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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHDC_02 01 2024 DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 723 West Markham Street Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1334 Phone: (501) 371-4790 Fax:(501) 399-3435 www.littlerock.gov LITTLE ROCK HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTE RECORD Thursday, February 1st, 2024, 4:00 p.m. Willie Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center, 3805 W. 12th Street I. Roll Call Members Present: Chair, Amber Jones Vice Chair, Christina Aleman Jonathan Nunn Tom Fennell Scott Green Thomas DeGraff Members Absent: Amber Haugen Staff Present: Hannah Ratzlaff Sherri Latimer Jeremy Gosdin Citizens Present: Joe Flaherty Angel Burt Brian Minyard II. Finding a Quorum A quorum was present being six (6) in number. III. Citizen Communication Brian Minyard, Interim Executive Director for the Quapaw Quarter Association, addressed the Commission. Mr. Minyard introduced himself and discussed the mission, purpose, and initiatives of the Quapaw Quarter Association for the benefit of new commissioners. Commissioner Jones welcomed Mr. Minyard and noted to new commissioners that Mr. Minyard previously held the position of February 1, 2024 2 Urban Designer with the City of Little Rock and was staff to the Historic District Commission before his retirement in 2021. Mr. Minyard announced that the QQA would be on the search for a new Executive Director in 2024. Angel Burt, President of the Historic Dunbar Neighborhood Association, addressed the Commission and discussed the significant history of the Dunbar neighborhood and the Paul Laurence Dunbar School Neighborhood Historic District. Mrs. Burt the cultural and architectural heritage of the Dunbar neighborhood. IV. Minutes 1. December 7th, 2023 Minutes The minutes were presented. Commissioner Jones made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted. Commissioner Fennell seconded. The minutes were approved by voice vote. V. National Register Nominations None VI. Deferred Certificates of Appropriateness None VII. New Certificates of Appropriateness 1. HDC2024-001 University of Arkansas at Little Rock/ John Greer Jr. AIA, WER Architects 712 E. 11th Street Demolition This item is being deferred to the March 7th public hearing due to failure of public notice. Staff notified the Commission that the application failed to meet public notice requirements and would be deferred to the next public hearing scheduled for March 7th, 2024. There was no action required of the Commission. The application was automatically deferred. VIII. Other Matters 1. NAPC Forum Conference attendance, July 31st- August 4th, 2024, West Palm Beach, FL Ratzlaff announced the opportunity for commissioners to attend the 2024 NAPC Forum conference, July 31st August 4th in West Palm Beach, Florida. Attendance would be funded through an upcoming Certified Local Government grant, pending award, and would cover conference and travel costs. The conference is held biennially and is focused on issues facing local historic preservation boards and commissions. Ratzlaff clarified that grant funds were requested to fund attendance of February 1, 2024 3 up to two commissioners. If a commissioner was interested in attending, they should reach out to staff. 2. 23-CLG Grant Project Updates Ratzlaff made a presentation regarding the active 2023 CLG grant projects. The Commonwealth Heritage Group was contracted on September 21st, 2023 for the Hillcrest Historic District resurvey, Phase 3 project. The team completed field work and the first deliverable of Arkansas Architectural Resource Forms (AARF) well in advance of required deadlines. The next deliverable deadline is April 29, 2024, to submit a full draft report and all drafts of the AARF documents. Commissioner Jones asked how the resurvey counts were looking regarding Contributing and Non-Contributing structures. Ratzlaff said that since they were doing the resurvey in phases over a five year period, staff only has completed data for the first phase. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is still processing the survey documents from the second phase and the City has not yet received this official data following the second phase. Until then, a trend can't be determined. Of the sites that were resurveyed within the first phase, roughly bound by Markham Street, Knoop Park, Edgerstoune Lane, and Linwood, the structures that were once eligible in the District and are now ineligible in the District are primarily ineligible due to significant alterations rather than demolitions. The Lakota Group was contracted on September 25 th, 2023 for consulting services to create new design guidelines for the MacArthur Park Historic District. The team has completed field documentation, a review of the community engagement plan, hosted several focus group meetings with stakeholders, property owners, and residents, and has submitted the first deliverable which is a memorandum of key observations and issues as well as a draft outline for the guidelines. The memorandum and the draft outline will be provided to the Commission for their review at the next public meeting. Ratzlaff presented the commission with an overview of the project website, available at www.macarthurparksdg.com, and shared additional public outreach included social media posts on Facebook and Instagram. Staff also included the project flyer in the most recent mailout to MacArthur Park Historic District property owners in January 2024. Commissioner Jones asked when the commission could expect to have another meeting with the Lakota Group staff. Ratzlaff said the Lakota Group would be attending virtually at the March 7 th public hearing to have a check-in call with the commission and to review the submitted memorandum and draft outline. February 1, 2024 4 3. 2023 In Review Staff presented an overview of past accomplishments of the year, including: • Completed Phase 2 of the Hillcrest Historic District resurvey project. • Completed the African American Civil Rights Grant funded project to nominate the University Park Historic District. • Began Phase 3 of the Hillcrest Historic District resurvey project. • Began a comprehensive update of the MacArthur Park Design Guidelines. • Improved social media outreach and public communication and engagement efforts. • Launched a new City hosted webpage dedicated to Cultural Heritage & Historic Preservation in Little Rock: www.littlerock.gov/preservation • Amended the Little Rock Preservation Code to set Certificate of Appropriateness expiration terms. • Updated Historic District Commission branding, including a new logo. • Garnered $100,850 of Certified Local Government grant funding for special projects. The commission reviewed the ten Certificate of Appropriateness applications filed in 2023 that were reviewed by the commission at a public hearing. The Commission briefly discussed the approved COA at 1302 Cumberland, HDC2023-018, and the possibility of a staff level approval for signage that does not exceed a specific size. There was a brief discussion regarding the approved COA at 420 E 9th Street, HDC2023-027, and the condition of the original siding following the removal of non-historic siding during the demolition progress. Staff presented a look at the projects to be completed and started in the coming year. Projects that are set to be completed include the new MacArthur Park design guidelines, an interactive map of the MacArthur Park Historic District, and the completion of the third phase of the Hillcrest Historic District resurvey project. Projects that will continue through the year and start this year will include updates to the citywide historic sites interactive web map, the fourth phase of the Hillcrest Historic District resurvey project, and new informational brochures for property owners of the MacArthur Park Historic District. Commissioner Fennell asked if the Pulaski Area County Geographic Information System (PAgis) organization was a partner, or would be February 1, 2024 5 hosting, the citywide historic sites interactive web map. Ratzlaff said a good portion of base data for the historic sites interactive web map was provided by PAgis and that they were continual partners with the City of Little Rock regarding geographic data. The City would be hosting this interactive map since the content was focused on Little Rock's historic resources rather than countywide historic resources. The commission discussed the approval of demolition applications where new construction was anticipated but plans were abandoned or delayed and the property was now vacant. Commissioner Jones mentioned a possible procedural regulation requiring applicants to have an approved application for new construction before a demolition application could be approved. Commissioner Aleman said she was supportive of considering this type of regulation. Ratzlaff said staff would research and present examples of this requirement at a future meeting. 4. Enforcement Issues None 5. Certificates of Compliance None IX. Adjournment There was a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 4:52 P.M. Attest: Chair Date Staff Date