Thursday, January 17, 2008
Rockville City Hall
PRESENT |
Con Hitchcock, Chairman |
Craig Moloney
Anita Neal Powell | Max van Balgooy |
Staff present: Cindy Kebba, Jeffrey Winstel, Preservation Planners
I. WORKSESSION (7:00– 7:30 p.m.): Agenda review and update.
Chairman Hitchcock opened the general meeting at 7:37 p.m. and introduced the commissioners and staff. Chairman Hitchcock announced a change of order in the agenda. The Certificates of Approval will be presented before the Discussion/ Updates in order to save applicants’ time.
II. COMMITTEE / ORGANIZATION REPORTS
A. Lincoln Park Historical Foundation – Commissioner Anita Neal Powell stated there was no report.
B. Peerless Rockville Executive Director, Eileen McGuckian gave the report.
Peerless hosted a successful brunch at Glenview Mansion on New Years Day. They are still waiting for PEPCO to hook up to Frieda’s Cottage and will soon start the process with Washington Gas. They have spent approximately $90,000 on the exterior restoration of Frieda’s Cottage and have had good surprises -- architectural elements that have been closed off or not inspected for years are in good shape, in particular the attic and the chimney.
Several meetings were held regarding the Osage Orange Tree at Frieda’s Cottage and the final outcome is that the tree appears to be predominately healthy now, but has a severe lean and could fall down any time between soon to 15 years from now. Planned right-of-way construction at the site will jeopardize the tree’s health and ¾ of the tree is in the City’s right-of-way. The City Forester feels the tree will present an increased potential hazard with the construction; therefore, the tree will be removed.
Peerless has been conducting oral history interviews with the psychiatric community, including people who worked with Dr. Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. They have received new photographs and have learned which room was actually her office.
They will be repairing windows next, including the storms and screens. The window repair will be the subject of a workshop this Saturday (1/19/08) conducted by Hank Handler, of Oak Grove Restoration.
Comm. van Balgooy asked about the content of the workshop.
Eileen – The workshop will be hands-on but will also include a power-point presentation demonstrating how to keep windows tight, using original materials, and making them energy efficient.
Nominations for the 2008 Peerless Rockville Preservation Awards are due March 1. Peerless is looking for project suggestions from the general public, staff and the HDC. The nomination form is online at the Peerless Rockville website.
The Recent Past Advisory Committee is meeting on February 9. There is some interesting news related to the Twinbrook Neighborhood Plan. George Washington University Professor, Richard Longstreth, is working with 14 graduate students in a seminar that will focus on Twinbrook. They will be looking a specific streetscapes in the neighborhoods associated with developer Joseph Geeraert and each student will do a research paper on a particular theme related to the Twinbrook development. This work will be finished by April and right now the students are looking to interview long-time residents.
For more information on projects and activities call Peerless Rockville @ 301-762-0096 or see: www.peerlessrockville.org
Chairman Hitchcock – No Comments from Historic District Commissioners or staff. Consent agenda items will be voted on together HDC2007-00409 and the County Tax Credit Application. Are there any comments or would anyone like to speak on these applications?
Harold Navy – Architect for Rev. Wood, Applicant for 21 Wood Lane. Mr. Navy stated that the price for a new concrete drive is higher than anticipated and he would like to have the option to pave with bituminous asphalt which is one of the materials that is also recommended by the Public Works Department.
Staff Kebba – Driveway appears to have been asphalt so that would be a repair and not require review. The Commission could approve both materials and leave the choice to the applicant.
Chairman Hitchcock – call for motion.
Comm. van Balgooy – Suggested making a separate motion for this consent agenda application since there had been some discussion.
MOTION: Comm. van Balgooy – I move approval of HDC2007-00049 as meeting the City of Rockville Technical Guidelines and Secretary of the Interior’s Standards 9 and 10 to facilitate handicap access to the building, noting that the project will not have a negative impact on adjacent historic resources, with the following condition: applicant can use bituminous paving or concrete for the driveway paving. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Powell.
VOTE: 4-0
Chairman Hitchcock – tax credit application HDC 2007-00410?
MOTION: Comm. van Balgooy – moved to recommend approval of county tax credit application HDC2007-00407 for 411 Feather Rock Drive. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Moloney.
VOTE: 4-0
Chairman Hitchcock – Moving on to discussion item A, the Cordelia House.
