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Home My WebLink About2023-03-09 Historic Preservation Commission Minutes � � � ! k . � � ��'�,_J'�� 1 �.��J � I"ti V� 1 1�� ,,,�,, Il � :, .: ��. 1 � J� ��`� .� .� �IT'� �CMF BA C�T�..r�F,. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING OF MARCH 9, 2023 7:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEETING MINUTES Commission Members Present: Matthew Weitkamp Edmund Chernesky Nathaniel King Anne Marie Quin Karen Rand (on Zoom) Citv Staff Present: Anne Krieg, Development Director Anja Collette, Planning Analyst Brittanie Thomas, Asst. City Solicitor Vice Chair King called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. New Business: 1. Certificate of Appropriateness — 42 W Broadwav — Map-Lot 022-053 —Whitnev Park Historic District — Applicant/Owner: Steven Thomason - Approval requested for Certificate of Appropriateness to replace 13 existing windows at property located at 42 W Broadway with Fibrex windows with black exteriors in solid acrylic finish. Several of the windows are on the first floor, facing W Broadway, and will not have grills in the sash. The remaining windows are at the rear of the home and will have grills in the full divided lite configuration. The property is located at Map-Lot 022-053, in the Whitney Park Historic District. Applicants Angela and Steven Thomason, present on Zoom, asked if the Commission had any concerns. Consultant Mike Pullen went through the points from his memo and asked for the applicant's response. Applicant said they're replacing the windows on the first floor; not touching the ones on the second. All the ones on the front will have the same configuration. The ones on the back for the kitchen were re- done in the 80's; are not historic windows, is a mix-and-match. Their consultant suggested windows that would tie together better. Pullen asked if they were being consistent with the original window elevations; applicant confirmed this was the case. Applicant read an email with their consultant's responses to Pullen's comments and questions. Applicant said 4 other houses in the area have gone with this exact same configuration of windows. Applicant said 73 I�AFtL�W STf�EET, E�At'�G��, CvtE �}44C11. .�..E L�C�I�C)N E: (�C�"7) �)�'�-42��J F�.X: (�(�7) ��-�A4"� W'�'1N.�iA N�;C]��,h A�N�.C��V Historic Preservation Commission — Meeting Minutes March 9t", 2023 every window on the first floor has storm windows; a lot of the ones that were put in in the 80's are very drafty and allow snow inside. With this new product, it will be double-pane, low-E glass, so they won't need storm windows. Eventually plan to replace windows on the second floor with the same product. Pullen thanked them for a very thorough response. Said the question about the storm windows is an important one, since the historical photos show the storm windows being out-board and come out maybe an inch or more from where the original windows would've been, which would've been recessed. His understanding is that with the new replacements, it will return it to back to where the windows were seated, which is deeply behind the trim. Asked about trim elements because the application indicated that, but it doesn't sound like they're affecting the trim cases. Applicant said if anything, they'll have to repair the trim that's there and will also have to replace the paint that's there (is currently lead paint). Pullen said that answers his questions. Commissioners had no questions. No public comment. King closed the public hearing. Chernesky said this seems reasonable. Weitkamp moved to approve the Certificate of Appropriateness for 42 W Broadway, Map-Lot 022- 053, in the Whitney Park Historic District, Applicant/Owner Steven Thomason. Quin seconded. All in favor, none opposed. 2. Comprehensive Plan Discussion Development Director Krieg said we're in the final stages of the comp plan. Encouraged Commissioners to take a look at it. Looking at finalizing over the next few weeks. If Commissioners think there are changes that need to be in there, this is a good time to bring that up. Weitkamp asked for clarification about a few things - Policy#7 - to revise zoning policies as needed to support housing inside the growth boundary -what is the growth boundary? Anne said there's a map on the comp plan website that shows the growth boundary. It generally follows the area served by water and sewer since that's the area that generally has infrastructure like roads and utilities. As far as the zoning, we've been working with recommendations from the affordable housing workgroup from 2019; have been working through those recommendations, like allowing for accessory dwelling units, reducing the minimum lot size in URD-1 to make fewer properties non-conforming. In the early 90's, the city did a major sweep of URD-1 to make the downtown neighborhoods single family and a lot of those neighborhoods weren't single family. Making a lot of things non-conforming ends up encouraging blight. As we go forward with implementing LD 2003 this year, which is a state statute (they are extending the deadline for when communities need to comply), you have to allow 4 units in your single family zones. But you can still have a density requirement per unit, it just can't exceed what it is for a single unit. Krieg explained the density requirements. Krieg stated that the authority is still here with the Commission; if anyone was doing conversions that involved the exterior of the building, they would still have to come here. It would still be under the HPC's purview to review facades. Weitkamp and Krieg discussed an example of fire escapes. King asked if this plan would make use of the idea of adaptive reuse and how this might help create more affordable housing and things of that nature. Krieg said that by increasing the densities of downtown, it will definitely help with that. Pullen said that a few meetings back, we had a building that had residential on all floors, including the former storefront- it is a little concerning because those weren't intended to be residential. Krieg said there are some rules for some areas where you can't have residential on the first floor. King asked about the possibility of expanding the historic districts. Krieg said staff will be continuing the Historic Preservation Commission — Meeting Minutes March 9t", 2023 program of surveying historic neighborhoods this fiscal year. The updated survey information is a great resource for people in historic districts to have. Pullen said the