Historic Preservation Commission Meeting
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
100 S. Hill Street
Board of Commissioners Conference Room
Those present from the Historic Preservation Commission were Jim Ogletree, Paul
Cropsey, Diane Dunaway-Boles and Shannon Herren. Staff present at the HPC meeting
were Shannan Buckner, Jennifer Freeman, Kira Harris-Bragg and Adam Causey.
Certificate of Appropriateness applicants present were Alan Marshall, Evangelos
Panousis, Tina Colwell and M.L. Smith.
The meeting was called to order by Paul Cropsey.
On motion by Shannon Herren and seconded by Diane Dunaway-Boles and approved by
all present, motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on Wednesday, May 7,
2008.
Financial Report:
Paul Cropsey presents the financial statement and states that the balance is the same as
last month at $1,302.46. He states that the HPC still owes Shannon Herren $34.85 for the
recorder.
On motion by Jim Ogletree and seconded by Shannon Herren and approved by all
present, motion to approve the financial statement.
Citizen’s Comments:
There are no citizen’s comments.
Public Hearings for Certificates of Appropriateness:
On motion by Shannon Herren and seconded by Diane Dunaway-Boles and approved by
those present, motion to modify the agenda to hear the COA for 107 West Solomon
Street, Permit Signage, Re-submittal last because the applicant is not yet present to
discuss the application.
On motion by Jim Ogletree and seconded by Shannon Herren and approved by all
present, motion to modify the agenda to move COA for 202 West Broad Street, Permit
Restoration, to the bottom of the agenda so that both of Alan Marshall’s cases can be
heard back to back.
114 North Hill Street, Permit Awning, 08-COA-08
Mr. Smith explains his request for the awning. He explains that when he ordered the
awning they told him that it would be 7 to 10 weeks before it was delivered so that would
give him plenty of time to get the necessary permits. He says that he went out of town
and the awning was delivered while he was gone. He says that he wasn’t trying to skip
going thru the proper channels. He states that his business is hurting like a lot of people
and he is trying to keep his business alive. He is appealing to the HPC to allow him to
install this awning to draw some attention to his business.
Jim Ogletree asks if the awning fits in between the transom windows.
Mr. Smith says yes and explains that it fits onto the ledges. He shows the HPC on a
picture where it attaches. He then explains that the color of the awning is bright right now
but it will fade over the summer. He also states that the color of the awning is barber
colors and he explains the history behind those colors.
Jim Ogletree asks what the awning is made of.
Mr. Smith states that it is made of canvas. He explains that a little old lady and her
husband were leaving his shop the other day and it was raining. He said that by the time
the lady could get her umbrella up she was soaking wet, thus the need for an awning.
Jim Ogletree says that awnings are fine in the Historic District.
There is discussion about the location of the awning and the brightness of the colors. It is
mentioned that the transoms are not the original transoms so it is not as big of a deal to
cover them as it would be if they were the originals. It is also mentioned that the colors of
the awning are not consistent with the colors in the Designing Downtown Guidelines.
The guidelines state that the colors should be appropriate to the design of the building.
Shannon Herren says that she understands the use of the colors because it is a barbershop.
On motion by Jim Ogletree and seconded by Shannon Herren and approved by those
present, motion to approve the COA for 114 North Hill Street, Permit Awning, 08-COA08. Shannan Herren wants to make a notation that this is an exception to the guidelines
of covering transoms due to the fact that the transoms are not original.
102 North Hill Street, Permit Mechanical System, 08-COA-09
Mr. Panousis states that the current mechanical system in his restaurant is not enough to
cool the building. He needs to add a second unit to make the restaurant comfortable for
his customers. He states that it is affecting his business.
The air conditioning contractor explains the proposed location of the new a/c unit. He
states that they would like to place the a/c unit beside the fence where the grease trap is
so that you won’t even be able to see the unit when you look down the alley.
The HPC walks across the street to view the proposed location of the new a/c unit.