Rev. Wood – we will be presenting the plans on the February 21 agenda for the rehabilitation of Cordelia House. We are trying to duplicate the windows and other exterior features as closely as possible and we will not be expanding the building and making changes to the exterior.
Comm. van Balgooy – How will you be using the building?
Rev. Wood – It will be used for overflow worship space, Sunday school and meeting space.
Chairman Hitchcock – I understand your father has been recognized in the Remember Rockville program.
Rev. Wood – yes, thank you for your support.
Staff Kebba – reported that she had contacted developer Michael Schwartzman about the Cordelia House and asked him to consult with HP staff regarding the rehabilitation and the windows in particular, which he agreed to do and he will be following the Standards.
Chairman Hitchcock -- Next item is HDC2007-00411 Chestnut Lodge
Staff Kebba – Reviewed staff report noting the alterations proposed including an asphalt parking pad, pedestrian pathways, wood gate, stone pillars, stucco columns, AC unit location and screening fence, landscaping and site lighting.
The applicant submitted turning radius and impervious area analyses for the parking pad. Staff agreed that the amount of paved area is needed to accommodate guest parking, car stacking, etc. It is not a significant change to the amount of impervious area in front of the stable. Staff recommended that the long pedestrian path be brick pavers rather than macadam. Blue Stone pavers are being used for some secondary paths and the wood gate has been added at the pedestrian entrance from Bullard Circle to better identify it as private property as Comm. Maloney had suggested during the October 2006 courtesy review.
The stone pillars at the Little Lodge lot will be 6’ high and 3 ½’ square. They will be similar to the approved Chestnut Lodge main entrance pillars on W. Montgomery Avenue. Signage for the whole site will be reviewed by the HDC at an upcoming meeting. Stucco columns at the Little Lodge driveway will be slightly narrower than those that mark entrance to the non-historic portion of the development. , The AC units will be located to the rear of the house and be screened with a 5’ wood fence. The perimeter landscaping has been changed from the line of evergreen trees to a better mix of deciduous and evergreen plantings that will provide more variety and texture. A planned large shade tree will be relocated between the Little Lodge and the Ice House. Two carriage lights on poles will match the style of exterior lighting on Little Lodge and the stable and they are requesting an option for foot lighting (16” tall) along the pathway.
Chairman Hitchcock: Questions?
Comm. van Balgooy – Point of order. Can we consider additional application items received after the deadline? Public would not have chance to comment.
Staff Kebba – Generally we try to discourage this but these are fairly simple requests.
Sue Lee Cho – Attorney for Miller, Miller and Canby, representing Chestnut Lodge. Thank staff for detailed report and would like to make minor comments, regarding the long pedestrian path. The Applicant has agreed to pavers instead of macadam as recommended by staff. Additional items submitted just prior to the meeting, such as the driveway columns and the path lighting, were submitted with the intention to ask the Commission to give staff authority to review and approve the requests if the Commission did not want to approve these items this evening. Also request that if a similar alternative is desired, staff could approve at administrative level instead of waiting until next commission meeting. The review of the stone pillars at Bullard Circle entrance to estate does not include logo and signage. Signage is not presented this evening for HDC approval.
Chairman Hitchcock – What are your plans for the next few months?
Sue Lee Cho – In the next 2 months just the pillars. The signage would be replicated throughout the site with the model construction. When potential purchasers come in we find it is better of have the signage up.
Comm. Moloney -- Concern about the signage at the Entrance from West Montgomery Avenue. I don’t feel confident about just a staff level approval for this.
Sue Lee Cho – You did already approve the entrance wall at Laird Street and west Montgomery Avenue.
Comm. Moloney – But not the signage.
Chairman Hitchcock – I have the concern about the Montgomery Avenue entrance, but I understand the need for signage for the development. If we disagree with the signage for W. Montgomery Avenue, and it has already been used elsewhere on the site, then what?
Comm. van Balgooy – the signage for the entire site should be coherent and work together. I am concerned about planning creep, looking at what we are presented - are these examples? The typeface should be late 19th-early 20th century and the script shown in the example is more 18th century.
Sue Lee Cho – We agree that signage throughout the site should mirror the signage on the front entrance. So we’ll bring it back for HDC review.
Rob Baker – At the next meeting we plan to bring back logo, script and design for signage at West Montgomery Avenues signs and for the entire community.
Comm. van Balgooy – Will your design show the color and the materials?
