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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-11- HSPB minutes CITY OF PALM SPRINGS HISTORIC SITE PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING CORRECTED Minutes of Meeting – Tuesday, March 11, 2008 Large Conference Room, City Hall, 3200 East Tahquitz Canyon Way Palm Springs, California 92262 BOARD MEMBERS Present This Meeting Present Year-to-Date FY 2007-2008 Excused Absences To-Date Sidney Williams, Chair X 8 1 Jade Nelson, Vice Chair X 8 1 John Williams X 8 1 Brian Strahl Sheila Grattan Shelly Saunders X X X 8 8 9 1 1 0 STAFF PRESENT: Craig Ewing, Director of Planning Diane Bullock, Associate Planner Loretta Moffett, Administrative Assistant * * * * * 1. The HSPB regularly scheduled meeting was called to order at 8:16 a.m. on Tuesday, March 11 2008 by HSPB Chair Sidney Williams. 2. ROLL CALL: Present: S. Grattan, J. Nelson, S. Saunders, B. Strahl, S. Williams, and J. Williams Bud Riley resigned from the Board by email due to health issues. 3. REPORT OF POSTING OF AGENDA: This Agenda was available and posted in accordance with state and local procedures for public access at the City Hall exterior bulletin board, City Clerk’s office, and the Department of Planning Services’ counter by 4:00 p.m. Thursday, March 6, 2008. NOTE: Audio Cassettes and DVDs of HSPB Meetings are available for review. Cassettes will be kept for six months only. DVDs of the meetings will be kept indefinitely. 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS: RON Marshall, 2685 Livmor Avenue, from the Sunmor Neighborhood that consists of 117 mid-century modern homes mostly built by Robert Higgins who also built the Horizon Hotel of the nationally prominent Alexander Construction Company. The neighborhood organization asked Mr. Marshall to investigate the potential of Sunmor becoming a historic district. A blog has been set-up on the www.sunmor.org web site to discuss the pros and cons. The P.S. Municipal Code has been reviewed closely, alongside the Marshall document and will be merged into a comprehensive document for neighborhoods to follow. The Marshalls understand this will be a time consuming process. They fully support HSPB sponsoring informational documents for neighborhoods to help to make this process clearer and more comprehensive. Many people are interested in this process and the financial benefits. 5. PALM SPRINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESENTATION – Jeri Vogelsang, Assistant Curator, presented information describing who they are and what they offer the public and the community. Ms. Vogelsang gave a brief overview of the social and cultural history of Palm Springs. (copy attached). The Society was founded in 1955 and occupies the two oldest buildings in Palm Springs – the McCallum Adobe and the Cornelia White House at 221 South Palm Canyon Drive Historic Site Preservation Board Page 2 of 5 CORRECTED Minutes from the March 11, 2008 Meeting in the Village Green, phone 760-323-8297, web site is www.palmspringshistoricalsociety.org 6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: M/S/C (Grattan/Nelson) to approve the Minutes of the February 11, 2008, HSPB meeting as presented – Vote 5 Yes, 0 No, 0 Absent, 1 Abstention (B. Strahl not at February 11 meeting) 7. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR: - will report later in the meeting. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS: N O N E 9. CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL REQUEST(S): N O N E 10. OTHER BUSINESS: A. Discussion of Historic Districts Staff thanked Ron Marshall for the comprehensive report given to the Board for evaluation, and distributed edits based on the Palm Springs Municipal Code and Zoning Ordinance statements of fact. A copy of the Municipal Code related to Historic Preservation was also attached for reference. The report was discussed at length, edited, and the development of an informational document was suggested. Staff explained that the authority to initiate proceedings for a Historic District rests with the Board or the Council. Only the Council may take the final action to designate. If the Board wishes to initiate such proceedings, it would be prudent to keep the Council and their concerns in mind during the process with regards to designations, such as: what are some of the regulatory affects, what does having a District mean, what are the issues of regulation, what are the concerns Council might have with regard to the impacts on homeowners and other property owners in a district – those in support and those not in support. This information pamphlet can be broadly applied depending on the neighborhood or district, but sometimes specific requests generate policy. It’s important the Board and staff become very familiar with the Municipal Code Article III, 8.05.125 thru 8.05.160, as it spells out the specifics and policies for establishing Historic Districts. A booklet regarding pros and cons of Historic Districts is available through the National Trust Preservation Foundation – staff will check on this booklet. Vice Chair J. Nelson suggested going online and downloading forms and information from the Office of Historic Preservation which contains pertinent information. The web site is www.ohp.parks.ca.gov. SHELLY SAUNDERS AND SHEILA GRATTAN Board members expressed overall concern pertaining to the ideal sequence from a historical standpoint of which district(s) to begin investigative research for the designating process. Board member J. Williams expressed concern that HSPB needs to be reactive as well as pro- active when property owners, individual or as neighborhood organizations, come forward with interest in historic designations. He did not agree that the oldest neighborhood has to be the first Historic District. He asked if the current Historic Site Designation Application is applicable for a Historic District. Historic Site Preservation Board Page 3 of 5 CORRECTED Minutes from the March 11, 2008 Meeting Staff advised that it would be acceptable and since Districts and Sites are closely associated, property owners may initiate their own districts for Board’s review. Board member Shelly Saunders and Sheila Grattan volunteered to be the Subcommittee to work with Mr. Marshall to incorporate his information, the edits, and items of today’s discussion and will report back at the April meeting. 11. