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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRP Cmte - 04/28/09 � � ���-� CITY OF PALM DESERT � � BUILDING & SAFETY DEPARTMENT . INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM To: Rachelle Klassen, City Clerk �,�� From: Suzanne Cicchini, Administrative Secretary Date: May 26, 2009 Subject: Submission of Approved Minutes for the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee Meeting held on April 28, 2009. Attached is a copy of the April 28, 2009 Minutes of the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee Meeting approved by the Committee on May 26, 2009. Please include on the ne� City Council agenda. Thank you CITY COUNCILACTION Attachment APPROVFD_ _._ �?�'��1;���.r__.______._. RECEIVED � i ��"� :t`i��.��% ,e.___._.__. ..._. MEETING DATE �-(I-D� _ _._.,_...____._._ _.. w.. ___._._..___. _.__..--- .. AYES: ' � rc ° �i Fr e���S�i��.�__ rroFs: Na��- �_____._.______ ABSENT: �one. ABSTAIN:_N�/�t'J .___. _._____..__ VF.RIFIED I3Y: ��l��rq �_� -- Original on File with City Clcrk's 01'tice G:\BldgSfty�Suzanne Cicchini\Word Files\Cultural Resources Preservation Committee\Meeting Items\Memo-City Clerk-Minutes 05-26-09.doc CITY OF PALM DESERT �-�---. � � CULTURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMITTEE - Minutes April 28, 2009 Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Committee Chair Gale Broeker called the meeting of the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee to order at 10:01 a.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Gale Broeker Don Graybill Vera Handley Kim Housken Kent Routh Bob Pitchford Also Present: Russell Grance, Director of Building and Safety Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Renee Schrader, Associate Planner Suzanne Cicchini, Recording Secretary III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS JAN HOLMLUND, former Cultural Resource Preservation Committee Member and Rancho Mirage resident received an Open House invitation for The County of . Riverside Gateway Records Center located at 2124 Gateway Drive in Riverside. The Open House is from 2:00 p.m. — 4:00 p.m. on April 29, 2009. Presentations on microfilm scanning, documents, tours of the archives and refreshments will be available. She offered to transport interested Committee Members to the event. Ms. Holmlund mentioned an article in Smithsonian Magazine on Modern Homes. She suggested national suppliers for the site plaques noted in her previous reports. These were originally found in Preservation News. The City of Rancho Mirage might be a good source for site plaque vendor names. She asked if the Committee would be pulling together a Walter White Thematic District. Committee Chair Gale Broeker responded that they have not discussed districts since June of 2006. Ms. Broeker noted that there had been many homes spread around, and all of them had not been discovered yet. Some homes had been identified from information Committee Member Bob Pitchford had brought back from his trip to Santa Barbara. Committee Member Kent Routh mentioned that the feeling at the time had been that Walter White was the architect most represented in the Palm Desert area and that the Committee would be justified in having a district with this architect. CULTURAL RESOURCE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE APRIL 28, 2009 IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES — OF THE MEETING OF MARCH 31, 2009 Committee Member Vera Handley inquired about the Motion made on Page Two, under VI Old Business, Item B. Discuss Progress of Site Plaques that was not voted on. She wanted to know if something would be done about that _ Motion today. Committee Member Kim Housken clarified that with regard to the plaques, the Committee had some discussion and Director of Building and Safety Russell Grance would get more information for the Committee. It was not voted on, and the Minutes reflect what happened and are accurate. Committee Chair Gale Broeker called for a MOTION to approve the Minutes. Committee Member Kim Housken moved to approve the Minutes and Committee Member Kent Routh seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously. V. NEW BUSINESS A. REVIEW DRAFT MILLS ACT PROGRAM DOCUMENTS Discussion commenced about the draft documents. Committee Chair Gale Broeker noticed that on Page Two C. Sample Financial Analysis Sheet was in the application but not in the Appendix. Director of Building and Safety Russell Grance clarified that the missing item would be added or edited out. Committee Member Kim Housken noted that the pages were not numbered. Committee Member Kent Routh inquired if other jurisdictions participate in this program. Mr. Grance indicated that there were only a handful of jurisdictions that were participating that had listed contracts in Riverside County. This agenda item is not time sensitive and the Committee concurred that this matter will be continued to the next meeting. