Title
Draft Meeting Minutes - December 7, 2017
Body
DRAFT MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA HISTORICAL ADVISORY BOARD
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
1. CONVENE
Chair Piziali called meeting to order at 7:00pm.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Piziali, Board Members Chan, Sanchez, Saxby.
Absent: Board Member Jones.
Staff Member Tai pointed out that Board Member Jones is absent after delivering a baby last month.
3. MINUTES
3-A 2017-5007
Draft Meeting Minutes - July 6, 2017
Chair Piziali asked if Board Member Sanchez could vote on the minutes even though he had to recuse himself for an item.
Staff Member Tai said that he could vote on the minutes.
Board Member Saxby made a motion to approve the minutes. Board Member Sanchez seconded the motion.
Staff Member Tai asked if there was a vote on the motion.
Chair Piziali confirmed a 4-0 vote to approve the minutes.
3-B 2017-5008
Draft Meeting Minutes - October 5, 2017
Chair Piziali said there were only two members present tonight that attended the October meeting.
Staff Member Tai said that unless one of the other members had watched the recording of the meeting, they would need to continue the minutes.
4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION
*None*
5. ORAL COMMUNICATION
*None*
6. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
Staff Member Tai said there were two letters from Christopher Buckley of AAPS, one relating to the item 7-A and the other letter on item 7-B.
6-A 2017-5001
Certified Local Government Annual Report 2016-2017
Staff Member Tai described the Certified Local Government program and the reporting requirements for the item. The report can be found at:
<https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3268625&GUID=F1EFF104-64D1-4F26-9EE3-BBEF96F075DC>
Chair Piziali asked what the most critical planning issues are and asked for an update on the electrification of records.
Staff Member Tai said many cities are struggling with record keeping. He said they are trying to develop a database system, staff resources permitting.
Board Member Saxby asked about the current status of the Alameda Marina property as it relates to the study list.
Staff Member Tai said the draft EIR would be released soon that would identify the historic district and contributing buildings that would be added to the study list.
7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
7-A 2017-5003
Certificate of Approval - PLN17-0447 - Jack Backus Architects - 3278 Garfield Avenue. The applicant requests a Certificate of Approval for a second story addition to an existing single-family residence, built prior to 1942, that will result in the removal of more than 30% of the value of the existing structure. The project has been determined to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to Section 15301 - Existing Facilities- minor alterations of existing private structures.
Staff Member Dong gave a presentation. The staff report can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3268626&GUID=563519A5-A931-4208-AFC3-F1175B7FE43A&FullText=1>
Chair Piziali opened public hearing.
Steve Aced said the second story gables should be side facing. He said the horizontal siding is not necessary to distinguish the addition from the original building.
Christopher Buckley, Alameda Architectural Preservation Society, referenced their letters commenting on the project. He offered several comments to try and make the project blend in more effectively and minimize the impact on the streetscape.
Jack Backus, representing the applicant, said the narrow lot made the side gables not be the desired design choice. He said they would be open, and perhaps prefer, to have the same siding on the second floor as the original.
Board Member Sanchez asked if the intention is for the first story to be cement board siding. Mr. Backus responded that they are likely to use cement board siding.
Board Member Sanchez asked what the condition of the existing shingle siding is. Mr. Backus responded that the existing siding is in poor condition and will need to be repaired or replaced.
Board Member Saxby asked how the nearby house with a second story addition differed from the proposal. Mr. Backus responded that the design steps back twice and would hopefully reduce the dominance of the addition.
Board Member Sanchez asked for information about the accessory building being removed. Staff Member Dong responded that the building was built in 2009. Mr. Backus added that the structure was likely older than that but there was an unpermitted second story addition to the structure for which the work was red tagged by the Building Official.
Board Member Saxby said that the single story character of this house and its neighbors makes him tend to favor side facing gables in order to downplay the presence of the second story. He said he would also like to consider reducing the plate height.
