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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Landmark Commission - 01/27/2011 is RECEIVED MINUTES CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI MAR 0 4 2011 LANDMARK COMMISSION MEETING CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS JANUARY 27, 2011 CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Craig Thompson, Chairman Ms. Mary L. Berven Ms. Anita Eisenhauer Mr. Anthony Gavlik Ms. Marie Guajardo Ms. Karen Howden Dr. James Klein Mr. John Olson Mr. Leo Rios Dr. Mark Robbins Ms. Susan Rucker MEMBERS ABSENT: Ms. Kris Cardona (Excused) Ms. Kim Charba (Excused) Ms. Laura Commons (Excused) Mr. Herb Morrison (Excused) STAFF PRESENT: Mr. Andrew Dimas, City Planner Ms. Linda Williams, Recording Secretary The meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by Mr. Craig Thompson, Chairman. The roll was called and a quorum was not present. Upon arrival of Ms. Guajardo, a quorum was declared. Mr.Thompson welcomed new commissioners to the Landmark Commission and asked them to introduce themselves. Mr. Anthony Gavlik stated he is a native of Corpus Christi and is a civil engineer with Naismith Engineering. Mr. Gavlik continued he was excited to be on the commission and expressed appreciation to Mr. Thompson for recommending him to serve on the commission. Ms. Karen Howden stated she was a retired eighth grade history teacher with the Flour Bluff Independent School District and she has been working with the Nueces County Commission for about six years and is currently working on the Old Bayview Cemetery project. Ms. Howden continued she also was excited to be on the commission. Mr. John Olson stated he was a native Corpus Christian and was a retired architect. Mr. Olson continued he loved history and was looking forward to being on the commission. ACTION ITEM: Approve October 28, 2010 Minutes: The October 28, 2010 minutes were approved as distributed. Motion to approve the minutes was made by Dr. Klein and seconded by Dr. Robbins. SCANNED I M � Landmark Commission Meeting January 27,2011 Page 2 ! DISCUSSION ITEMS: Overview of the Heritage Park Plan Presentation at the December 8, 2010 Planning Commission: Mr. Thompson expressed appreciation to commissioners who attended the December 8, 2010 Planning Commission meeting to lend support to the Friends of Heritage Park Committee as the Heritage Park Plan was presented. Mr.Thompson asked Ms. Berven to give a brief overview of what happened at the meeting. Before Ms. Berven began the • overview, she informed commissioners that the Friends of Heritage Park had received its 501C • status as a non-profit organization and they were excited about it. Ms. Berven continued that there were several objectives in gaining 501 C status, several of which included being able to receive donations and seek ways to increase revenue for the park. Ms. Berven began her overview by stating that in addition to David Brown and her, Mr, Art Zeitler also attended the meeting as part of the Friends of Heritage Park organization. Ms. Berven went on to say that Mr. Brown presented the Heritage Park Plan and it was well received by the Planning Commission and the group was very pleased with the commission's response. Ms. Berven continued the next step was presenting the plan to City Council and the plan was presented before City Council on January 25,2011. Mr, Michael Morris, Director • of Park and Recreation, introduced us before the presentation began. Ms. Berven continued that Mr. Zeitler explained to City Council members what the role was of the Friends of Heritage Park, which was to provide support for Heritage Park in helping it to be economically sustainable, work closely with Park and Recreation staff in developing a detailed master plan and pursue "HC" zoning for the City-owned properties on Mesquite Street. Ms. Berven stated that City Council was very positive about the plan and what the Friends of Heritage Park was trying to accomplish. Ms. Berven continued that the next step would be trying to rezone the block containing city owned properties located north of Heritage Park. Included in that block are two properties that are privately owned. Ms. Berven stated that Ms. Rucker would be talking with one of the property owners. After Ms. Berven's overview was completed, no action was taken. For benefit of the new commissioners, Mr. Thompson briefly explained that the Landmark Commission, Friends of Heritage Park organization and the Park and Recreation staff had been working together on developing the Heritage Park plan proposal. Mr. Thompson continued that since the City has no funds to really expand Heritage Park, the Friends of Heritage Park was established as a non-profit organization to be able to apply for grant funding, hold fund raising efforts and come up with possible