Title
Draft Meeting Minutes - August 1, 2019
Body
DRAFT MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA HISTORICAL ADVISORY BOARD
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019
1. CONVENE
Board Member Jones called meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Saxby, Board Members Jones, Lau, Sanchez, and Wit.
Absent: None.
3. MINUTES
3-A 2019-7111
Draft Meeting Minutes - March 7, 2019
Chair Saxby moved approval of the minutes. Board Member Sanchez seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
3-B 2019-7112
Draft Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2019
Board Member Sanchez noted that under “Roll Call,” it should be Board Member Sanchez recusing, not Saxby.
Board Member Sanchez moved approval of the minutes as corrected. Board Member Jones seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION
*None*
5. ORAL COMMUNICATION
*None*
6. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
Chair Saxby noted a letter was received from the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society regarding item 7-A.
7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
7-A 2019-6751
PLN18-0405 - Certificate of Approval and Historic Sign Designation2070 Lincoln Ave - Applicant: Bill Wong on behalf of OYH LLC. Public hearing to consider: 1) Certificate of Approval, pursuant to Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) Section 13-21.7, for demolition of more than 30% of the value of a one-story, pre-1942 commercial building to construct a second floor addition; and 2) Evaluation of the existing “Lincoln Market Liquors” sign according to criteria for historic sign designation pursuant to AMC Section 13-21.6. The property is not listed on the Historical Buildings Study List. The project is located in the C-1 (Neighborhood Business) Zoning District. This project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15301(e) - Additions to Existing Structures, and CEQA Guidelines Section 15183 (projects consistent with General Plan and Zoning).
David Sablan, Planner II, gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found at:
<https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4071850&GUID=3EB2C7FA-1CB4-47D1-A7DD-DC22BD640041&FullText=1>
Chair Saxby asked if anyone has thought about taking away some of the stucco to see what is underneath.
Staff Member Sablan said the applicant would address the Chair’s question in his presentation.
Chair Saxby asked if we knew when the building was treated with stucco.
Staff Member Sablan said staff believes it was done in 1958.
Bill Wong, applicant, said they cut four holes into the Willow frontage and they did not find anything.
Chair Saxby said he thinks it would be helpful to see more of what is behind the stucco where the transom windows would be. He said there appears to be a lot of the original framing materials left below the stucco. He said he would like to be careful to see if there is an opportunity to preserve historic fabric.
Allen Tai, City Planner, said the board could add a condition of approval to coordinate with staff to do exploratory demolition before proceeding.
Chair Saxby opened the public hearing.
William Silva said he has no argument about the sign one way or the other. He said his concerns are what will happen to the Acapulco restaurant operations during construction. He said the demolition and construction of this building would negatively impact the restaurant. He said parking is already a problem in the area and he is worried about lost wages for employees, including himself.
Christopher Buckley, AAPS, said they strongly support preservation and restoration of the sign. He asked if a façade grant could assist in paying for the restoration of the sign and any restoration work. He said they support fully exploring the chance to discover and restore the historic fabric of the building. He said doing investigations on historic buildings should be standard procedure when there has been remodeling. He said minimizing the second floor parapet and/or pushing the second floor back could minimize the impact of the second floor.
Steve King said they own the adjacent building and are supportive of the project, but would like to see as much preservation as possible. He said they may be selling the building and may not be the party to sign any agreement about making changes to their cornice in order to solve the air space encroachment that exists now and would impact the remodel.
Michael Harvey said Lincoln Market is part of the neighborhood’s history. He said he supports the historical value of the store. He said adding apartments raises concerns about parking impacts in the neighborhood.
Staff Member Tai noted that the proposal includes four off street parking spaces for the two units being proposed.
Board Member Sanchez asked if there would be any parking for the commercial spaces.
Staff Member Tai said the existing condition for the commercial is that there is no parking and that it would not change with the application.
Board Member Wit said that the power lines appear to pass very close to what would be the second floor addition and asked if there were plans to deal with that.
Staff Member Tai said that AMP has long term undergrounding plans, but there are no plans to connect the project to any undergrounding requirements.
Chair Saxby said he agreed with the recommendation to designate the sign as historic and have it refurbished and properly mounted. He added that restoring the electronics of the sign is not necessary.
Board Member Wit said she agreed, noting that the sign is a marker for the neighborhood. She said it should look good, but need not restore the electrical components.
Board Member Lau said the façade grant program would be a good option for the sign.
Board Member Sanchez agreed that the sign is a historic landmark. He said he is somewhat concerned about the mid-century sign fitting with a potentially restored early 1900s building.
Chair Saxby made a motion that the Lincoln Market Liquor sign be designated a historic sign that should be restored to a repaired, preserved and re-installed sign on the building. He said the electronic neon need not be functioning as part of the restoration. Board Member Wit seconded the motion.
Board Member Sanchez pointed out that the enclosed resolution included the sign designation and the certificate of approval, and asked whether the board could decouple the two actions.
Staff Member Tai said that the board could separate the actions into two motions.
The motion passed 5-0.
Chair Saxby said he is hesitant to comment on the design of the storefront before there is additional exploration of the existing conditions.
Board Member Sanchez said that it seems clear that at least the structures of the transoms are still present. He said he is hopeful that there is an opportunity to restore, rather than replace, the facades. He said that a restoration approach would change how the second story is addressed. He added that the neighboring building could be eligible for the Study List and removing the cornice would not be desirable. He said setting the second story addition back could accomplish two goals at once.
Board Member Jones said she agreed with Board Member Sanchez that the Whales and Friends building should be recognized as historical. She asked if we could recommend specific contractors for doing proper investigative demolition.
Chair Saxby suggested appropriate locations for exploratory stucco removal.
Board Member Wit said you can see painted wood behind the hole in the Willow façade’s stucco.
Board Member Lau said he is interested in not disturbing the existing business too much with the investigative demolition.
Chair Saxby said he would like to continue the item until some more information can be provided through further exploratory demolition.
Chair Saxby made a motion to continue the item until there is more information about what is under the stucco. Board Member Sanchez seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
8. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
Staff Member Tai said there would be a groundbreaking for the Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal on September 12th. He said Woody Minor would be giving a presentation on Alameda’s ship building history on August 13th at the library. He said there would be a September 5th meeting relating to Alameda Marina.
Board Member Sanchez announced dates for two upcoming community events.
10. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
11. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Saxby adjourned the meeting at 8:01 p.m.