apply to all buildings in the district. The designation of specific sites should be done all at once. Ms. ~cKinnis indicated that Gilroy did a lot of public relations work and gave a lot of information to the City Council to build support. They did not do a lot of background information on individual struc- tures. Their process was the reverse of Saratoga's in that property owners had to prove their structures were not historic before they could make major alterations. She also indicated that they had planned to do too much at their town meeting and that they needed to reduce the number of speakers. People asked what the ordinance was going to do for them so she suggests that the issue of tax in- centives and costs be dealt with at a separate meeting. (4) Commissioner Heid then asked how Saratoga can get to the same place as Gilroy. Discussion then followed on the differences between our ordinance and others. Strategy was also discussed. Commissioner Held indicated he would bring in a list of buildings that existed when Saratoga became a historic landmark. This would then be used as the basis for a historic district boundary. Input to the Village Master Plan, being considered by the Planning Commission, was then discussed. The Commission decided to review the General Plan at its next meeting to determine if there is suf- ficient support for the ordinance. The Commission thanked Ms. McKinnis for her time and input. The Commission went over the things they had learned from the discussion with Ns. McKinnis. It was suggested that the Commission go over some draft ideas on strengthening the ordinance at the next meeting. III. OTHER ITEMS A. Discussion of the ordinance and the upcoming meeting with the Historical Foundation overlapped. Commissioner NcArthur wanted to explore how the Commission could help on the educational aspects of getting support for the ordinance and Commission activities. Commissioner Landsness suggested a walking tour brochure. Discussion then followed on creating a network of support and how the Historical Foundation might fit into this process (this was to be brought up at the joint meeting). Chairman McArthur indicated she would ask for volunteers at the meet- ing to go door to door to help complete the City's inventory. Com- missioner Held stated the Commission should play it be ear. Chairman McArthur expressed a desire to create a Commission subcommittee to work on the issue of education. Commissioner Cameron suggested that when the inventory comes out, the Commission should try to generate newspaper interest and perhaps use the inventory with walking tours. Commissioner Voester suggested a town meeting for the people that owned property on the inventory list to explain what it is about. Chairman McArthur indicated that the education subcommittee of the Commission should meet January 11, 1984. The commission set December 14, 1983 as their next meeting date. Respect ful 1 y submit ted, Secretary MF: sue