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. UPDATE ON LETTERS TO OWNERS OF POTENTIAL CULTURAL RESOURCE PROPERTIES Russell Grance, Director of Building and Safety reported that we are only waiting for one more property owner response. This was the only one who had expressed an interest in participating in the program. The other six property owners opted not to participate. Committee Chair Gale Broeker inquired whether there had been any response regarding the City owned properties. Mr. Grance had not heard any to date. Ms. Broeker noted that Kay McCune was interested more in the Mills Act than a plaque, but had expressed interest. Mr. Grance asked the Committee what they would like to do. They could start work G:\BldgSfty\Suzanne Cicchini\Word Files\Cultural Resources Preservation Committee\Minutes 2009\042809 Minutes.docx Page 2 CULTURALRESOURCE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE APRIL 28, 2009 on the other list and send some more letters out. No action was taken on this item. B. DISCUSS PROGRESS OF SITE PLAQUES Russell Grance, Director of Building and Safety learned the City of Riverside uses a trophy shop for their site plaques. He will look into sending a pdf of the plaque design over to local trophy shops to obtain cost estimates. Committee Chair Gale Broeker inquired whether Mr. Grance contacted The City of Palm Springs about their plaques. He had not, but would call them. Committee Member pon Graybill mentioned he could provide Mr. Grance with a vendor's name from Indio. C. DISCUSS PROGRESS OF BOOKLET Committee Member Vera Handley discussed meeting Marilyn Cooper, a new board member at a meeting at The College of the Desert. She worked with Professor Cook of the Art Department. Ms. Cooper offered to help with the booklet. Russell Grance, Director of Building and Safety passed draft copies of an informational booklet he put together. Committee Member pon Graybill inquired whether this was on the web site. The booklet is a draft and was not on the web site. Discussion commenced about the booklet Mr. Grance provided. Committee Chair Gale Broeker thanked Mr. Grance for indentifying the difference between preservation and restoration and for pointing out that there are more pros than cons; she liked the sepia tones utilized. Committee Member pon Graybill stated it was very nice and suggested it be available at the counter. Committee Member Vera Handley commented the section with answers to questions that owners of historic homes might have was very well done. She mentioned that the College of the Desert student, Damien Harris will be in town all summer and all fall. When the Committee is ready, he will be ready to work with them. Mr. Grance discussed various aspects of his booklet and noted he was investigating page turning software for it. Committee Member Kent Routh was glad that the Committee was considering involving a student in the booklet process and that perhaps architecture students could perform surveys of homes when needed in the future, presuming interest from property owners of historic homes. VII. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE MEMBER REPORTS Committee Member Vera Handley heard that there was not a City Council representative for their meetings. She called Mrs. Robert Spiegel about this and Mrs. Spiegel called Sheila Gilligan, Assistant City Manager for Community Services to mention this. Committee Member pon Graybill recalled that he spoke with City Council Member, Cindy Finerty informally on this subject. She G:\BldgSfty\Suzanne Cicchini\Word Files\Cultural Resources Preservation Committee\Minutes 2009\042809 Minutes.docx Page 3 CULTURALRESOURCE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE APRIL 28, 2009 had suggested making an official request. Ms. Handley stated she was waiting for a call from Ms. Gilligan and would inform the Committee of her findings. Committee Member Kent Routh discussed the possibility of the Committee going dark for July and August. Director of Community Development, Lauri Aylaian informed the Committee that the City Council typically meets for one meeting each in July and August. Generally, they go dark for about 6 weeks. Most of the other Committees and Commissions go dark in the summer also. Planning Commission and Architectural Review are about the only exceptions. There are state laws associated with CEQA that require processing of applications within a certain amount of time. If there are no burning, time critical issues, it's pretty much left up to the discretion of the committee. Mr. Routh mentioned that he is commuting from Las Vegas. It's a four hour drive each way to get to these meetings. Mr. Routh was contemplating resigning, but he will hold off and see what the Committee decides. Ms. Aylaian explained that the Committee does not have to wait until May to decide. Other Committees are already discussing going dark and setting up their schedules. People like to make vacation plans in advance and purchase their tickets. Mr. Routh requested that this be placed on the Agenda for the next meeting. A discussion commenced about the need for another Committee member with expertise in architecture, archaeology, history, curation and a resident of Palm Desert. Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development noted that typically selection of new members is done on an annual cycle for the various Committees and Commissions. Committee Member pon Graybill discussed the California Preservation Foundation Conference. He volunteered and enjoyed the conference. He attended a session on sustainability. Palm Desert was mentioned as a model for the LEEDS program. Mr. Graybill believes it was unfortunate that there was not a representative from the City there to discuss it. He toured several historic sites including Cary GranYs House and The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn. He gathered materials from the sessions he attended and took over 500 photos. He attended a session on sustainability. Committee Member Kim Housken noted that there was one work shop and two tours that made it into Palm Desert. They visited the Visitor Center and The Living Desert. All attendees' information will be added to the archived conference materials so that these items will be available for research in the future. Committee Member Kim Housken shared the term facadomies, coined by the opening speaker. It's the notion of fa�ade enhancement gone amok. She attended a session on design guidelines and one on historic context. A speaker emphasized that community input is recommended. The process is as important as the guidelines. Getting people to buy in and share the reason why they like certain aspects of a design is important. Committee Member Kim Housken discussed Abatron. A versatile product that is moldable. It can be filed, carved, sanded and painted. It adds strength and is similar to a wood filler. Committee Chair G:\BldgSfty\Suzanne Cicchini\Word Files\Cultural Resources Preservation Committee\Minutes 2009\042809 Minutes.docx Page 4 CULTURALRESOURCE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE APRIL 28, 2009 Gale Broeker inquired if unisolar film was discussed. Ms. Housken indicated it was. The film would be used in lieu of solar panels. Committee Chair Gale Broeker noted that she spent $65 of her own money to attend a seminar on financing historic preservation and tax incentives. She thought this would be about funding historic preservation, but it was aimed at developers and discussed tax credits. Committee Member Kim Housken relayed a story about Architect Leo Marmol. In an attempt to aim for a high LEED rating, he designed a home that would not require an air conditioner. No points were received for not having an air conditioner, yet installing an efficient air condition did garner LEEDS points. Things are rapidly changing but there are still baffling inconsistencies. She discussed a tour she led that came to Palm Desert and Indian Wells. People were impressed with what they saw in Palm Desert, especially the Walter White homes. Committee Chair Gale Broeker described various means of financing historic preservation. Checking the General Plan, working with cities, state and local incentives and tax increment financing. She confirmed that HUD funds are available for local preservation. Bond and grants are another way also. She tearned that the City of Santa Monica property owners came up with tax amendments and variances for historic preservation which would substitute the Mills Act or be an addition to it. She also indicated that since this Committee is the Cultural Resource Preservation Committee, funding by the Cultural Trust Fund, which is also known as Art in Public Places, might be available. Committee Member Kim Housken noted that their budget was cut by 63%. Ms Broeker shared the story of Albert Okura, founder and owner of Juan Pollo Chicken Restaurants, who purchased Amboy for $425,000. Committee Member pon Graybill mentioned that the California Preservation Foundation will be posting information from the conference on the web site. Committee Member Vera Handley inquired if she could have a meeting to discuss the booklet with Bob Pitchford, Marilyn Cooper and Damien Harris, the College of the Desert student. As long as Committee business is not discussed and there is no quorum, she may have the meeting. It won't be a Committee meeting. Committee Chair Gale Broeker announced that the Coachella Valley Preservation Alliance is having a meeting on Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the DACE (Desert Alliance for Community Empowerment) Building in Coachella. Committee Member Vera Handley inquired about the purpose of the meeting. Ms. Broeker explained that historical societies, foundations and members of different historical committees and commissions and boards throughout the valley will meet for an update on the status of the Carl Bray Studio Home demolition and the next endangered building. The EIR won't be out until June. Jennie Kelly of the North Shore Yacht Club and The Dos Palmas Restoration is in charge. G:\BldgSfty\Suzanne Cicchini\Word FileslCultural Resources Preservation Committee\Minutes 2009\042809 Minutes.docx Page 5 CULTURALRESOURCE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE APRIL 28, 2009 The next meeting of the Cultural Resources Preservation Committee will be Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in the Administrative Conference Room at The City of Palm Desert. VIII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee Concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 11:07 a.m. � �vt� �Cc, ti�,-J Suzanne Cicchini, Recording Secretary G:\BldgSfty\Suzanne Cicchini\Word Files\Cultural Resources Preservation Committee\Minutes 2009\042809 Minutes.docx Page 6