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS: A. Subcommittee Report on Public Outreach (1) Discussion of informational markers on the Aerial Maps at City Hall Staff member Bullock reported that the aerial maps of Palm Springs on the walls between the two City Hall buildings could be studied by a subcommittee. The idea is to place identification markers for significant historical events/moments in time for public information and education. The maps do attract a sizable audience, and the time spread (1939, 1953, 1979, & 1985) between the four maps shows significant changes in the City. Vice Chair J. Nelson and Chair S. Williams volunteered to work on this project. B. P.S. Preservation Foundation - Jade Nelson The opening night of the Modernism Show was extremely successful. Attendance was three to four times that of last year. The P.S. Re-imagined event at the Museum netted some interesting renditions for a future downtown by local architects. Work is starting to make next year’s event bigger and better. C. P.S. Modern Committee - John Williams The Annual Fundraiser was a big success with over 300 attending. There is a Spring Home Tour on April 5, 2008. details on the web site www.psmodcom.com D. P.S. Historical Society – Sidney Williams There will be a Volunteer Appreciation Lunch on April 3, 2008. E Architecture and Design Council - Sidney Williams The next lecture will be Saturday, March 15 at 6 p.m. by Ms. Cornelia Oberlander, one of Canada’s foremost Landscape Architects, who designs green and sustainable spaces for urban areas - $5.00 for ADC members, $10 for non-members. F. Work Program 2007/2008 – Budget Planning for 2008/2009 Carried over from February 11 meeting so the full Board could participate: (1) California Preservation Foundation Budget (2) Budget – Spreadsheet distributed (3) Mailings (4) Historic Markers (5) P.S. Brief History & Architectural Guide – Reprinting & Corrections Subcommittee member Strahl reported that last budget revealed that items were allocated and not used, so the subcommittee moved funds to more realistic and useable items. Staff will work to see how the Historic Marker funds for this year might possibly be utilized before next year’s budget. There is generally no carry over for budget items. Historic Site Preservation Board Page 4 of 5 CORRECTED Minutes from the March 11, 2008 Meeting Director Ewing advised that department heads were required to submit a draft budget request before the March meeting of HSPB and had been instructed to hold to this fiscal year or less. About 40% was cut out of the Planning department’s budget for 2008/2009, and a $6,500 budget was submitted for HSPB. The following properties have been nominated by HSPB for Class 1 Historic Site designation: Oasis Commercial Building, Washington Mutual Bank, Santa Fe Savings & Loan Building, Casa Cody. Invernada has been approved by Council. Four are pending with one approved. Funds should be reserved for all five of these properties. Realistically two of those will not happen until fiscal year 2008/2009. Funds would need to be moved from other allocations. Subcommittee member Saunders commented that there is approximately $4,800 left in the budget for this fiscal year, and read their report for allocation of this balance (copy attached). Their report allocates $2,800 for Historic Markers. Vice Chair J. Nelson asked if there has been a response to the letters sent requesting funds for Historic Markers. Board member S. Grattan asked about filing for HSPB to be a non-profit, and reported on the mailing to the realtors. The current Brief History and Architectural Guide is too bulky for mailing. The pros and cons for editing and reprinting the Architectural Guide were discussed along with the possibility of purchasing a supply of the Class One brochure from the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation. The Architectural Guide reprint will cost about $1.50 each, the Class One brochures sell for $10 at the PS Foundation. Trying to reach 1,500 people is not too realistic or cost effective. Staff reported that the Architectural Guide will need to be reprinted as it is sold at the Visitors Center and at the Planning Services counter and has been a product of the HSPB for several years. It was decided by the Board to move forward with both booklet projects. The largest budget item is the Historic Marker allocation, but everything on the budget is important and the Board needs to agree on how next year’s budget is allocated. Members were asked to bring in their recommendations at the April meeting. Vice Chair J. Nelson pointed out that there are two known important items the Board has not considered for the budget: (1) CPF Annual Conference in Palm Springs (2009) - All Board member should attend; (2) Historic Districts to start the process; It was suggested that perhaps one-half registration costs might be allocated for Board members to attend the 2009 Conference. G. CPF SEMINARS: (1) Historic Resource Surveys A-Z and CEQA & Historic Resources – February 12 & 13; (2) Identifying, Evaluating & Preserving Modern Resources – Mar 7 - Vice Chair J. Nelson reported that the primary speakers were the directors of the California Preservation Foundation and the State Office of Historic Preservation, and identifying Historic Resources was prominent in these seminars. There was important procedural information in updating a survey, and he learned that Historic Surveys need to be updated every five years in order for the information to be used for historic purposes. A Community Learning Grant would be extremely important in this instance since the budget is so minimal. There are documents and CD’s for reference. Historic Site Preservation Board Page 5 of 5 CORRECTED Minutes from the March 11, 2008 Meeting He will write a summary report so that Board members will have the information at hand. Chair S. Williams was ill and Vice Chair Nelson made her the presentation at the Seminar in her place. H. Invernada Historic Marker language was presented and Board members asked to bring back input at the April meeting. 12. STAFF & OTHER REPORTS: A. Palm Springs 70th Birthday Dates – Staff member Bullock reported there will be no City 70th celebration; however, there will be a 75th year celebration. 13. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS: A. Vice Chair J. Nelson thanked Mr. & Mrs. Marshall and encouraged one of them to apply for the vacant position on the HSP Board. B. Board member J. Williams asked about the remaining time of Bud Riley’s term. His term expires June 30, 2010. 14. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, it was moved by S. Grattan, seconded by B. Strahl, to adjourn the HSPB March 11 meeting at 10:23 a.m. to the next regularly scheduled meeting on April 8, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. in the Large Conference Room at City Hall. Respectfully submitted, Diane Bullock, Associate Planner HSPB Staff Liaison