21 January 2003 | Approved: 18 March 2003
Present: Bob Booher, Clare Cavicchi, Larry French, Chris Kirtz, and David Neumann
The meeting began at 7:00 p.m. on Tues, Jan 21. Bob Booher took minutes.
Several amendments were made to the anticipated Agenda including deletion of the discussion and adoption of the Rules of Procedure and addition of discussions of demolition permits, design standards, and the purchase of a camera.
The HPC Work Session began with these added items. Larry presented both a review of our present legislation that clearly requires a permit for demolition and examples of legislation from other jurisdictions as a guide for potential enforcement. Further work will follow. A discussion of the development of design standards followed, with an emphasis on including clear layman’s language and perhaps graphics and examples for the homeowner to follow. Gaithersburg’s guide was discussed as an example. We will continue to work on this important item as well. The third added item was presented by Chris and his work regarding selecting a camera for the HPC to use in reviewing permits and documentation activities. An offer by Ed Roberts to purchase and loan us a camera was considered. Subsequent purchase of a digital camera by Chris proved more convenient.
The public portion of the meeting began with review of an application for 415 Center Street. This was the third time thru for this major renovation/addition project. Though not as ambitious a proposal as the previous two designs, it continued to follow similar efforts to appropriately minimize the mass and retain the character of the original. The commission was also pleased to see that previous suggestions were also incorporated.
An overall review of the WG Master Plan has not been completed by the Commission as a group, but it was agreed to use the definition out of the ordinance as a statement of purpose to be included in the Master Plan as requested. Larry was assigned the task of forwarding it on.
We reviewed the status of the list of contributing structures which has been developed from
- the original list of 92 included in the 1979 designation documents, identified as having existed before the 1937 Town incorporation,
- structures identified by the Heritage Committee (HC) as worthy of consideration and
- structures identified by the HC from the original list as having questionable justification for inclusion.
This amended list will be reviewed again at the next meeting along with photos of the ones in question for a final determination. A working definition of ‘contributing’ will also be presented at that time for adoption. The various benefits and liabilities of this designation were discussed and will be included in the final package for public review.
Discussed briefly but not acted upon due to time constraints were the Application Handout Descriptor and a draft letter requesting a clarification of the advisory role the commission is meant to play.
Next meeting to be Tues February 18, 2003.