Boards and Commissions

Submitted:  December 16, 2004
Approved: _________________

HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION
MINUTES

Thursday, November 18, 2004
Meeting No. 12-2004

The City of Rockville Historic District Commission convened in regular session in the
Mayor and Council Chambers, Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Avenue, at 7:34 PM.

PRESENT
Anita Neal Powell, Chair
Craig Moloney
Max van Balgooy

Absent: Andrea Hartranft, Jeff Broadhurst

Staff present: Bob Spalding, Chief of Planning, Scott Parker, Planner III, Judy Christensen and Robin Ziek, Preservation Planners.

The HDC business meeting was preceded by a worksession from 7:00-7:30 p.m. in the Department of Public Works Conference Room.  Chairperson Powell announced that the worksession involved administrative matters and no decisions were made or discussed at that meeting.

The Business meeting was convened at 7:34 P.M.

I. COMMITTEE / ORGANIZATION REPORTS

A. Peerless Rockville – Eileen McGuckian, Executive Director, said the exhibit, “Road to Brown vs. Board of Education” had been shown at the former Lincoln High School, at Julius West Middle School, and will circulate to the Rockville Library and Gaithersburg Community Museum in the future. She said the Montgomery County HPC grant to inventory and record historic cemeteries was renewed.  Out of a potential 400 burial grounds, Peerless will record about 180 by GPS coordinates and photography and advocate for preservation. The effort to record and inventory the recent past will resume in January of 2005.  It will catalog, inventory, and photograph distinctive buildings from 1914 to 1984.  Suggestions for subject sites are welcome.  Peerless is also preparing an office and collections disaster plan in response to the recent fire at the Trolley Museum and some other events. The plan will be shared with the community.  Peerless has an early start on the 2005 Peerless Awards with a revision of the standards.  It will begin looking for nominees in December.  Due to the revised Mayor and Council meeting schedule, the awards will be presented on May 2, 2005.  Peerless has joined with the King Farm Civic Association to nominate the farmstead for historic designation. The nomination was sent to the Mayor and Council and to the HDC.  The New Years Brunch will be held January 1, 2005 from 11 am to 2 pm at Glenview Mansion.   All are invited to attend.

B.  Lincoln Park Historical Foundation – President Anita Powell -The Foundation will be sponsoring an open discussion on "The Economic Hardship and Hidden Cost of Maintaining Your Home Today." The date for this discussion has not been determined at this point.  On November 1, 2004, The Lincoln Park Historical Foundation established an Upcounty office in The Waters House at Pleasant Fields, 12535 Milestone Manor Lane, Germantown, MD. 20876. The Foundation will continue to provide training, educational outreach, research services and technical assistance. The office number is: 301-528-5747.

C. Comments – Historic District Commissioners – Commissioner van Balgooy said the National Trust for Historic Preservation has changed National Preservation Week to National Preservation Month in May 2005, as many local jurisdictions have been doing. There will not be a national poster contest.

II. APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

A. HDC2004-00317

Applicant: Aaron Fein
Address: 200 West Jefferson Street.  
Request: Remove side porch roof railing.

Planner Robin Ziek presented a visual overview of the site and the railing and side porch.  She related that the owner, Mr. Fein, hoped to replace this non-original side porch with a wrap-around front and side porch as originally shown on the Sanborn map.  The railing is purely decorative as there is no access to the porch roof. Staff recommended approval as a removal of a non-contributing later addition and cited Secretary of Interior Standards 2, 5 and 10.

Commissioner Moloney asked Mr. Fein about the foundations and construction of the porch.  Mr. Fein said it had cinder block and brick piers and was built of standard dimension 2X4 lumber.  He noted that it was not well built and is deteriorating.  His preference is to put his renovation funds into more substantial work with a positive effect.  He noted that the house was in very bad condition when they purchased it three years ago and they have done a lot of work on it to date.

The Commission concurred with the findings and recommendation of staff.

MOTION: Commissioner Moloney moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner van Balgooy finding HDC 2004-00317, for removal of a perimeter railing on a second story side screened porch roof, in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation #2, 5, and 10.

VOTE:  3-0

B. HDC2003-00274

Applicant: NV Homes (Mr. Todd Hickman, Agent).
Address: 528 W. Montgomery Avenue  (C, Lot 13).
Request: Add bonus room at rear.

C. HDC2003-00275

Applicant:  NV Homes (Mr. Todd Hickman, Agent).
Address: 522 W. Montgomery Avenue  (A, Lot 1).
Request: Add bonus room at rear.

D. HDC2003-00276

Applicant: NV Homes (Mr. Todd Hickman, Agent).
Address: 524 W. Montgomery Avenue  (B, Lot 2).
Request: Add bonus room at rear.

Planner Robin Ziek stated that the present retroactive approval situation resulted from miscommunication between the sales department and the permitting agents.  The sales group did not realize that the plans could not be modified, and offered the standard options to potential buyers, all of whom purchased a “bonus room “ on the rear of the house.  The room adds an additional room 8 feet by 16 feet to the first story corner and has a shed roof.

Planner Ziek presented views of the elevations from all directions and noted that the alteration does not affect the view, block the light to any adjacent house, and is minimally visible from the streets.  She noted that the Planning Commission reviewed the changes at their meeting of November 3 and approved the changes. She said that the test was to determine if the alteration would have been approvable at the original submission as Rockville allows such work performed in error an opportunity to be brought into compliance without penalty.

