HHPC Meeting February 13, 2017
HUNTSVILLE HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES
February 13, 2017
The Huntsville Historic Preservation Commission met in the Conference Room on the 1st Floor of the Public Service Building located at 320 Fountain Circle on February 13, 2017. The members present were:
Mr. David Ely Ms. Katie Stamps
Mr. Dennis Madsen Ms. Drenda King
Mr. Jan Williams Mr. Randy Cunningham
Mr. Mike Holbrook
Also present at the meeting were Ms. Jessica White, Historic Preservation Consultant and Sharon Mize, Recording Secretary. The meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by Mr. David Ely, Chairman. He read the preamble and introduced the Commission members.
Ms. White said there would be a social media campaign on Facebook on Tuesday and she encouraged everyone with Facebook to post historic buildings they love in Huntsville.
706 Ward Avenue – Mr. Charles McCubbins
Mr. McCubbins came before the Commission to request replacing the front sidewalk with a stained concrete sidewalk. The new sidewalk will be the same size as the existing sidewalk. Mr. McCubbins said four of the six houses on his street have an extended walkway which goes from the sidewalk to the curb and he was wondering if he could do the same. Mr. Cunningham said he would need to speak to someone in Engineering or Public Works.
Mr. Holbrook said he noticed Mr. McCubbins had painted the brick on the front porch of this house. Mr. McCubbins said he asked permission at a previous meeting and submitted three different colors. Mr. Holbrook said he understood that to be the color for the previously painted brick foundation. He should not have painted the brick and is extremely difficult to remove the paint. Mr. Ely recommended they go back and review the minutes to see what was approved. Ms. White said she would review the minutes to see what was approved to be painted.
Mr. Holbrook made the motion to replace the sidewalk as presented and Mr. Madsen seconded the motion. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the motion.
403 Holmes Avenue – Mr. David Powell
Mr. Powell returned before the Commission for final approval to erect a wall along his west property line. Mr. Powell received approval to erect a seven foot wall and he is asking for material approval. The wall will be a brick wall very similar to the wall on Lincoln Square. The brick will be Colonial brick made by Boral Brick. The color will be an orange/red brick. Ms. Stamps made the motion to approve the brick wall as presented and Mr. Madsen seconded the motion.
Mr. Ely asked if the fence would have the caps like the fence on Lincoln Street and Mr. Powell replied it would be very similar. He will use limestone caps on top of the columns. Mr. Holbrook said it will either have to be identical to the fence on Lincoln Street or he will need to come back before the Commission with drawings. Mr. Powell said the fence will be as close as possible to the fence on Lincoln Street. Mr. Ely said it will be a good looking fence. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the motion.
409 Lincoln Street – Mr. Richard Best for the Helion Lodge #1
This application requested the addition of a handicap lift to the rear exterior of the building. This will allow access to the second floor for the lodge members. Mr. Ely asked if they will be enclosing the lift and Mr. Best said later on they would but right now it would have the railings all around to keep someone from falling off. Ms. Stamps made the motion to approve the installation of the handicap lift and Ms. King seconded the motion.
Mr. Ely asked what color the lift will be and Mr. Best said it is the color of the one he presented. Mr. Holbrook said he has installed quit a few of these lifts and they come prefinished. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the motion.
605 East Clinton Avenue – Mr. Marc Goldmon for Providence Classical School
This request is for preliminary review for demolition of the cafetorium and to erect a new gymnasium. Mr. Goldmon submitted several versions for review of plans for the new gymnasium. Ms. White read a letter from Charlotte Richardson of 112 White Street and she said she was not in favor of the gymnasium. She said she supported the letter from the Sweeney’s. She is concerned about the traffic and the headlights shining into her home, which is across from the north alley. She requested the Commission not approve the proposed new gymnasium.
Mr. Goldmon presented the five proposed plans for the removal of the cafetorium and to erect a new gymnasium. The first proposal is the same as the proposed gymnasium presented at last month’s meeting. It will have a 30 foot set back from School Street. He said the property line is the setback line. This proposal has a height of 30 feet 9 inches and the existing school is 20 ft. 10 in. This included demolishing the cafetorium and the rainy day room but keep the current mechanical room. This plan will require a variance for setbacks. This also extends past the existing school by 9 ft. 4 in.
Proposal #2 is very much like proposal #1 except the building will be dropped down two feet. The footprint will stay the same as proposal #1, just lower. That will allow the exit directly on the grade on the side by the alley. The design and footprint do not change. This will make the addition 8 feet taller, but the parfait walls will be 14 feet above the existing building.
Proposal #3 they were asked at the last meeting if they could put the gymnasium in a different location and keep the cafetorium. This plan drops the building two feet into the ground and connects the gymnasium to the cafetorium. The biggest problem with this proposal is it will eliminate ten parking spaces and the drop off area for the students. Ms. White said it would also defeat the purpose because it does not hyphen onto the cafetorium. Mr. Holbrook said this proposal does not show how they could use the cafetorium as a bleacher area. Mr. Goldmon said he did not plan on using the cafetorium for any of the bleacher space because of the roof height.
Proposal #4 this proposal keeps the cafetorium and the kitchen addition and moves the gymnasium and stage area out closer to White Street and pushes the gymnasium closer to the property line.
Proposal #5 slides the gymnasium where it does not go beyond the face of the school, is lowered two feet, and moves the entire gymnasium back eleven feet and they removed one foot out of the structure. The parapet steps up and is wider than the other proposals and is lower. Mr. Goldmon said this proposal is trying to take in the best part of all the proposals keeping in mind the location of the gymnasium. The proposed gymnasium will project just six feet further than the rainy day room. This proposal does remove the cafetorium and the rainy day room. The hvac unit will be hidden on the roof and will not change the height of the building. Mr. Goldmon said this addition will serve as a gymnasium, a cafeteria and an auditorium. The height of this proposal is just slightly higher than the rainy day room.