Board Member Sanchez said that turning the gable sideways without reducing the plate height would not reduce the massing significantly. He noted that turning the gable sideways would allow reducing the pitch of the roof in a way that could not be accomplished with front facing gables.
Staff Member Tai said that the board could condition its approval on changing the gable design and plate height. He said staff could forward possible revised plans to board members as individuals but that the board would not be able to comment collectively at that point.
Board Member Sanchez said he would be willing to approve the project with the discussed changes regarding gable direction and plate height.
Board Member Saxby said he has concerns about the overall massing unless changes were made to the gable direction and plate height.
Board Member Saxby made a motion to approve the draft resolution with conditions that the applicant work with city staff to reduce the massing by reducing the plate height and turning front facing gables to the side.
Board Member Sanchez said he would like to add that the siding on the upper story have a historically appropriate look.
Board Member Saxby accepted the suggestion as a friendly amendment.
Board Member Sanchez seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-0.
7-B 2017-5006
Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing the Secretary to the Board to act on Certificate of Approvals for projects that result in the removal of more than 30% of the value of a structure built prior to 1942, pursuant to Alameda Municipal Code Section 13-21.7, but do not involve resources, currently listed or eligible to be included, on the Historical Buildings Study List. The adoption of this resolution is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15060(c)(3) and 15378(b)(5), because the activity approved by this resolution neither commits the City to implement any specific project nor will it result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment
Staff Member Tai gave a presentation. He explained that the preservation ordinance currently requires all Certificate of Approval applications come before the Board at a public hearing, other than tree removals and accessory structures, which had been previously delegated to staff level review. Staff proposes delegating those applications involving buildings not on the Historical Building Study List to staff level in order to streamline costs and processing time. The staff report and attachments can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3268628&GUID=4EE67EB2-C109-4CD0-AE99-5B51853EC3DE&FullText=1>
Board Member Sanchez asked how the timing of the decisions would be shared with the HAB members.
Staff Member Tai said decisions would be made in batches mirroring the process for Design Review applications under the purview of the Planning Board. He said there would be a ten days public comment period before a decision is made and ten days after the decision for an appeal filing or Board call for review.
Chair Piziali said that as long as the process is above board, reducing cost and delays for the citizens is a good reason to streamline.
Chair Piziali opened the public hearing.
Christopher Buckley, AAPS, said they sent a letter encouraging the process be left as is. He said there are many buildings that could be on the Study List which are not. He said they worry that projects may fall through the cracks if they are only reviewed at the staff level. He suggested several recommendations for the process if the board decides to move forward with this process.
Board Member Sanchez said he has always found the 30% demolition threshold vague.
Staff Member Tai said the demolition criteria is defined in the ordinance. He said the board could set criteria for what types of Certificate of Approval applications require a public hearing. He explained the workload placed on Planning staff and additional cost to Alameda homeowners for requiring fairly routine projects to go for a public hearing.
Chair Piziali says he does not see any reason to not try it. He suggested putting a time limit on the change and then reviewing how the change is working. He said any time they can save residents time and money while still providing proper public notice is worth doing.
Board Member Saxby said he believes the savings would be fairly minor.
Staff Member Tai said that some of the AAPS recommendations are reasonable, but some would be extraordinary. He said he worries about the standards for restoration if the City has to presume that every building that was altered over time has historic integrity hidden underneath its current appearance.
Board Member Sanchez said he would be receptive of doing this on a trial basis.
Board Member Saxby said he is concerned things will be missed and favors the current process.
Chair Piziali made a motion to approve the staff recommendation. The motion failed for lack of a second.
7-C 2017-5004
Historical Advisory Board Meeting Schedule 2018 The schedule can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3268628&GUID=4EE67EB2-C109-4CD0-AE99-5B51853EC3DE&FullText=1>
Board Member Sanchez made a motion to approve the calendar. Board Member Saxby seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-0.
8. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
Staff Member Tai said there was one Certificate of Approval application approved at staff level for a removing a dilapidated garage at 1520 Morton Avenue.
10. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
11. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Piziali adjourned the meeting at 9:04pm.