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HDC_02 05 2007DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT LITTLE ROCK HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION 723 West Markham Street Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1334 Phone: (501) 371-4790 Fax: (501) 399-3435 LITTLE ROCK HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION AGENDA Monday, February 5, 2007, 5:00 p.m. Sister Cities' Conference Room, City Hall I. Roll Call A Quorum was present being three (3) in number. Members Present: Carolyn Newbern Wesley Walls Kay Tatum Marshall Peters Susan Bell Members Absent: none City Attorney: Debra Weldon Staff Present: Brian Minyard Tony Bozynski Citizens Present: Boyd Maher II. Finding of a Quorum III. Approval of Minutes a. none IV. Deferred Certificates of Appropriateness a. none V. New Certificates of Appropriateness a. 1020 Rock Street 1 DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT LITTLE ROCK HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION 723 West Markham Street Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1334 Phone: (501) 371-4790 Fax: (501) 399-3435 STAFF REPORT ITEM NO. 1. DATE: February 5, 2007 APPLICANT: Jay and Barbara Core ADDRESS: 1020 Rock Street COA Demolition of Building REQUEST: PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION: The subject property is located at 1020 Rock Street. The property's legal description is East 68' of Lot 7, Block 45, Original City of Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas. The one story commercial building was built ca. 1900. It is considered a "Contributing Structure" to the MacArthur Park Historic District. The architectural significance in the 1978 survey is of a Priority II (1 being the highest and II being the lowest) and Historical Significance of Local significance Local historical si nificance means that Location of Project the buildings are associated with people of social prominence. 1988 survey dates it at 1886 in the Italianate Commercial design and has the name of "Baer Grocery" as the historical name. This project suffered damage during a fire on July 24, 2006. The owner /applicants have applied for a Certificate of Appropriateness for demolition for the structure. They have provided documentation to state that the building is structurally unsound. PREVIOUS ACTIONS ON THIS SITE: On September 4, 2003, a COA was approved for restoration of facades with a vote of 3 ayes, 0 noes and 2 absent. On August 4, 2005, a COA was approved for fencing, door modifications, awnings over the front door and a shed porch in the rear with a vote of 5 ayes, 0 noes and 0 absent. 2 Historic photo ca. 1978 East elevation as of 7-12-2005 Southwest corner of structure as of 1-19-07 Front facade as of 1-30-07 The ordinance states in Section 23-132. Certificate of appropriateness -- Generally. (a) 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. An application for a certificate of appropriateness shall have been issued by the commission prior to the issuance of a building permit or other permit granted for purposes of constructing or altering structures. PROPOSAL: Staff received a letter from Barbara Core, the owner of the property dated January 8, 2007 asking to demolish the building. It was a subject of a fire on July 24, 2006. The fire has burned almost the entire roof structure and the entire interior. The north and west walls are still standing. The south wall has partially collapsed over the 3 rear door area and the eastern front facade is still mostly intact. The photos following show portions of the building and the damage to it. Separation at southwest corner of South wall looking west East front facade looking north building WRITTEN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION BASED OFF OF INTENT AND GUIDELINES: The guidelines state on page 73 under Section VII. Guidelines for Relocation and Demolition: Under certain conditions, however, demolition permits may be granted by the Historic District Commission: 1. The public safety and welfare requires the removal of the building, as determined by the building or code inspector and concurring reports commissioned by and acceptable to the LRHDC from a structural engineer, architect, or other person expert in historic preservation. 2. Rehabilitation or relocation is impossible due to severe structural instability or irreparable deterioration of a building. 3. Extreme hardship has been demonstrated, proven, and accepted by the LRHDC. Economic hardship relates to the value and potential return of the property, not to the financial status of the property owner. 4. The building has lost its original architectural integrity and no longer contributes to the district. 5. No other reasonable alternative is feasible, including relocation of the building. The guidelines list five conditions under which demolition permits may be granted. The application at hand meets the criteria for the first item. Included in this report are copies of reports from the structural engineer hired by the applicant, from the LR Fire Marshall's and from the LR Building Codes Manager. All three of these reports state that the building should be demolished for public safety reasons. 