21 March 2017 | Approved: 18 April 2017
Members Present: Bob Booher, Wendy Harris, Gail Littlefield and David Stopak, along with Georgette Cole, Town Council Liaison, and Cynthia Werts. Also in attendance was Sandy Klingenberg, Town resident.
Approval of Agenda:
The agenda was reviewed and approved, as amended.
Adoption of Minutes:
The draft minutes from the meeting of February 21, 2017, were reviewed with no changes. David made a motion, seconded by Wendy, to approve the minutes, as written. The motion carried unanimously.
Review Session:
Sandy Klingenberg was present to discuss her building permit application for a dormer enlargement at her residence, 103 Grove Avenue. The proposed project is for an extension of an existing side dormer. Sufficient information was submitted to the HPC for discussion. The home is a contributing structure and the dormer can be viewed from Grove Road. The proposed extension is in line with the existing dormer and retains the original scale of the structure. Bob will prepare a written review accordingly.
Expansion of National Register Nomination:
The Commission continued an in-depth discussion of expanding and updating the Town’s nomination to the National Register. The HPC has requested that $30,000.00 be put in the new fiscal year’s budget for this purpose and a brief written justification was submitted to the Mayor for review. In response to the Mayor’s comments, which suggests that a correction to the NR nomination be pursued, not an addition, the Commission agrees that more information should be presented to the Mayor and Town Council to justify the need for an update to the nomination. The HPC feels that a correction would not be sufficient enough to give the Town the added protection needed when negotiating future issues as density continues to increase around us. The Mayor and Council need information to understand what is actually involved in the lengthy process of preparing such a document and the importance of hiring a professional consultant with the expertise and training to undertake such a task. The Commission agrees that the idea of having volunteers perform this undertaking is not feasible.
A budget work session is scheduled for Monday, March 27th. It was agreed that Bob should attend the meeting to help justify the recommendations presented by the HPC. A two-page letter will be prepared and submitted to the Mayor and Town Council prior to the work session to ensure everyone involved has time to read and better understand how crucial it is to move forward with the NR nomination to help strengthen and protect the Town and it’s borders in the future.
Street Signs:
Gail reported that the work group (Margot Bohan, Gail Littlefield and Susan Van Nostrand) met to prepare research on available options for wood materials and reflective lettering solutions that could be used for the Town’s street and walkway signs. Their findings were presented to the Mayor and Town Council at the meeting on March 20th. Gail also prepared a draft letter for HPC review with her suggestions on appropriate guidelines to follow in maintaining the historic character of the street signs. The final edited version of this letter, with the proposed recommendations from the HPC, will be sent to the Mayor and Council.
Guidelines Work Group:
Wendy, Pat and Mimi have met three times so far to discuss updating the Town’s existing design guidelines. Wendy has been preparing research on non-architectural features, including streetscapes and open spaces; Mimi has been researching porches while Pat has been doing the same on fences. The group has begun to investigate how these features are evaluated in design guidelines developed for other historic districts, as well as within the 2009 Master Plan and various sections of our Town’s Code of Ordinances. The group will meet again on Monday, March 27th.
Bulletin Material:
Wendy reported that she is preparing an article from the Town Archives on Our Woods and Walkways: Are they Historic? Part one of this article will appear in the April bulletin.
Council Report:
Georgette gave a brief overview of topics discussed at the Town Council meeting held on March 20th. In addition to the Town street signage presentation by Gail Littlefield, Mary Warfield, Town Resident, presented a Dog Park Proposal. After an open discussion, the Mayor assigned Peter Nagrod and the Planning Commission to identify potential sites for this project. The PC has already evaluated the proposal at their August 2016 meeting and concluded this use of Town land is consistent with the Master Plan.
PC Meeting Report:
The Planning Commission meeting was held on March 1st with HPC member, Mimi Styles, in attendance. There was further discussion on the building permit application for 304 Chestnut Avenue. In addition, the building permit application for a proposed addition for 114 Ridge Road was approved.
Peter Nagrod also gave an update from the Border Committee. He reported that the committee has asked for FY 2018 funding for fencing and signs. If the proposed identity fence were installed in the County right-of-way, a permit would need to be obtained from Montgomery County.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 pm.
Minutes prepared and submitted by:
Cynthia Werts