Rob Baker – Do we need to bring in a bronze plaque to show it is bronze? The script shown on the current plans is a placeholder and the logo and script here are not appropriate. We agree with concern for consistency and the logo will be low key.
Cindy – The applicant is suggesting a mailbox in the pillar, recessed – if Post Office will allow it, adjacent to the Little Lodge driveway.
Sue Lee Cho – The two driveway columns and the pathway lighting were presented tonight as addendum to the application . Ms. Kebba raised the issue of lighting the path during our discussions and we thought that was a good point and developed this alternative for the HDC to review as an option for the Little Lodge owner. We request that staff may approve minor changes to the plan.
Chairman Hitchcock – suggest adding additional paragraph to avoid having to define minor versus major.
Comm. van Balgooy – I would like to give staff authority for minor changes, for example if the stone that needs a replacement is buff colored and you are using a buff colored stone as a replacement that’s fine, but if it is a gray stone that would not be acceptable for staff approval. Some staff approval for minor changes is acceptable if it is understood that staff may have to run some proposed changes by the HDC via email which may take several days but would avoid having to wait for the next HDC meeting. Major changes would require formal HDC review.
Comm. van Balgooy – Little Lodge piers are no problem with their treatment but what about their awkward placement.
Rob Baker – I asked our landscape architect about that and she said it was based on the perspective of a car approaching the house, so you approach the face and not the corner of the pillars. The corners of the pillars are on the Little Lodge property line.
Sue Lee Cho – Moving one forward to be adjacent to the other one would place it outside the Little Lodge property and this might require an easement from the adjacent property owner (the Lodge condominium).
Molly Graves – Molly Graves, project landscape architect. I was worried about the piers placed across from each other being to close to the tree. Although the outside limit of disturbance would be obscured, the configuration would mirror alignment of 2 existing evergreen trees.
Comm. Moloney – I don’t understand piers being obscured by evergreens.
Molly – They can be sited along the driveway or moved back behind the evergreen.
Comm. Moloney – Or next to it.
Molly – Concern over that cutting off the foliage.
Rob Baker – The large pine has a 24” caliper and could be parallel. We could slide one column forward or have them perpendicular along the route.
Comm. van Balgooy – What about the easement possibility?
Sue Lee Cho – The Little Lodge owner may find it cumbersome.
Molly – I agree.
Sue Lee Cho – Can we move forward tonight with other option.
Comm. van Balgooy – We would like them lined up but don’t want to turn the discussion into a design charette.
Molly – I suggest the eastern pier move toward its orthogonal, making a slight adjustment.
Comm. Moloney – that’s fine.
Comm. van Balgooy – It’s acceptable, can you do this?
Molly – Yes.
Chairman Hitchcock – And you will show it to staff?
Molly – We will work with Cindy.
Sue Lee Cho – We would still like to have both options. We understand the commission wants them aligned, can staff have discretion to approve the final placement?
Comm. Moloney – I have a question about the path lighting – why are there so many lights?
Sue Lee Cho – They are very small lights, 16” tall and very dim, not that bright. They are garden lights and very low voltage.
Comm. van Balgooy – It says 18 watts and 12 volts?
Molly – 18 watts is very, very dim – the dimmest light bulb you would have in your house is 35 watts, and this is like a night-light. We could reduce the spacing to 20’ along the path and have 6 fixtures instead of 7. Spacing any further apart would look silly – like random light dots.
Comm. Moloney – I would like the light in front of the Little Lodge eliminated.
Molly – the light is 20’ out from the house and it’s the first path light.
Comm. Maloney – I think you should eliminate that one, spread them out to 20’ to center line, and stagger them on both sides.
Molly – Trying to keep out of Limit of Disturbance area, staggering would lose effect of lighted path.
Comm. van Balgooy – It doesn’t bother me the way it’s presented.
Comm. Moloney – It’s the preference I have.
Chair Hitchcock – Other comments?
Comm. Moloney – could the landscape architect describe what we are looking at here – the buffer.
Rob Baker – Originally, the Mayor and Council thought there should be a buffer between the Little Lodge and the 36 new houses. The City Forester and the HDC raised concerns about the lack of variety and dense evergreen wall so, during a courtesy review, revisions were recommended. The HDC suggested using a mixture of planting materials to create different textures. We were able to redesign it as something that wasn’t a green wall and having the model home built behind the Little Lodge helped refine it. Proposed a plan that consists of indigenous species that will provide changing views during different seasons.
