Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutJANUARY 8, 2018 Historic Preservation Commission MINUTES The Jeffersonville Historic Preservation Commission met for a regular meeting on Monday,January 8,2018,in the Building Commission Conference Room of City Hall. ROLL CALL President Jan Paddocks called the meeting to order with roll call.Members present,besides Paddocks,included Melanie Yates,Ed Siewert,Maggie Moore,Johnna Anderson,Lisa Green and Jill Schimpff.Advisor Laura Renwick was also present.Director Larry Wallace was absent. AGENDA Paddocks asked members to review the agenda for the Monday,January 8 meeting.Ed Siewert made a motion to approve agenda.Jill Schmipff seconded the motion and the agenda was unanimously approved. MINUTES Paddocks asked members to review the minutes from the November 18,2017 meeting.After review,Melanie Yates made a motion to approve the minutes as presented.Maggie Moore seconded the motion and the minutes from the Nov. 18, 2017 meeting were unanimously approved. NEW BUSINESS •A call was made for nominations for Commission officers for 2018.Member Lisa green nominated Jan Paddocks for president.The motion was seconded by Jill Schimpff and Paddocks was unanimously named HPC President for 2018. Lisa Green made a motion to name Jill Schimpff vice president.Member Johnna Anderson seconded the nomination and Schimpff was unanimously named HPC vice president for 2018. •Members were asked to review and approve the proposed HPC meeting dates for 2018.Ed Siewert made a motion to approve the 2018 meeting dates,Lisa Green seconded the motion and the 2018 HPC meeting dates were unanimously approved. CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS: •WAYNE ESTOPINAL was on hand to present an application for Certificate of Appropriateness to the Commission for new residential construction at 301 Riverside Drive.He was accompanied by Scott Hines,project architect with The Estopinal Group. Estopinal,owner of The Estopinal Group,is the owner of the property at 301 Riverside and told the Commission the home he wants to build will be his personal residence. He gave the Commission the history of the property,how he came to own it and how he eventually partnered with His- toric Landmarks and moved the house that originally sat on the property to Chestnut Street.That move left the corner lot empty. "This is a unique lot on this block...."Estopinal told the Commission. `It is much more narrow than neighboring lots-at just over 32 feet wide while others are 50,88,55,61 etc... The bottom line is it's a narrow lot and I cant do a lot about the lot size..." Because of the narrow lot Estopinal said his only choice to obtain the square footage he wants in the home is to build up instead of out,and showed the Commission plans for the proposed three-story home with an open rooftop entertainment area. He said he took the heights of nearby properties into consideration when he was designing plans for the home,pointing out that the ridge of the roofline on the apartment building on the opposite corner is 479 feet and that the turret on the bungalow directly next door to his lot is 483 feet,whereas the front façade of the construction he is proposing is 486 feet. Because of current Corps of Engineers requirements,however,Estopinal said he is required to build his home with all oc- cupiable space three feet above ground level. "Unfortunately,the other homes on the bock were built before the Corps of Engineers had the codes that I have to follow so those home can start lower than mine;'Estopinal said."I automatically have to start three feet higher." Estopinal next moved on to explain some of his proposed aesthetic details to the Commission,saying the exterior of the home would be metal panels that has the appearance of stone.He said the panels are a low-maintenance finish that won't require cleaning and painting.Estopinal said the exterior would be done in"non-controversial colors"of all gray with white trim. Laura Renwick asked about the reflectivity of the metal panels on the exterior. "They're not reflective at all,"Estopinal said."I wouldn't stand for it." Renwick then asked about the proposed lack of windows on the Locust Street side of the home. "I take this review board seriously;"Estopinal said."I worked with Dale Orem when it was first formed,so this isn't some- thing I take lightly.I've tried to anticipate what your concerns would be and address them here tonight" He continued,saying that he also wasn't entirely happy with his original design-including the lack of windows on the Locust Street side-but that he also wasn't happy with what he's looking at across Locust Street,specifically pointing out a corner apartment building. He pointed out the split face block and vinyl siding on the exterior,adding"there's not much historical there" Still,Estopinal said that in anticipation of the Commission's concerns over the lack of windows on the Locust Street side of the home,he had already come up with a different plan.He showed the commission renderings that included added transoms on the front and bay Windows on the east and west sides of