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HDC_05 03 1990City of Little Rock HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION LITTLE ROCK HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MAY 3, 1990 5:00 P.M. The meeting was called to order at 5:05 p.m. by Chairman William Kennedy, III. A quorum was present - Mr. William Kennedy, III, Ms. Cheryl Nichols, Mr. Thomas Johnson and Mr. John Bush. Mr. John Jarrard was absent. Also present was City Attorney Stephen Giles. Before any order of business, Mr. John Bush was recognized by Chairman Kennedy as a new member who had been added to serve on the Board. A motion was made by Commissioner Johnson and seconded by Commissioner Nichols to approve the minutes of November 2 and January 4 as mailed. Also a motion was made by Commissioner Bush and seconded by Commissioner Nichols to approved the minutes of January 25 as mailed. Motion passed. The meeting was opened by a report from Mr. Giles regarding the demolition of the Bossiner House. Mr. Giles said that his office had spent a lot of time drafting and redrafing an affidavit trying to get the Municipal Court Judge to issue a warrant to the property owner. The Judge had a problem in so doing because the City's Public Works Department made an error. Even though the Statute and the Ordinance require property owners to get a Certificate of Appropriateness before anything can be done with the building, the Judge did not see it that way, amd it appears to be a dead issue at this point. Also it was stated by Mr. Giles that his office has looked at all possibilities for further legal action or civil action against the property owner for loss of the Historic District structure. Chairman Kennedy asked if action had been taken to assure the Commission that this would not happen again. Mr. Giles responded by saying he would give an update at the next meeting. However, they have had several discussions with Mr. Jim Hathcock, the Chief of Codes and Mr. Mike Batie, the Director of Public Works. He said that the permit chief, who issued the permit in error, is no longer with the City. In fact, the person who issued the permit in error was leaving that same week, therefore, there was no reprimand. Mr. Giles said that he just failed to look at all the records that were in the office at the time. But now he is told that the permit person has a check list of things to look at when a person comes in for a demolition permit. The permit person is required to check the maps and also card file by property address when someone comes in and asks for a demolition permit. They go through the card file and if it's in the Historic District, the card should indicate that. This would let the permit person know right away that no demolition permit can be issued unless a Certificate of Appropriateness has been obtained. Commissioner Bush said that it looks as if it was fraud and he could see why the Judge had a problem in considering this. He said that he wasn't sure it was a mistake, since the guy was leaving in a week. Was he asked to do so? Mr. Giles responded by saying that issue did come up and they indicated to him that this was not the case. He had been a very good permit person for the City for many many years and this was the first big mistake he had made. Mr. Giles said another element the Judge had a problem with was not only the fact that the City issued the permit, but prior to that the City sent a form letter to the property owner that gave him 30 days to either initiate repairs or demolish the structure. Mr. Giles pointed out that the letter can be very effective for the City in giving the property owners the last shot in trying to do something and in many cases they do. Also one of the steps that has been taken is that there will be a different letter prepared and sent out to property owners in the Historic District that will not give them the option to demolish. They will have to initiate repairs or they will be prosecuted in Municipal Court. Ms. Gross, Executive Director of the Quapaw Quarter Association, gave an update on the 1989 Certified Local Government Projects. Ms. Gross began by saying that the Quapaw Qaurter Association had held a logo competition and received approximately 70 entries. She said that Commissioner Johnson was one of the 7 judges. They announced the winner at a press conference. Ms. Debbie Strobel was the first prize winner, winning $2,000 for her design. Ms. Gross said that the Parks and Recreation Department would be working with the author on how to take the logo design revise it and adapt it to bronze plaques. Ms. Gross pointed out that this would be done according to the budget provided by the CLG Grant which is about $8,000. Ms. Gross said the survey of property in the MacArthur Park District was progressing on schedlue. Ms. Gross said that they had been unsuccessful in locating a buyer for the Bentley House and they are in no position to move the house. It was stated by Commissioner Nichols that there had been problems with moving the building due to a price of $50,000 quoted by the Wittenberg Firm. 2 Recommendation on the Knoop House Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places Randy Jeffery, State Historic Preservation Program Mr. Jeffery gave a report on the Knoop House Nomination. Mr. Jeffery said that in the June meeting they would be nominating the Knoop House to the National Register but he wanted to present it to the Commission first for