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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Landmark Commission - 11/19/2020 MINUTES LANDMARK COMMISSION MEETING—4:30 pm WORKSHOP: HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN—6:00 pm CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI—Via WebEx www.cctexas.com/cctv November 19, 2020 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT: Jillian Becquet, Chair Nina Nixon-Mendez, Assistant Director& Craig Thompson, Vice-Chair Historic Preservation Officer Dr. Ira J. Freeman Catherine Garza, Agenda Coordinator Kathleen de la Garza Craig Garrison, Planning Technician Madeleine Fontenot Priscilla Ramirez, Project Manager Dr. Christine Robbins Randy J. Dees, Sr. I. Call to Order/Roll Call Chair Becquet called the meeting to order and a quorum was established with Commissioners Rucker and Stone absent. II. Approval of Minutes: Regular Meeting of October 22, 2020 A motion was made by Commissioner Robbins and seconded by Vice Chair Thompson. The motion passed. III. Approval of Absences: Dr. Bryan Stone, Kathleen de la Garza & Ernest Rucker, Jr. A motion to approve the absences listed above was made by Chair Becquet and it was seconded by Vice Chair Thompson. The motion passed. IV. Public Comment: Craig Garrison, Development Services, informed the Board that no public comment was submitted for this meeting. V. Ropes House Update Commissioner Robbins stated she submitted a draft letter to Staff via email for this item. The Parks and Recreation Department requested the letter to include comments and approval from the Commission for submittal to City Council. Mr. Garrison stated he will forward the letter to the Parks and Recreation Department to move the process forward. VI. National Register Designation Mr. Garrison informed the Commission that the Old Bayview Cemetery was designated on October 21, 2020 by the National Parks Service and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. VII. Applications for 2021 Preservation Awards - Due March 31, 2021 Mr. Garrison informed the Commission that applications are being accepted for two awards: a person or organization and building or project. The applications will be reviewed and then approved in April for presentation in May during Preservation Month. Staff has not distributed the awards for 2020 due to COVID-19 and will make arrangements for delivery. VIII. Acknowledgement of Commissioner Term Expirations Mr. Garrison acknowledged term expirations for Commissioner Becquet, Thompson and Rucker. Commissioner Stone did not seek reappointment. It was confirmed that Commissioner Dees' term expired in 2021. Due to the term expirations,the Commission will not have a full roster and therefore will not make a quorum for the meeting next month. The next possible meeting date for the Commission will be in January. Currently, there are two Landmark Commission applications on file for possible City Council consideration in January. IX. Recess Chair Becquet recessed the meeting at 4:15 p.m. to reconvene at 5:55 p.m. for the Workshop. X. Community Meeting: 6:00 PM -Historic Preservation Plan Nina Nixon-Mendez, Assistant Director, gave a brief introduction. In 2019, the Landmark Commission voted to work on an update to the Historic Preservation Plan (HPP). Staff submitted a grant application to the Texas Historic Commission for funding. The grant was awarded in early 2020 and the firm McDoux Preservation was selected to undertake this endeavor. Steph McDougal with McDoux Preservation presented this item and went over the HPP and the steps to update the plan. She explained the presentation will discuss what this project is all about, why it's important, the project schedule, how to get involved; what the City will have at the end of the project that will allow the City to be more effective in implementing the plan. Ms. McDougal started by giving some background information about the firm. The firm believes in transparent, open, and honest communication throughout this process. The firm will work to develop a plan for practicing historic preservation effectively in the City of Corpus Christi that involves figuring out where the City is at right now (and how the City got there), where the City wants to go, and how the City wants to get there. The plan will recognize past/present preservation efforts to establish future goals(based on community input). It will recommend a stepwise approach to achieve those goals to help Staff and the Commission make informed decisions and seek funding. The firm has reviewed existing plans for data (September 2020) and identified stakeholder/partner organizations to be involved. Ms. McDougal gave some background information regarding preservation activities dating back to 1974 with establishing a Preservation ordinance in 1976. Historic inventory/surveys took place from 1988-1991 and the Preservation Plan was updated soon after in 1992. At that time, they identified a number of potential historic districts, but no historic districts were ever designated. In 1999, the City designated four landmarks