Mr. Goldmon said there were some changes made to the cafetorium in 1992 which made it noncontributing. They replaced some of the windows and made one side smaller than the other.
Mr. Goldmon said Proposal #5 is the one they would really like the Commission to consider for preliminary approval. Mr. Ely said the Commission needs to consider losing the old cafetorium. Ms. Stamps said she appreciated the work they put into all the different designs but they would like to see a design that leaves the cafetorium.
Mr. Ely said proposal #3 keeps the cafetorium. Mr. Ely said he had hoped they could use the cafetorium for a part of the design of the new gymnasium.
Mr. Goldmon said the problem with proposal #3 is the lack of parking and nowhere to drop the students off. This plan would reduce the parking from 28 to ten or so with an overflow on the outdoor basketball court. According to the Zoning Department 26 parking spaces are required.
Mr. Ely asked if the school uses any other facility nearby for their gymnasium needs. Mr. Mike Adcock, of the Providence Classical School Board, said they are currently using a church’s gymnasium but they are now under renovation and we have moved to another church. Mr. Goldmon said they want to use the new space as a multi-function space and not just a gymnasium. They want to use the space as diligently as they can.
Ms. White said she did know about the changes in the drawings from 1992 but was not sure if the changes were actually enacted. She would like to do a closer examination to see if the changes were made. Mr. Goldmon said they were enacted and you can see where two sides were removed, which makes the date of historic significance start all over. When they did a resurvey of the building the cafetorium was not mentioned.
Ms. White said her main concern is the four primary elevations will be affected if they are allowed to erect the gymnasium and it will be in close proximity of the neighbor’s houses. Mr. Goldmon said this is a special case because the school sits in the middle of a block. Ms. White said she wants Providence Classical School to stay at this location forever, however if they do not who will take the school and treat the neighborhood with the same respect as Providence Classical School has. If there were new owners they might make this a high use building. Also they will be changing the sight lines and the landscape of the neighborhood.
Mr. Williams said he would like to go to the school with Ms. White and Ms. Stamps to see the cafetorium.
Mr. Ely opened the floor for public comments. Mr. Adcock said for three years Providence Classical School has done their best to make sure parking is not an issue for the neighborhood. Their goal is to use their existing parking for visitors at ballgames and the PCS family will park at a nearby church parking lot. The school is small as are their ball teams. They will do their best to keep the noise and the lights to a minimum.
Mr. Goldmon said he has met with Mr. Jim McGuffey of the Zoning Department and they will work with them on lighting issues recognizing this is a special circumstance. Ms. Kathy Carney of 716 Clinton Avenue said she is thankful that PCS has moved into the school and thinks proposal #5 would be the best choice. She is glad they are listening to the concerns of the neighborhood and have lowered the proposed height of the addition. She thinks it will be a quality job and will add quality to the school and it will look good. She said she is in favor of the new gymnasium.
Mr. Tom Pruitt, of 106 White Street across the street from the school, asked if anyone had given any thought of closing School Street to a one way street to help with the flow of traffic at night when there are ballgames. Mr. Ely reminded them there are people who live on Calhoun Street as well.
Mr. Holbrook said he thought the logistics of how traffic flows and the light issues are minor and could be addressed. The issue at hand is the demolition of what is considered a contributing structure. Typically before the Commission will consider a demolition request they will have to see a proposed plan. Of course there are five plans here. He said it comes down to the demolition of a contributing part of the building. Mr. Goldmon said he does not think it will be an issue because it meets one criterion since part of it was built in 1952. All of the other aspects it does not meet. Mr. Holbrook said they are pleased with what PCS has done with the property and they do need to conduct school and all the things that go along with running a school. The Secretary of Interior Standards along with the local ordinances and guidelines are what we have to use to make our decisions.
Ms. White said she and Ms. Stamps, who is an architectural historian and has experience with National Register Listings, will go out to the school with her and Mr. Williams to make a determination on the historic significance of the cafetorium.
Mr. Mark Sweeney of 110 White Street said that PCS has been a good neighbor and are good about keeping parking on their side of the street. The only issues they have are neighbors playing on their basketball court using foul language and car lights shining on them as they sit on their front porch. He said he thought these things could be managed. However, any agreement needs to be in writing so there is some accountability. He said three of the four houses directly affected by the erection of the gymnasium are opposed.
He said the gymnasium height is being driven by volleyball and he said it is to the expense of the neighbors and that should be taken into consideration. He also said the drawings make the property look flat but it is not, the school sits on a small hill. The parapet will be ten feet higher than the school building and Mr. Sweeny asked if there was a reason the roof needed to be a gabled roof. Mr. Goldmon said it is gabled to help with water drainage. Mr. Sweeny said the height of the building is their main concern.
Their second concern would be parking and the limited control of visitor parking. He said he is guaranteed that someone would park in front of his house. There is an unwritten rule among the neighbors that no one parks in front of someone else’s home.
Lighting is also a concern including headlights. He suggested they direct traffic off of White Street down Calhoun Street. He is concerned about the growth of the school. Mr. Goldmon said they have a cap on the enrollment. Mrs. Sweeny said that depends on the board of the school at that time. Mr. Sweeny said in the future they will add more sporting events and will cause more traffic and more headlights on their porch. He said the deed says that the playground cannot be used unless it is an official school function and that needs to be considered. He said if this is approved he would prefer proposal #5. A true scale of the building cannot be determined by the plans and he would like to see a frame of the structure put on the site to get a perspective of the actual size of the addition. Also, they need to add landscaping to act as a buffer zone.