the home. "I hope this gives you some better idea of what we might do;'Estopinal said of the updated renderings."I'm not ecstatic about what I'm looking at here... But I think injecting some natural wood(on the front)helps and some of these other things take the starkness out of it,"Estopinal said. Renwick also pointed out to Estopinal that the flat roofline with the top floor,open air entertainment level of his design was not reflective of neighboring rooflines. "We had this come up with another property on West Riverside;'Renwick said."A flat roofline lends itself to a more com- mercial look:' Estopinal said he would be willing to consider something else,but wasn't sure what options he would have(as far as add- ing gables)that wouldn't interfere with the living space. "When these homes were built there wasn't a lot going on on the riverfront ....There wasn't anything to look at:'Estopi- nal said."I think this(flat roof with entertainment area)is reflective of the new activity on the riverfront.I think it would be a fan- tastic place to have a rooftop.It is a really compact lot,I've got no outside space and I've got no yard"The rooftop entertainment area would be the only way for him to enjoy the outdoors and riverfront view,Estopinal said. Member Ed Siewert questioned the"modern look"of Estopinal's design. "Obviously you understand the nature of this board and what it is meant to accomplish...to preserve the historic nature of the area"Siewert said."This(design)doesn't do that at all:' Estopinal disagreed that the design is"modern" "I think this is very contextual;"Estopinal said,pointing out the facade with the transom and a porch and other"orga- nized(architectural)elements" "If I wanted to be really contemporary I wouldn't do those things;'Estopinal said."I do think,honestly,we've tried to be incredibly sympathetic to what the facade looks like:' "We've tried to be very cognizant of the detailing...we're going to spend a great deal of money getting all of the reveals in it... I do see where some would honestly say'wow,that's super contemporary'but if I were doing contemporary....Id do a lot of things different:' Estopinal said the metal panels on the exterior will give the illusion of Hardy Board or siding,that it wouldn't look like metal and appear modern. "If I didn't tell you it was metal siding,you'd never know.You would think it was wood;'Estopinal said. Renwick asked Estopinal if he had considered using brick for the exterior,but Estopinal said three stories of brick would"be too visually heavy:' Estopinal told Commission members he was willing to talk to the manufacturer of the metal panels to see if they could change the"runs and reveals"of the panels and that he also would go back and make some other changes to his design based upon . some of the Commission's concerns and questions.He said he still needed approvals from DNR and the Corps but wanted to get started on construction as quickly as possible. "We'll try to look at a couple of other things that may soften the appearance a little bit;"Estopinal said."We'll do other renderings ...we'd be happy to submit those to you and come back to you.I want to do this on good terms:' Laura Lindley,a nearby homeowner,was on hand to address the Commission about Estopinal's application for Certificate of Appropriateness.She prefaced her comments to the Commission by acknowledging her and her husband's longstanding friend- ship with Estopinal,but still took issue over his proposal. "My question,mainly for the Historic Commission would be are there materials I can put on my house to make it less maintenance?I doubt Id be allowed to replace my clapboard that has to be painted often....with something less maintenance:' "I'm wondering if perhaps,on this design,could eyebrows be incorporated on the front windows in any way,Wayne?Or would that take away from the look you're going for?"Lindley asked. "My first impression when I received the renderings of the house was'it's perfect-for Chicago ....Lindley said."But,it's Wayne...This is his style.To me it does not fit into what I think of as a historic district,but I live in a house that was actually built in 1901 -not 2018:' Estopinal emphasized again that there are many properties along Riverside Drive that aren't historic. "I look down Riverside Drive and I see properties that aren't historic at all.There's nothing reminiscent of historic prop- erties in some of those places..."Estopinal said."I have tried really hard to put a home there that I want to live in... I've been respectful to as many people as possible with setting things back and setting back the porch ... detailing windows ...being very cognizant of that type of thing.I've spent a lot of time and money and energy trying to get this thing to scale and keep it respect- ful.A new home can fit into a historic district and still belong..." Renwick conceded that some neighboring properties lack historic elements. "I agree that those two across Locust from you are not ideal....Renwick said. Estopinal told the Commission he would go back to his plans and make some additional changes and present his updated