/
     
HDC_10 05 2023October 5, 2023 DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 723 West Markham Street Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1334 Phone: (501) 371-4790 Fax:(501) 399-3435 www.little rock.gov LITTLE ROCK HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTE RECORD Thursday, October 5th , 2023, 4:00 p.m. Willie Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center, 3805 W. 12 th Street I.Roll Call Members Present: Chair, Amber Jones Vice Chair, Christina Aleman Jonathan Nunn Amber Haugen Tom DeGraff Scott Green Members Absent: Tom Fennell Staff Present: Hannah Ratzlaff Sherri Latimer Jeremy Gosdin Alice Anderson Citizens Present: Peggy Veregin II. Finding a Quorum A quorum was present being six (6) in number. Ill. Minutes 1.August 3rd, 2023 Minutes The minutes were presented. Commissioner Jones made a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Nunn seconded. The minutes were approved by voice vote as submitted. IV.National Register Nominations 1 October 5, 2023 None V.Deferred Certificates of Appropriateness None VI.New Certificates of Appropriateness None VI I. Other Matters 1 . CLG Grant Updates Ratzlaff, Staff, made a presentation regarding the 2023 CLG grant projects. The Commonwealth Heritage Group was contracted on September 21 st for the Hillcrest Historic District resurvey, Phase 3 project. They will begin field work in late October/early November. Letters would be mailed out to property owners within the resurvey area notifying them of the resurvey effort. The Lakota Group was contracted on September 25th for consulting services to create new design guidelines for the MacArthur Park Historic District. Ratzlaff announced that a staff member of the Lakota Group, Peggy Veregin, was attending the meeting virtually for a meet and greet with the Commissioners and to answer any questions. 2.Kick-Off Meeting with the Lakota Group, Design Guidelines Ratzlaff introduced Peggy Veregin. Mrs. Veregin made a presentation to the Commission. Ratzlaff confirmed that the Lakota Group and City of Little Rock staff would be meeting virtually soon to nail down the project schedule and community engagement plan moving forward, and Staff would have that information for the Commission soon. The Commission had a discussion with Mrs. Veregin concerning goals for the guidelines. Commissioner DeGraff asked what goals had been set for the guidelines in previous discussions with the Commission. Ratzlaff shared a list of goals resulting from previous Commission meetings which she had incorporated into the Request for Qualifications that went out to bid in July. The Lakota Group addressed each of these goals directly in its RFQ response. Goals: •Incorporating national historic preservation regulation best practices for design guidelines to Little Rock's context. •In addition to a regulatory guide, the new guidelines should be a resource to property owners/developers/contractors for maintenance and repair as well as incentives and resources. 2 October 5, 2023 •Treatment of "non-contributing" resources. •Correcting gaps in existing guidelines, such as guidelines for historic detached accessory structures. •The appropriate use of artificial materials for various project types: new construction, alterations to existing structures, additions, site improvements, etc. •Consideration and possible development of a residential infill pattern book to encourage and incentivize desired neighborhood infill. •Consistency throughout document. •Creating an efficient and consistent process for administrative approvals and appropriate submittal requirements that are in compliance with state and local law (e.g., description of project versus architectural elevations and renderings). •Neighborhood design standards for right-of-way improvements. There was additional discussion about what would be included in the new guidelines. After the discussion concluded, Mrs. Veregin finished her presentation to the Commission and left the meeting. Commissioner Aleman asked Ratzlaff how involved the Commission would be with this process. Ratzlaff clarified that the Commission was welcome to, and encouraged to, be a part of the process as much as possible, especially with community meetings. It was not necessary that Commissioners join the consultants when they come into town to do field work and tour the district. There was a discussion about which locations within the MacArthur Park Historic District would be good venues to host community meetings. Ratzlaff said there was consideration for the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts since it was central to the district, well-equipped, and could accommodate a flexible amount of people. 