their approval. Mr. Jeffery pointed out that this particular structure had been considered because of its architectural style, which is the Art Moderne. Also Mr. Jeffery gave a brief run down on how the house is actually structured. He said that the house maintains all the original features with the exception of a garage which was turned into living space in the 1950's and some casement windows had been removed. There was discussion about the original light fixtures by Commissioner Bush. Mr. Jeffery said that the original light fixtures were there. After discussion, a motion was made by Commissioner Nichols to recommend the Knoop House for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and seconded by Commissioner Bush. Motion passed. Commissioner Nichols gave a brief report on the Hillcrest National Registernomination. She said that she and Ms. Sandra-Taylor Smith had been working on the project since the first of March. They have determined it to be 1, 604 properties in the District making it the biggest Historic District ever in Arkansas. The next largest would be the Governor's Mansion Historic District which has 686 properties. Mrs. Nichols stated that they had entered 1,384 of those properties into the computer. Also it was stated that they had until the end of July so that the Preservation Program could assemble it all and send it to members of the State Review Board who will officially act on it at their September State Review Board meeting. Commissioner Nichols said that the project was taking longer than they had expected because information received was not information they could use, therefore, they are having to go back and get other information that they don't have. Most of the information gathered was information that they got from the Assessor's office which was often 10 to 20 years off on construction date. Discussion of Proposal for 1990 Certified Local Government Projects It was decided by the full Commission that Central High was an area that they needed to look into. Also Commissioner John Jarrard wanted to put his Downtown Survey project on for discussion. Chairman Kennedy said that he would like to take a look at the parking and zoning laws for the district. Commissioner Nichols asked if the City would consider McArthur Park as part of the Central Little Rock zoning district and if so, ask that that zoning be changed. Commissioner Johnson responded by saying that he had talked with Jim Lawson about the Hillcrest area and he was receptive to it. He said if they would come up with some specific proposals and some real strong guidelines and ordinances, they would be receptive. Commissioner Nichols said that the City was going to have to do something with the Central High neighborhood in order to salvage what is left of the neighborhood. Commissioner Nichols said that they needed to get some type of publication out regarding the MacArthur Park District. She said there are people who own property in the district and do not realize that they are in a Historic District. There was discussion initiated by Commissioner Bush regarding underground utilities. Commissioner Nichols said that the QQA was working to get underground utilities on 9th and 17th Streets and part of Rock Street. That would be done in conjunction with the installation of period lighting. There is a limited amount of money and just so many blocks that can be done now. Also it was pointed out that AP &L had donated the work. After discussion, Staff was instructed by Chairman Kennedy to find out what the CLG grant proposal deadline was and notify everyone by letter. Commissioner Nichols gave a brief report on the "wish list" that she and some of the neighborhood groups had compiled and submitted to the City Board in January. Also Commissioner Johnson had been working on the task force as a representative of the Historic District Commission. Ms. Nichols said they had met with Tom Dalton, Charles Nickerson, Jim Lawson and Mike Batie on April 18 to go over the recommendations. She said the City is willing to start making some changes in the way that they operate particularly in older neighborhoods. There being no further business before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m. nm 4 Correction of May, 1990 Minutes: On page 2, paragraph 2, the minutes stated that Commissioner Bush said that it looks as if it was fraud and he could see why the Judge has a problem in considering this. He said that he wasn't sure it was a mistake, since the guy was leaving in a week. Was he asked to do So? The minutes should have stated: Commissioner Bush said it really looks like it was almost fraud. He could see how the Judge might consider that the City made a mistake. He said also that he wasn't sure it was a mistake when you weigh the facts, the circumstances speak of fraud. Has anybody looked to see if the guy who signed it who was leaving in a week was in collusion or was asked to do so? On page 2, paragraph 7, the minutes stated that Commissioner Nichols said that there had been problems with moving the building due to a price of $50,000 quoted by the Wittenberg Firm. The minutes should have stated: Commissioner Nichols asked if there had been some problem with moving the building? Ms. Gross stated that the original quote was based on Mr. Wittenberg's quote of $2,000. Since that time the contractor did a complete investigation of the building, and gave a minimum estimate of $50,000 to move the building.