On motion by Paul Cropsey and seconded by Shannon Herren and approved by all
present, motion to approve the COA for 102 North Hill Street, Permit Mechanical
System, 08-COA-09, approve the new mechanical unit being next to the existing
mechanical unit, asking that the existing mechanical unit be moved as close to the water
meter as possible and put the new unit on the North side of the existing unit as close to
the existing unit as possible and in line with it if possible. Tthis approval is pending
approval by the City Fire Marshall and Building Inspector. If that location is not
acceptable by the City Officials then we will approve putting it across the alley tucked in
close to the corner of the brick wall of the Development Authority building and the wood
fence and building a handicap accessible ramp over the refrigerant lines.
Mr. Panousis asks the HPC if they could permit him to install some type of handicap
ramp going into his business. He states that he has been going out and helping the people
that come up in a wheelchair but it is pretty difficult to lift them up the steps into the
restaurant. He states that if nothing else he could have a wooden ramp built that he could
leave inside the restaurant and just take it out when someone that needs it comes up. He
states that what he would like to do is to pour a small amount of cement so that it would
make it easier to get in and out of the restaurant, up and down the steps.
There is discussion about how to accommodate his need for the handicap ramp with as
little disturbance of the sidewalks as possible. The City would have to give permission to
bring anything out onto the sidewalk. The idea of a metal ramp that just bolts into the
sidewalk is mentioned which would still be considered temporary but more permanent
than the wooden ramp that would have to be taken in and out of the restaurant as needed.
Jim Ogletree asks Mr. Panousis to talk with a sheetmetal place to get more information
on this and he asks Shannan Buckner to find out from the City’s side if this would be
permissible and we will continue this to the next meeting.
202 West Broad Street, Permit Restoration, 08-COA-07
Mr. Alan Marshall lays out a set of plans for the HPC to look at. He points out on the
plans what his intentions are for the renovation.
There is discussion between the HPC members and Mr. Marshall while looking over the
drawings. Some of the items that are discussed are that the transom window (half circle)
shall not have any muntins, double doors below shall look like doors in historic photo,
half dome fabric awning approved for side door if the applicant desires to install an
awning, all lanterns shall have a curved decorative metal bracket design.
On motion by Jim Ogletree and seconded by Shannon Herron and approved by all
present motion to approve COA for 202 W. Broad Street, Permit Restoration, 08-COA07, with the following conditions:
1. Drawings approved modified by a lantern that has a decorative iron hangar
bracket.
2. Doors and windows on the side that are similar to the historic photo.
3. Circular window shall not have muntins.
4. Second floor windows on front of building shall be replaced with replicas of
original windows.
125/127 West Solomon Street, Permit Restoration, 08-COA-10
Alan Marshall presents several pictures of this building to the HPC members. He explains
that 125 W. Solomon Street contains shops for Clearly Fun Soap, Lucky Me, The Gift
Cruiser and The Hound & Puss. He says that 127 W. Solomon Street was previously
occupied by Studio Blu hair salon on May 31. He says that the top floor is currently
vacant but is ready to begin preparations for office space and it is also intended for the
upper floor to be utilized under the Entrepreneur Center concept.
He explains that it is his intention to work on the front, rear and side of the building. He
states that he will explain thru the pictures and drawings that he has presented what he
plans to do. He does state that it is his intention to repair and make improvements to the
building using the rental income that it produces as the source of funds. He refers to the
narrative that he provided to the HPC members with his intentions for the building. There
is discussion about the renovations while looking at the pictures and drawings. All
conditions set forth by the HPC will be outlined in the motion to follow:
On motion by Jim Ogletree and seconded by Shannon Herren and approved by all
present, motion to approve the COA for 125/127 W. Solomon Street, Permit Restoration,
08-COA-10, with the following conditions as outlined in the discussion:
1. Plywood on lower side window shall be replaced and painted to match store
front.
