August 16

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Historic District Commission
Minutes

Thursday, August 16, 2005
Meeting No. 8-2005
Rockville City Hall

PRESENT
Anita Neal Powell, Chair
Andrea Hartranft
Max van Balgooy
Craig Moloney

Staff present: Jim Wasilak, Chief of Planning; Judy Christensen, Cindy Kebba, Robin Ziek and Shelby Spillers, Preservation Planners.

I. EXECUTIVE SESSION: The Chair, Anita Neal Powell, called the worksession to order at 7:06 p.m. and announced that the qualifications of the HDC and staff are made a part of each and every agenda item heard tonight. She announced that the first order of business was to entertain a motion to go into an Executive Session to consider three candidates for a recommendation for an appointment to the Historic District Commission.

A. MOTION: Commissioner Hartranft moved, seconded by Commissioner Moloney, to recess to a closed executive session of the HDC pursuant to Sections 10-508(a)(1)(i) and (ii) of the State Government Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, to discuss the appointment of a new HDC commissioner; and to make a recommendation to the Mayor and Council for said appointment.”
VOTE: 4-0

The HDC worksession recessed at 7:10 p.m. and reconvened at 7:50 p.m..

II. WORKSESSION

Chair Anita Powell announced that the HDC had convened in a closed executive session on August 16, 2005 at 7:10 – and adjourned at 7:50. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a recommendation for an appointment to the HDC to the Mayor and Council. The minutes of that meeting are closed.

Chairperson Powell stated that tonight’s meeting is a planning worksession for the upcoming year and she will be succeeded as Chair by Commissioner Max van Balgooy. Therefore, she turned the worksession over to Commissioner van Balgooy for the remainder of the agenda.

The HDC reviewed staff and HDC preferred lines of communication and meeting procedures as they pertained to the public, the HDC, the applicant, and the staff. A summary of those conclusions is presented below:

A. Communications amongst HDC, and with Staff
Questions to specific HDC commissioners? - Robin Ziek will be the HDC staff liaison and all discussion of meeting issues such as agenda, procedure, and order of the agenda will be conducted through the Chairperson and through Robin Ziek. The staff and HDC will continue to be copied on the information. For questions about specific projects and information on the agenda, the inquiry should be addressed by any commissioner to the assigned project planner with copies to the rest of the commission and staff.

Weekly bulletins w/ staff meeting minutes – are helpful and should continue.

Updates on HP projects (PC, M&C, etc.) - The staff liaison will keep the Chair informed on events and schedules of interest to the HDC. The Chair will also be listed to receive agendas of the Mayor and Council and Planning Commission as well as the HDC. “Staff discussion items” will be added to the agenda. In addition, staff presentations on current projects such as neighborhood plans and historical research will be listed on the agenda and presented as time permits.
B. Meetings (HDC, Staff, Applicant, Public)
Time limits
Staff reports
Public participation
Applicant participation
Consent Agenda (Minutes? Tax Credits? COAs?)
Staff-level approvals
Meeting script

The HDC agreed to:

Continue to receive paper brief book materials, rather than by email.
Schedule time-consuming courtesy reviews for separate meeting each month, as necessary. Summarize courtesy review issues in staff report (same format as COA staff report).
Employ time limits for staff, applicant, and public to be used at Chair’s discretion.
Use consent agenda
Avoid “dithering”: staff to provide procedural information to HDC
Use consistent format for staff reports
Firm deadlines for applicant submittals to avoid getting last-minute information.

What still needs to be done/determined:

Finalize staff report formats for COAs, courtesy reviews, significance evaluations (to be done by staff, for approval by HDC)
Establish absolute deadline for applicant submittals (last Tuesday of month, or one week before meeting, i.e. before brief book goes out?)
Should courtesy review meetings be televised?
Day of month/time/location for courtesy review meetings. When should we start having them?
Determine what should be on consent agenda (tax credit applications, minutes, etc)

Staff

HDC to ask questions/request clarification of materials in brief book early, via email or phone call, whenever possible to allow staff time to research and provide answers before meetings.
Need to better assist HDC in making consistent decisions
Each application must be considered on its own merit
Refer to Secretary of Interior standards and tech. guides
Identify precedents, but difficulty in searching database and each case is somewhat different.
Staff approvals. Discussion item for HDC
Staff to provide annual report on tax credit values for public information and to promote preservation.
Staff report should be limited to 10 minutes.

Applicant

Hold firm on application deadlines (last Tuesday of the month).
Need to discuss projects with staff before submitting application. Make an appointment.
Applications must be complete before being accepted. Applicant must provide pictures, diagrams, materials, etc.
Applicants are sometimes unclear about the decision-making process, not sure what will be allowed, unprepared at meeting.
Applicant’s role at meeting is to supplement staff report with NEW information, state if he/she agrees or disagrees with staff report and why, answer HDC questions.
Applicant limited to 5 minutes (at discretion of Chair)

Public

Must introduce themselves and speak at podium (state name and address)
Sign-up sheet provided for projects with significant public input.
Ask cable t.v. staff about adding trailer with website information so public can access staff reports, etc. from home.
Public speaking at meetings
- Individuals limited to 3 minutes (at discretion of Chair)
- Groups/organizations limited to 5 minutes (at discretion of Chair)

VII. ADJOURN: The HDC adjourned at 9:20 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Judy Christensen and Cindy Kebba, staff.