application from today could have used the CARMA information. Quin discussed the discussion from the February 21 St Planning Board meeting and the idea of turning to other towns for help with housing and looking at 3D printed housing. Krieg mentioned the regional climate action plan and some other regional plans going on right now. Quin asked if this was in the comp plan; Krieg said she would check the regional section, but she believes so. Weitkamp asked about policy#10 - removing barriers to development -what other ideas beyond LD 2003 does staff have? Krieg mentioned the ordinance on tiny home parks, but that policy was kind of a placeholder as we look at new ideas for creating housing. One of the things staff have discussed is cluster subdivisions and revamping that part of the ordinance. Has talked to a couple of developers that are interested in doing the micro apartment thing - a very small efficiency apartment with a common space. There's a lot of different things that developers are doing now that are very creative, so purposefully left the language open to allow us room to work with the market. Weitkamp mentioned the Commission is concerned with maintaining the integrity of our historic districts. Weitkamp mentioned policy #47 - asked for Krieg to talk more about the financial incentives. Krieg said she was working with a statewide group about having the state historic tax credit apply to residential properties - right now it's just for commercial properties. Thinks that would be a great boon for people. Left it open to give the ability to respond appropriately when something comes in that may be really helpful to Bangor. Weitkamp thinks anything we can do for that will help people maintain these historic structures. Quin said there's almost a disincentive because taxes go up so much when major improvements are made. Seems like some buildings are being deliberately let go in historic districts because the taxes go so much lower. King asked if this tax credit would help with conversion into multi- family and affordable options. Pullen said the current tax incentives amounts to 45% of the cost of rehab; the state can add another 20%, and 5% from MaineHousing if it's affordable housing. King mentioned importance of using existing structures to address climate change. King asked if there was movement in Bangor to address the stories of other people, like Indigenous, women, people of color. Krieg said she thought there were strategies on this, but will double check. Joe Pickering, 13 Pond Street, asked if the Commission was going to go over the long range plan. Commissioners advised that's what they've been going over with the Comprehensive Plan. Pickering said one of the things he thinks is absolutely essential is citizen input. Thinks that should be the most important thing in the long range plan. There's only a few lines about people having input on historic districts. Citizens' first amendment rights are more important than any RFP process or property sale. Asks that the Plan include a powerful statement about the First Amendment and citizen input. Stated he made a freedom of information request to the City. Stated the Commission has a unique role if it exercises its authority. Isn't simply a little City council or another City commission. Thinks there needs to be another section beyond Section E. Not just talking about windows, we're talking about an area. [The neighborhood] should be one of the primary things the Commission makes a decision on. Kay Surplus, Court Street, approached the podium. Trying to learn about historic preservation and everything that's going on. Asked if the HPC also looks at places and events - specifically the Bangor State Fair at Bass Park. Does worry about the push for development-would hate to see development forever change that part of the City; thinks that's a big part of Bangor's history. Would also throw a "caution flag" -there was a big push in the 60's and 70's for urban development and it caused a lot of destruction; as we look at the offer of federal development and urban development, please take time and be cautious, and make sure [the City] gets all kinds of citizen input. Historic Preservation Commission — Meeting Minutes March 9t", 2023 Pickering supported what Surplus said. Weitkamp mentioned further surveys of historic properties - has the fairground been surveyed? King said an argument could be made for it with the National Register standards - 50 years is generally the mark - could argue this is a historic landscape. Pullen said this is kind of the intersection between plans for recreational development and historic preservation - old parks like Chapin Park have a great story to tell. Touched on Chapin Park in one of the surveys; as the Commission works, it might consider including cultural landscapes as they pertain to recreation in the City. Krieg said that was definitely in the queue. King also mentioned the maritime history of the Penobscot River - there are some Navy wrecks in the river. There are a lot of great things we can do with our historic districts. Weitkamp said in the last meeting it was mentioned maybe surveying the old Airforce base; thinks that would be a good idea. Pullen mentioned the Thomas Hill District - maybe do a comprehensive look around the City at places that could be surveyed. King mentioned some places with importance to the Penobscot. Quin said she would like to see us encourage more events taking place; seems like we're dialing back things like the Bangor Fair - is really the opposite direction of where we should be going. Remembers when it was a fantastic fair. Would be great to encourage bringing some of that back. Weitkamp agreed. Chernesky said there was some overlap with events and what the Historical Commission was doing 4 years ago. There was significant talk about historic monuments, walking tours of Bangor, things like that. King mentioned seeing a historic marker at the library - made him think about what other stories we're missing out on. Commissioner Rand mentioned the state of the signs along the Kenduskeag. They need to be replaced and rethought, and be more inclusive as well. Weitkamp agreed and said it wasn't a terribly usable space right now. King and Pullen discussed ideas for signs. 3. February 9, 2023 Meetinq Minutes Chernesky moved to approve the February 9th meeting minutes. Weitkamp seconded. All in favor, none opposed. 4. Adiournment Meeting adjourned at 7:56 pm. Respectfully submitted, Anja Collette Planning Analyst Planning Division