activities that would generate more activity and people in the area. The commission and the organization have been working on the plan for some time and all of the hard work has finally resulted into something good and the commission was excited about it. Ms. Rucker added that the commission has been in discussion regarding expanding Park and how that expansion could be accomplished by adding the two city blocks located west of the park complex. Ms. Rucker continued that the Friends of Heritage Park,which came out of the Landmark Commission, came up with the plan concept to enlarge the park and possibly create more people traffic through various venues of activities that would draw people to the park. Ms. Rucker continued there were several homes located on city property across the street from Heritage Park that are in need of restoration. Ms. Rucker stated the commission was trying to lock the land in before it gets absorbed by future expansion of the Whataburger ball park. Ms. Howden asked if copies were available of the Heritage Park expansion plan and Mr. Thompson stated he would provide copies of the plan at the next meeting. I Landmark Commission Meeting January 27,2011 Page 3 Mr. Thompson stated that he would like to pursue some of the goals and projects that were discussed at the July workshop. Mr. Thompson continued that he and Dr. Klein would get together and come up with a list of projects for commissioners to review and possibly select one they would like to pursue. Mr. Thompson stated there are no real agenda items coming from the city, but there are projects that the commission can pursue. Mr. Thompson encouraged the new commissioners to also be thinking of projects they would like to present for consideration. Mr. Andrew Dimas, Staff Liaison, gave a brief update on the UDC. Mr. Dimas stated the UDC was being reviewed again by the various focus groups to ensure that everything was included since the individual sections have been merged into one final document. Mr. Dimas • • continued that Articles 2, 3 and 6, which affects the Landmark Commission, would be reviewed and discussed again by the Base Zoning Focus group and those articles could possibly be presented at the next Planning Commission meeting. Mr. Dimas explained that Article 2 - "Organizations and Officers" includes organization and duties of the commission, Article 3 - "Development Review Procedures" includes "Historic Overlay District or Landmark Designation and Certificates of Appropriateness" and Article 6-includes "H-Historic Overlay." • Mr. Dimas continued it was hoped that by the month's end, the Planning Commission could possibly vote on the entire section covering those three articles. Ms. Howden stated the Nueces County Historical Commission held an activity in the Old Bay View Cemetery in November in celebration of Veterans Day. Ms. Howden stated there were approximately one hundred {100) people in attendance and the next cemetery walk for Old Bay View Cemetery was scheduled for April 9, 2011. Ms. Howden went on to say there would be story tellers from the Sons and Daughters of Confederate Veferans. The story tellers would select an individual that is buried in the cemetery and present their story. Ms. Howden continued that when this activity was first started, it was initiated to place the cemetery on • the radar and create activity and awareness. The Nueces County Historical Commission • obtained a small grant from the Humanities of Texas to get the cemetery walk activity going. Ms. Howden continued that may be the same thing could be done for Heritage Park whereby the Landmark Commission could get story tellers to tell the story for each home in the park. Ms. Eisenhauer agreed that something similar to the cemetery walk could be done in Heritage Park with adequate planning. Ms. Howden commented she felt the Old Bay View Cemetery should be listed on the National Register and it would just be a matter of doing the paperwork. Ms. Howden continued that several attempts have been made to initiate the process -- 1999, 2004 and 2005. Ms. Howden added that many people knew about the cemetery, but the information was never really documented. Ms. Eisenhauer extended an invitation to commissioners to attend the 1751h Anniversary celebration of "Texas Independence Day" with a Toast to Texas at the Centennial House on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. Ms. Eisenhauer stated the event was sponsored by the Nueces County Historical Commission and Mr. Joe Franks created the idea of the "Toast to Texas." • After all comments and discussion concluded and there being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m. 3273--- • Lin•it Williams Andrew Dimas, City Planner Recording Secretary Staff Liaison to Landmark Commission (H ,,DIR\LINDA\WORD\LANDMAR[VAIN01Ei\7011\1AN2711141:Nil