Staff recommended retroactive approval, finding the new room is at the rear, is of a minimal height, and is not intrusive in the historic district. The shed roof massing is subsidiary to the main house, with its gable roof. The new work meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation #9, which references that new construction will not destroy the spatial relationships that characterize the property or the historic district.

Todd Hickman, representing Northern Virginia Homes (NV Homes), apologized for the miscommunication and need for an amendment. He said that a change had been identified on an interior house and that change precipitated a review of all work.  NV Homes found these additional instances of alterations to the approved plans and brought them to staff’s attention.

Planner Scott Parker said the Planning Commission reviewed the changes to all structures, including several outside the HDC’s purview, and approved them.  They recommended approval to the HDC of the changes to the three houses along West Montgomery Avenue and felt the facades were improved by the addition of the room bay and shed roof.  He mentioned that he was personally inspecting all work at present for compliance.

Commissioner van Balgooy asked if the elevations that were presented to them were the approved elevations.  Mr. Parker said they were.  Commissioner van Balgooy asked the drawings accurately reflected the new construction?  After a conference and comparison with Mr. Hickman, it was determined that the bonus room was constructed with a window on the side elevation in every case, which was not shown on the drawings.  The HDC looked at each house individually, and determined that the houses with siding (522 and 528 W. Montgomery) should have some additional detailing to include corner boards to denote the addition of the bonus room (as if they had been added over time).  The house at 524 will be brick clad, and will not have this detail.

MOTION: Commissioner van Balgooy moved to approve HDC2003-00274, seconded by Commissioner Moloney, finding HDC2003-00274 for a retroactive revision for a 1-story rear addition at 528 West Montgomery Avenue in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation #9, with the following conditions:

1. To include the window on the west elevation of the bonus room; and
   
2. To add vertical trim, to indicate a corner board on the south and west elevations of the bonus room.

VOTE: 3-0

MOTION: Commissioner van Balgooy moved to approve HDC2003-00275, seconded by Commissioner Moloney, finding HDC2003-00275 for a retroactive revision for a 1-story rear addition at 522 West Montgomery Avenue in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation #9, with the following conditions:

1. To include the window on the east elevation of the bonus room; and
   
2. To add vertical trim, to indicate a corner board on the south and east elevations of the bonus room.

VOTE: 3-0

MOTION: Commissioner van Balgooy moved to approve HDC2003-00276, seconded by Commissioner Moloney, finding HDC2003-00276 for a retroactive revision for a 1-story rear addition at 524 West Montgomery Avenue in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation #9, with the following condition:

1. To include the window on the east elevation of the bonus room.

VOTE: 3-0

III. EVALUATION FOR HISTORICAL, ARCHITECTURAL OR CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE.

A. 715 Brent Road.

Planner Judy Christensen presented a visual overview of the subject house and the neighborhood as a supplement to the inventory form submitted to the HDC.  She said the house, built in 1948, was the subject of a demolition permit and 50 years old and therefore must be reviewed for significance to the City of Rockville. The house is a typical late 1940s Cape Cod, a well built middle class home in its day, built of cinder block with a parged or stucco exterior and a frame attic story.  It is intact and the site is intact, but the neighborhood is in transition. Most of the 1940s and 1950s houses have been expanded and a number of larger newer homes have been built.  The area does not appear to be a candidate for a historic district due to the infill and alterations. Its history is very broad, the story of changing lot and house size that could be told by many structures in the area. None of the owners were found in the Historical Society biographical or obituary files or in the Rockville history book as significant persons. Staff’s opinion based on these facts was that 715 Brent did not meet the criteria for designation as a single site historic district in Rockville.

The Commission evaluated the structure on the Historic District Designation Criteria checklist and concurred with staff’s findings.

MOTION: Commissioner Moloney moved that 715 Brent Road not be recommended as meeting the criteria for designation as a single site historic district in Rockville. Commissioner van Balgooy seconded the recommendation.

VOTE: 3-0

IV. DISCUSSION / UPDATES

A. Planning Activities and Projects:

1. Martin’s Lane/ Haiti, potential subdivision review (community meeting tentative for November)- Planner Christensen said that this meeting would not be held until 2005. 
   
2. Work session with Mayor and Council – scheduled for January 10, 2005.  An agenda will be discussed at the December meeting.
   
3. Lincoln Park Preservation report – Planner Judy Christensen said the broad guidelines have been done and will be on the web site soon.
   
4. Lincoln Park and East Rockville Surveys - Shelby Spillers/Robin Ziek- Planner Robin Ziek said that Janeta and Rockville Park inventories were done and Croydon Park was to be done over the holiday break. The next step is reporting findings and recommendations to the community.  Rockville Park has already been determined to be eligible for the National Register, and homeowners could apply for local designation as well.
   
5. Technical Guide for appurtenances (outbuildings/accessory structures)
   Staff stated that the purpose was to inform owners on the value of preserving and reusing historic outbuildings and to guide persons wishing to add an accessory building. It also provides guidelines for staff approval of a prefabricated shed that does not require a building permit. Commissioner van Balgooy provided comments. 
   
6. SHA project at MD 28 and Veirs Mill & the effect on Janeta – Robin Ziek- No Changes to report

V. MINUTES

• Meeting No. 11-2004, October 21, 2004

MOTION: Commissioner Moloney moved, seconded by Chairperson Powell, to approve the minutes of October 21, 2004 as submitted.

VOTE: 2-0-1 (Abstained: van Balgooy)

VI. ADJOURN: The HDC adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted: Judy Christensen, Preservation Planner