3.AACR LRSD Grant Letter of Support Ratzlaff presented a draft letter of support to the Commissioners for their consideration to support the Little Rock School District's application for the National Park Service African American Civil Rights grant. If so awarded, the grant will fund window improvements to the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. Commissioner Aleman pointed out a correction to make to the draft letter. Ratzlaff documented the amendment. Commissioner Aleman made a motion to submit a letter of support to the Little Rock School District for the purposes of the grant pursuant to the amendment proposed. Commissioner Nunn seconded. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote with six (6) ayes, zero (0) noes, and one (1) absent. 3 October 5, 2023 4. Review of the By -Laws Ratzlaff presented amendments to the Historic District Commission by- laws for consideration. Deputy City Attorney, Sherri Latimer, discussed several of the amendments recommended by Staff. The proposed amendments primarily included grammatical corrections, helpful references to the Little Rock Historic Preservation Code, and clarification of administrative and Commission procedures to reflect contemporary practices. There was discussion on whether the ordinance amendment (Other Matters Item 5, below) concerning COA expirations would be incorporated in the by-laws if passed by approved by the Board of Directors. Mrs. Latimer said it was unnecessary and it would be redundant to include them. Ratzlaff and the Commission agreed. Commissioner Aleman made a motion to approve the amendments to the by-laws as presented. Commissioner Haugen seconded. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote with six (6) ayes, zero (0) noes, and one (1) absent. 5. COA Term Expirations & Extensions 4 October 5, 2023 OTHER MATTERS NO.: FIVE Ordinance Amendment: COA Expirations NAME: COA Conditions & Expirations LOCATION: Ordinance Amendment to Little Rock Historic Preservation Code APPLICANT: Staff A. BACKGROUND The implementation of expirations for approved COAs has been discussed at HDC meetings since at least September 2006. In 2006, Staff had recommended time limits and the Commission had approved them. The Staff/Commission ceased doing so because it was determined that it was not in the power of the Commission to do so without an ordinance revision. The Commission, during this time, decided not to have time limits on the COAs. In 2013, the Commission revisited COA expiration terms. It was determined by legal counsel that the Little Rock Historic Preservation Code would need to be amended through an ordinance in order to set these terms and then the By-Laws would need to be amended to include such actions. At the July 8, 2013 meeting, the Commission approved changes to the code, shown below: (approved changes shown as underlined text) "Sec. 23-115. Certificate of appropriateness required. (a)COA Requirement. No building or structure, including stone walls, fences, light fixtures, steps and paving or other appurtenant fixtures shall be erected, altered, restored, moved, or demolished within the historic district created by this division until after an application for a certificate of appropriateness as to the exterior architectural changes has been submitted to and approved by the historic district commission. (b)COA Expiration. A certificate of appropriateness shall expire if all permits required for constructing or altering structures are not obtained within one (1) year of the commission's approval of the certificate of appropriateness. If all required permits are obtained within one (1) year of the commission's approval of the certificate of appropriateness, the certificate of appropriateness shall be valid as long as each permit remains valid. If a building permit or other permit granted for purposes of constructing or altering structures is not req uired. a certificate of appropriateness shall be valid for one year; and the project must be completed within that one-year period. A six-month extension of a certificate of appropriateness may be granted by the commission based on good cause beyond the control of the applicant. All applications for extension of a certificate 5 October 5, 2023 OTHER MATTERS NO.; FIVE Ordinance Amendment. CDR Expirations of appropriateness must be submitted to the commission at least one (1) month_ prior to expiration of the certificate of appropriateness." These changes are not _in effect. There was no ordinance proposed to the Board of Directors to revise this section of code and, therefore, it was not adopted. Past Action & Discussion On July 8, 2013, the Commission voted to approve changes to the Little Rock Historic Preservation Code (Sec. 23-115) to set expiration terms for Certificates of Appropriateness. B. PRO POSAUREQUEST/AP PLICANT'S STATEMENT: Staff proposes the consideration of the attached ordinance amendment (Attachment A) to revise the Little Rock Historic Preservation Code (Sec. 23-115) to include conditions and time limits for certificates of appropriateness. A redlined ordinance (Attachment B) is submitted for the Commission to compare the existing code with the proposed revisions. C. EXISTING CONDITIONS: There are currently no conditions set in the Little Rock Historic Preservation Code for COA expirations or time limits. D. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: Public notice has been provided for this item. At the time of distribution, there were no comments regarding this item. All neighborhood associations registered with the City of Little Rock in proximity to the local ordinance district were notified of the public hearing. E. ANALYSIS: Staff has considered previous actions and discussions of the Commission and taken statewide and nationwide historic preservation commission regulations and preservation ordinances under advisement. Alignment with the City's existing procedures for other permits in the Planning & Development Department have been examined. The Little Rock Zoning Code sets procedures for zoning permit expirations, including additional actions of the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustments. To be compatible with other Planning & Development conditions of approval, while also recognizing the unique purpose and responsibilities of the Historic District Commission, Staff believes clear, compatible, and specific procedures are necessary for consistent and reliable treatment of projects. October 5, 2023 OTHER MATTERS NO.: FIVE Ordinance Amendment: COA Expirations There is a need to have a process which: handles both large-scale and small-scale projects smoothly; does not disincentivize property maintenance and project completion; and provides necessary public review for delayed impactful developments. F.STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the ordinance amendment. G. COMMISSION ACTION: OCTOBER 5, 2023 Ratzlaff presented a proposed ordinance amendment to amend Chapter 23, Article IV, Division 3 (Sec. 23-115) of the Little Rock Revised Code of Ordinances to provide a revision of the purposes and procedures concerning certificates of appropriateness, primarily the inclusion of terms of expiration. Ratzlaff confirmed that public notice was provided for this item and the Commission could take action. She also confirmed that there were no public comments received for the item. Commissioner Aleman was concerned that the following statement in the proposed ordinance amendment would unfairly penalize an applicant if they chose to complete a partial project scope rather than the full scope as approved by the Commission: "In the event any condition or requirement included in the certificate of appropriateness has not been met, or work requiring a certificate of appropriateness occurs in the absence of a certificate of appropriateness, a citation for violation shall be issued pursuant to Sec. 27-78 of this division and all work shall immediately cease until such violations have been remedied." She gave an example of an approved application for front porch repairs. She wondered if the owner was approved to repair the concrete steps leading up to the porch but due to financial constraints they decided to hold off on this item for a later date, would the owner be penalized for not completing the full scope of the approved work. There was a discussion about how to reword this section for clarity. Commissioner Aleman asked if applicants would be made aware of the new certificate of appropriateness terms and requirements. Ratzlaff said, following Board of Director approval, all Historic District Commission documents would be updated to reflect these requirements. Ratzlaff said the Planning and Development Department was currently looking at ways to improve the inspection process for certificates of appropriateness. These improvements would also be reflected in future Historic District Commission documents. Commissioner Nunn was concerned that a certificate of appropriateness would expire in the middle of the building permit process. He said the two processes should be compatible and free of conflict. There was a discussion about how to 7 October 5, 2023 OTHER MA TIERS NO.: FIVE Ordinance Amendment: COA Expirations reword this section for clarity. Latimer suggested that the item be deferred to the next meeting so Staff could make the necessary amendments discussed. 8 October 5, 2023 6.Enforcement Issues There were no enforcement issues to report. 7.Certificates of Compliance HDC2023-023 -818 S Commerce -window, siding, fence, and concrete steps repair, roof replacement HDC2023-024-1402 S Commerce -HVAC improvement 8.Citizen Communication No citizens chose to speak during this time. VII I. Adjournment There was a motion to adjourn and a second. The meeting was adjourned at 5:23pm. ATTEST Chair Date Staff Date 9