4 NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS AND REACTION: At the time of distribution, there was one comment regarding this application and the letter of support is included. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval with the following conditions: 1. Obtaining a demolition permit. 2. Project to be completed within 90 days of obtaining permit. COMMISSION ACTION: February 5, 2007 Staff Brian Minyard made a brief presentation of the item for the demolition of the structure at 1020 Rock Street. Legal notices were sent to the neighboring properties by the applicant in a timely fashion. Commissioner Kay Tatum stated for the record that she has known the applicant for some time but does not have a financial interest in this application. Carolyn Newbern stated that she had a discussion with Tommy Jamigon, a neighbor of hers about the project. Mr. Jamison had been a consultant for the Cores. She does not have any financial interest in the project. There were no questions of Staff about the report. Barbara Core, the applicant, stated that she was disappointed that the city does not have a method to expedite the process. She asked the commission to find a way to handle these types of applications in a faster way. Debra Weldon, from the City Attorney's office, said that the commission was looking at the ordinance now and will consider that. Chair Newbern added that the chain link fence around the property was good and protected themselves. There were no citizens present to speak on the item. It was noted that it was standard procedure to allow citizens to speak on all items. Commissioner Wesley Walls made a motion to approve the demolition permit. Commissioner Kay Tatum seconded. Staff asked the applicant to clarify what the condition of the lot would be after the building was demolished. She stated that there would be grass planted on the site with topsoil added. It would be clean. The motion passed with a vote of 5 ayes, 0 noes and 0 absent. After the vote was cast, two citizens entered the hearing, Harry and Robin Loucks. They came to speak in favor of the demolition. It was noted that their attendance would be noted in the record. Mrs. Core asked Staff when the final paperwork could be picked up. 5 VI. Other Matters a. Ordinance revisions General discussion of the ordinance. Debra Weldon distributed a new updated draft of the ordinance. She stated that she had inserted some reserved numbers for future expansion. The grouping has changed to make the order more logical. She added that she had edited the enforcement section and that the attorney's staff will review this section. She did state that she had found an Arkansas Supreme Court case that could be relevant to the enforcement issue of the MacArthur Park Historic District. Page 2 of 11 under maintenance, the guidelines require a COA for adding gutters and downspouts while the ordinance consider them maintenance. Mr. Minyard suggested taking the words "or adding" out of the ordinance. A discussion followed on the creation of new local ordinance districts and who had standing to request a report to create a historic district. The boundaries of the historic district were also discussed. Mr. Minyard will investigate them and report to Ms. Weldon. Commissioner Walls left at 5:40 p.m. b. Enforcement updates Mr. Minyard stated concerning 215 Cumberland has a permit for interior remodel and will send them a letter concerning the MacArthur Park Historic District. Kay Tatum brought up 904 Scott Street. It was discussed that they were painting the exterior of the building. Staff was asked to send a letter to 1015 Cumberland to ask about progress on the renovations. Staff was asked to investigate 605 or 607 Sixth Street for possible enforcement items. Mr. Minyard followed up on the 311 questions. The 311 have been forwarding the questions to the Housing department instead of HDC Staff. Mr. Minyard stated that the signs for MacArthur Park are ready to pick up at the sign place. He continued that the Homeowners Handbooks are on the web in its entirety. It was decided that at the CLG quarterly meeting, that each city would receive a copy of the Guidelines and the Handbook. 6 Discussions were had about the bill at the state legislature for the state tax credit. It had not been filed yet. The code of ethics provided by the NAPC was discussed and Staff encouraged the Commission to read it. It could not be adopted by the HDC unless it was called something else because of the conflict with the City of Little Rock's policy of the same name. Tony Bozynski talked about the collaboration with QQA for an event in May. Staff is to contact Joe Riley about speaking in preparation for the Preservation Plan. The Dunbar neighborhood will be surveyed with a $10,000 CDBG grant. This will be administered though the Housing department with HDC staff contributing. VII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m. Attest: Chair Date 7