and identified 27 other potential landmarks but not much has happened since then. In 2017 the Downtown Management District hired Hardy Heck Moore, also a preservation consulting firm, to conduct a historic resources survey and create an inventory of properties in the downtown management district and part of uptown,west of Upper Broadway Street. They identified 33 resources that are individually eligible for the National Register, 37 that are eligible to be local landmarks, and one potential historic district—the Bluff. Ms. McDougal discussed how the typical preservation process begins with a survey to identify historic resources the City wants to preserve, then efforts are made with property owners to get designated while creating programs to benefit owners of designated properties. Other cities in Texas have designated historic landmarks and districts, and they are implementing tax incentives, façade improvement grants, and other programs to help property owners renovate their buildings. The City's downtown area is experiencing revitalization and participation in the Main Street program, but other activities have not happened here, and it is unclear why. Ms. McDougal explained the City has officially listed 14 individual resources, (buildings, structures, objects, sites & districts) on the National Register of Historic Places. Corpus Christi also has 25 properties designated as local landmarks, but four are both locally designated and on the National Register (zero historic districts). In total, the City of Corpus Christi, in 45 years, has recognized roughly 20 buildings as being historically or architecturally significant. With this information, she compared Corpus Christi to the City of Plano (the next largest city in Texas after Corpus Christi). Plano adopted their first preservation ordinance at about the same time as Corpus Christi. They have two historic districts with 134 properties in the residential district and 43 properties downtown, for a total of about 200 designated properties altogether.Their historic preservation ordinance gives their Heritage Commission the authority to say "no" to proposed changes and demolitions. They have design guidelines so property owners will know what they can and can't do, and because they have these regulations, they can provide economic incentives to property owners who follow those rules. Both local tax exemptions and grants are available to help people fix up and maintain historic buildings. They also have help from a local nonprofit organization, the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation. McDoux Preservation can help Corpus Christi adopt these types of activities. To help the City decide where they want to go from here, the next step will be conducting interviews with stakeholders/organizations over the next couple of weeks (October — November 2020). A survey will also be available online (and in paper copies) to confirm the extent to which opinions represent the larger community (January — March 2021). This feedback can help with understanding how the community would like to use historic preservation to accomplish their goals. After the survey is complete, another public meeting will be held to share findings and, at that point, preliminary recommendations will be submitted. She added that historic preservation is a tool that can be used to support economic development, heritage tourism, and improved property values. Preservation projects, such as revitalizing downtown buildings, create skilled jobs. They support a strong local economy in which a lot of historic buildings are right-sized for start-up businesses. Ms. McDougal stated that in the past, people thought historic preservation was reserved for buildings only. Today, preservation can also preserve cultural heritage, and this is especially if neighborhoods have had many changes over time. But the communities who lived and still live in those neighborhoods are an important part of the rich fabric of this City. It will be made certain that this preservation plan includes things that are important to the community to keep for future generations, whether they fit neatly into the definitions that historic preservation has traditionally used to define what's significant. Once the City decides what they want to do, a path will be mapped out on how to get there. The draft plan will go through City Staff/Landmark Commission review. The rest of the Spring will be spent drafting the preservation plan document before rolling it out for the third community meeting. The Planning Commission and City Council public hearing for consideration/adoption of the plan will take place August through September 2021. She concluded the presentation by giving some insight on things that could happen as a result of plan. After the presentation, a question and answer session took place from the community through comments posted on Facebook live and YouTube. Feedback can also be submitted to dsoutreacht7a cctexas.corn; a comment form is available online at www.cctexas.com/hpp. XI. Adjournment Chair Bequet adjourned the meeting at 7:00 p.m.