HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-01-1989 HPC Minutes CITY OF SARATOGA
HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES
DATE: Wednesday, March 1, 1989 - 3:00 p.m.
PLACE: Warner Hutton House, 13495 Sousa Lane, Saratoga
TYPE: Regular Meeting
I. Routine Organization
A. Roll Call
Present: Koepernik, Heid, Cameron, Landsness
Artshes, Voester
Absent: Mitchell
Staff: V. Young
Others: M. Kenrich
B. Approval of minutes of 2/15/89
M/S Cameron/Koepernik to approve the minutes of 2/15/89 as
submitted. Passed unanimously.
C. Posting of Agenda
Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda was posted
at City Hall on 2/24/89.
D. Oral and Written Communications
Chair Heid distributed Constitution Bicentennial
information he had received. Young reported on the Colyar
plaque presentation. She also mentioned that the Parks
and Recreation Commission would soon be exploring the
possibility of a heritage tree program and would be
soliciting input from the Commission.
II. Old Business
A. Heritage Ordinance Revisions
Young noted that the ordinance would be heard by the
Council that evening, and distributed an updated draft
from the City Attorney regarding the membership
qualifications. Chair Heid noted that the requirement for
a non-resident in the professional category to work in the
City had been omitted; there was consensus to ask staff to
add this back in. There was also consensus to ask staff
to query the Council about removing the two-term limit
from the ordinance.
III. New Business
A. HP-16 - Application for Heritage Resource Designation,
20600 Lomita Avenue, Hannah McCarty House
Young gave a brief staff report, highlighting the
completeness of the application and the photographs
submitted. There was discussion on a discrepancy in the
date of construction; it should be 1877.
There was discussion on the selection criteria for
designation; it was noted that the property met criteria
(a), (b), and (c) for inclusion on the Inventory.
M/S Landsness/Ansnes to accept the application and
recommend to the City Council approval of the designation
because the property meets criteria (a), (b), (c), and (e)
of Section 13-15.010 of the City Code for designation of a
heritage resource. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Review subdivision application for 20271 Merrick Drive
Young gave a brief staff report and showed the plans for
the 3-1or subdivision, noting that property is listed on
the Inventory; she encouraged the Commission to focus their
comments on the historic preservation issues.
Mike Kenrich, 20270 Merrick Drive, spoke to the Commission
as a concerned neighbor. He expressed his interest in
seeing the house preserved and was attending this meeting
to learn of the Commission's purpose and activities. He
noted that the proposed residences for the new lots were to
be single-story but still would have a significant impact
on the neighborhood.
After a significant amount of discussion, Commissioners
expressed their opinions as follows:
Ansnes - The Inventory listing includes the structure and the
property surrounding it. Any new construction will
have impacts. She noted the difference between this
application and the Lomita Avenue subdivision was the
location of new residences; this one would be in front
of rather than behind the historic house.
Koepernik - New garage should be in keeping with historic house.
Lot configuration and sizes are problematic; new house
sizes should be similar to others in neighborhood
(1600-2000 sq. ft.). Major trees should be protected.
Cameron - Concurred with Koepernik's comments; felt that the
Commission's role is not to support development per
se, but to provide positive advice on how to make
development as compatible as possible with historic
structures.
Voester - Concurred with Ansnes; new lots will impact historic
integrity of entire property. Setbacks for new
residences should be increased to provide adequate
yard area typical to a historic farmhouse.
Landsness - Abstained from discussion because of friendship with
owners.
Heid - Protection of the house is most important. New
residences must enhance the historic house and not
impact neighborhood. Concurred that setbacks need to
be increased.
After achieving consensus on the above items, there was a
unanimous recommendation (Landshess abstaining) to forward the
following concerns to the Planning Commission for
consideration:
1) The tank house portion of the structure should be preserved
as an important historic feature of the site. However,
demolition of the existing garage is acceptable since it is
of more recent construction than the residence.
2) The new garage proposed for the northwest corner of the
residence should be designed to be compatible with the
existing residence in size, style and materials.
3) Additional space should be provided around the farmhouse to
reflect its traditional agricultural setting and to protect
the mature trees. This could be accomplished by adjustment
of the proposed lot lines or by increasing the setbacks for
the new residences, particularly along the property lines
that are contiguous to the farmhouse lot.
4) Construction of two new residences and a new cul-de-sac on
the property will impact the view of the farmhouse and will
result in the removal of several mature trees. If
approved, the new homes should be designed to be compatible
to both the farmhouse and the pattern of existing
neighboring residences in terms of size, style and
materials, and the access road width should be minimized.
Special consideration should be given to the protection of
mature trees on the site which add to its historic
ambience.
5) The Commission believes the property meets the criteria for
designation as a heritage resource; the owner should be
required to submit an application to begin processing this
designation.
IV. ITEMS INITIATED BY THE COMMISSION
A. Follow-up on historic district project
Chair Held distributed material on the original 1949 state
landmark application for Saratoga; the packet included a
map of potential boundaries for a heritage district in the
Village, based on the original application and locations of
Inventory properties. There was consensus to use this as a
starting point for discussing a heritage district; Young
was directed to obtain a cleaner copy of the original
material. Chair Held was thanked for his work.
B. Miscellaneous
Commissioners Artshes and Voester reported on the networking
event they attended at De Anza. It was a valuable event
with good contacts made. Young will follow up on Sanborn
map research.
Commissioner Cameron reported that he had attended the
Planning Commission meeting of February 22, and that the
Christiano application on Wardell Road had been approved.
V. ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m. "Happy Birthday" was sung to
Commissioner Landshess and good cheesecake was eaten by all.
Respectfully submitted,