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Landmark Commission Minutes - 03/18/1999MINUTES LANDMARK COMMISSION March 18, 1999 PRESENT: Lin Purtle, Chairperson Susan Koch Jim Newsom Loraine Blackwood Dorothy Rhone Carrie Harlan Ron Fox Karen Greiner Johnny Burns, City Councilman Jason Van Essen, Planner I Diane Parker, Recording Secretary ABSENT: Douglas James GUEST: Le Templer, Reporter, Times Record News I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Purtle at 3:35 p.m. ■ Members ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Council Rep ■ City Staff ■ ■ Members RECEE',, II. APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 4, 1999 AND MARCH 4,1999 MINUTES Ms. Koch made a motion to approve the minutes. Ms. Blackwood seconded the motion which passed unanimously. III. DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSED HISTORIC DISTRICT EXPANSION Ms. Purtle asked if anyone had any comments concerning the March 3rd bus tour or the proposed expansion of the Historic District. Mr. Van Essen presented a map showing the area under consideration and noted that a major point of discussion on the tour was if both sides of Indiana should be included in the recommendation to Council. Discussion ensued about boundaries and the thought that both sides of a street should be included to maintain the integrity of a district. Consideration was also given to a question about the same concern for a divided block. Mr. Fox asked if the Commission was proposing the Enhancement boundaries become the new historic district boundaries. Mr. Van Essen stated that was the area the Commission and staff decided to review because the Enhancement boundaries include some of the oldest parts of downtown. Discussion Landmark Commission 3 -18 -99 Page 1 of 2 continued about the rationale for the exclusion of any individual properties. Any proposed demolition activity would be reviewed for individual merit, but replacement structures or parking lots would then also be subject to design review, which might help the integrity of the district. Mr. Newsom made a preliminary motion that the boundaries for the old Facade Enhancement program be recommended to the Council with further contact to individual property owners. Discussion continued about individual property owner concerns versus the overall benefit to the community. Ms. Koch talked about how much has been lost to the community and how much are we going to continue to lose if we do not do something now. Ms. Purtle stated, unlike the Kemp Library, where it was very visible why the Commission took the stand we did, people may not understand why we chose this area. Ms. Koch stated it is the oldest part of downtown, still has the original fabric, and it is an important. That is what we need to build our case on and pointed out the railroad station and similar losses. Ms. Greiner stated she would like to think people own buildings in downtown because they would rather be downtown than out by the mall furthering the revitalization of downtown. The focus of this is improving downtown for everybody. Mr. Fox stated the area architecturally and historically displays the identity of this community during the oil boom and railroading heyday. This reflects the height of culture that we want to remember and recreate and if you do not maintain the integrity of what is left then you have nothing to build on. Mr. Newsom amended his motion that the historic district boundaries should be expanded to include the area that was in the Facade Enhancement program area and that all effected property owners be notified. Ms. Rhone seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Staff then responded to questions about timing and placement of the item on the City Council agenda. Ms. Purtle expressed concern that, if a letter is sent to all the owners and we must prepare for the another meeting, the April 20th City Council meeting would be too soon. Mr. Burns noted that new Council members would be seated in May. Mr. Van Essen suggested the Commission meet again on April 1 st and that he would have a letter for the property owners prepared for Commission to review. Mr. Van Essen stated the letter could be mailed to give property owners several weeks notice of the City Council meeting. The Commission agreed to meet on Thursday, April 1, 1999 at 3:30. IV. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Newsom stated he attended a Texas Historical Commission meeting in Jacksboro last week. At this meeting he picked up material on the following State programs: Courthouse Initiative, Cemetery Preservation, Historical Site Assessment and Preservation Education Training. Mr. Newsom stated he felt the cemetery and education programs would be very good for the community. Ms. Koch stated Riverside Cemetery would be a good candidate for the cemetery program. Mr. Newsom stated he asked representatives from the Texas Historical Commission if they would be interested in having one of the preservation education seminars in Wichita Falls. They expressed an interest and requested information, which the Convention & Visitors Bureau has sent. Mr. Newsom stated the Wichita Historical Society would sponsor the program. Ms. Purtle stated part of the Landmark Commissions role is to educate the public on preservation and sponsoring programs like this would help accomplished this goal. Mr. Newsom stated he would continue to work to get the preservation education seminar here. Mr. Newsom asked the Commission to pass on this information to anyone that might be interested. V. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m. t Lin Purtle; airpersoh commission 3 -18 -99 �^ Date