2. Storefront transom shall be redesigned to include three (3) panels as proposed,
all of the storefront and transom shall be painted the same color.
3. Goose neck lanterns shall be used as the outdoor lighting for all parts of the
building with exception of lighting for the main entrance to second floor.
4. Coal shoot shall be filled in with metal panels opposed to brick as proposed.
5. Doors in the rear of the building shall have three (3) horizontal panels opposed to
proposed six (6) panel doors.
6. The upper windows and the windows in the rear being fine to replace with the
reproductions (replicas of the originals) because it would be a financial hardship
to rebuild the original windows.
107 West Solomon Street, Permit Signage, Re-submittal, 08-COA-03
Tina Colwell explains that she was under the impression that Shannon Lake applied to
replace the window signs when he made application for the other signage for her
building. She no longer intends to put up the sign on the side of the building. She only
wants the sign that was approved to go on the front and the window sign that she is
asking for now. She states that the sign that is in the window now was never meant to be
permanent but a window sign is very important to her business. She explains that the sign
that was permitted to go on her building attracts car traffic but the window sign attracts
pedestrian traffic.
Shannon Herren states that what the applicant said about the window sign and the
building sign fits right in with the design guidelines.
Paul Cropsey states that he would like to see the lettering limited to 8” in height.
Ms. Colwell asks about the rules for barber poles. She states that she would like to install
a barber pole on the outside of her building. It would not be a permanent fixture on the
sidewalk, it would be something that would be placed outside in the morning and brought
back inside in the evening. She states that the one that she is looking at is an old time
version like one from the 1900’s.
Paul Cropsey states that there is probably nothing addressing the barber pole in the
guidelines. He said that they can give the HPC’s blessing to try it. Then if the city
determines that somehow it is a problem for the pedestrian flow it can be removed.
There is discussion about the color of the window sign and it is determined that Ms.
Colwell should use the colors that are in her building sign for the window sign.
On motion by Shannon Herren and seconded by Jim Ogletree and approved by all
present, motion to approve the COA for 107 W. Solomon Street, Permit Signage, Resubmittal, 08-COA-03, with Mr. Cropsey’s recommendation to limit the height of the
lettering to 8” and withdrawing the approval for the signage that was approved at an
earlier meeting concerning the signage for the side of the building. Also, the applicant
has expressed her desire to have a free standing barberpole outside her building and the
HPC has no issues with that request.
Election of Chairman, July 2008-December 2008
Paul Cropsey states that he is officially resigning his position as Chairman of the Historic
Preservation Commission. He states that the reason for the resignation is that he is
discouraged with some of the decisions that have been made so far by the Historic
Preservation Commission. He says that he feels like with the creation of this board there
was an opportunity to start with a clean slate and he feels like some of the applications
that have been approved so far are not in line with the design guidelines. There has been a
precedent set that can be used against us.
Paul Cropsey nominates Jim Ogletree to be the Chairman of the Historic Preservation
Commission for the remainder of this term.
On motion by Paul Cropsey and seconded by Shannon Herren and approved by all
present, motion to elect Jim Ogletree as the Chairman of the Historic Preservation
Commission for the remainder of this term (July 2008- December 2008).
Jim Ogletree nominates Paul Cropsey to be Vice-Chairman of the Historic Preservation
Commission for the remainder of this term.
On motion by Jim Ogletree and seconded by Shannon Herren and approved by all
present, motion to elect Paul Cropsey as Vice-Chairman of the Historic Preservation
Commission for the remainder of this term (July 2008- December 2008).
Staff Update
Shannan Buckner passes around the annual report from the Historic Preservation
Division.
On motion by Shannon Herren and seconded by Paul Cropsey and approved by all
present, motion to have Shannan Buckner speak with Jim Ogletree concerning the
conditions for Alan Marshall’s application so that the meeting can adjourn.
Adjourn
Respectfully Submitted:
________________________________
Shannan Buckner, Planner
Attest:
_________________________________
Jim Ogletree, Chairman