Molly – The tallest point on the model home is the turret and screening this view creates the deepest section of the perimeter landscaping. The Little Lodge contract purchaser had concerns about the proximity to the new house, so we increased the size of materials to 3 large deciduous trees that will have nice fall color and veil-like flowers in Spring, and pink azaleas in the front. The evergreens are varied along the property line with the Hollies, broad leaf Viburnum, Bayberry, Magnolia…more layers beef up screening and create the impression of even greater depth.
Comm. Moloney – Looks great. Nice job.
Comm. van Balgooy – The use of colors creates a palette of interest and texture.
Chairman Hitchcock – Other items? Is there a motion?
Comm. van Balgooy – How do we incorporate the additional items submitted tonight?
Chairman Hitchcock -- Move to approve what is on the table and amend with separate paragraphs for each issue, or rule it into on big motion.
MOTION: Comm. van Balgooy moved approval of HDC2007-00411as it meets the Chestnut Lodge Design Guidelines, the City of Rockville Technical Guides for Exterior Alterations and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards 9 and 10, with the following conditions:
1. Pavers must be used for the entire pedestrian path that extends from Bullard Circle to the Little Lodge driveway .
2. All work must comply with City ordinances and permitting requirements including storm water management, forestry, etc.
3. Changes will be reviewed by the HDC except for minor landscape changes if approved by the City Forester.
4. Piers for the Lower Lodge driveway as submitted on plans dated 1/15/08 are approved if aligned with each other and revision is approved by staff
5. Path lights are approved as submitted in plans dated 1/15/08 with minor adjustments such as location, spacing and design allowed if approved by HP staff and not to exceed seven lights.
Comm. Moloney – Signage identified as placeholders in the plans?
Comm. van Balgooy – I amend the motion to include that signage submitted is not part of this approval. A comprehensive signage application must still be submitted to the HDC for approval and must include all text, logos, font, materials and colors to be used in signage.
Chairman Hitchcock – Path lights authorized as opposed to mandated.
Comm. van Balgooy – The decision to install path lighting or not, as desired by the Little Lodge owner.
Chairman Hitchcock – Minor Landscape adjustments as opposed to other adjustments?
Comm. Neal Powell – Isn’t that covered in No. 3?
Comm. van Balgooy – Not sure what others would be. Color of stone, anything you have in mind?
Rob Baker – An example would be stepping stones not separated by grass, put then close together as requested by owner, for instance.
Chairman Hitchcock – would that be a landscape change?
Staff Kebba – The intent of #3 in the motion on the table is for plant materials.
Rob Baker – This would be hardscape.
Comm. van Balgooy – Would this be approved by the City Forester?
Staff Kebba – The City Forester would not look at this, just planting.
Chairman Hitchcock – Minor hardscape changes could be approved by the HP staff and minor landscape changes approved by the City Forester.
Comm. van Balgooy – I would like to make another Amendment, to No. 3; to read with the exception of minor hardscape changes, which could be reviewed by the HP staff, or minor landscape changes, which would be reviewed by the City Forester.
Comm. van Balgooy – I move the motion as amended.
Comm. Moloney – I second.
Chairman Hitchcock – All in favor
Commissioners – Aye
Chairman Hitchcock – Chair votes Aye.
Rob Baker – Thank you for your approval.
Discussion/ Updates:
A. Cordelia House – already discussed.
B. Rehab tax credit workshop was held this past Saturday. Only six attendees but all seemed appreciative and were actively networking with each other about contractors and solutions. Should result in several new applications. Will consider doing this on annual basis.
C. Joint HDC annual training meeting, February 20, 2008 in the evening. The location is the Chevy Chase Town Hall. Commissioners are asked to RSVP as soon as possible.
D. HDC development review procedures:
Staff Winstel presented the memo and flowchart on the development review process, explaining the procedure involves initial review of submitted Natural Resource Inventories (NRIs) for new development and is in accordance with the City of Rockville Environmental Guidelines. Requested any comments and concerns from commissioners.
Comm. van Balgooy – Wished that the Natural Resource Inventory could be named something that would include historical resources.
Chairman Hitchcock – This might help get the word out to the public more readily.
Commission did not object to procedural memo being included in the Commission Notebook.
E. Twinbrook Plan update.
Staff Kebba reviewed results of the Planning Commission meeting on December 19th and discussed Peerless Rockville’s work on the Recent Past survey within the Twinbrook planning areas, and the proposed list of potentialy historic resources (not including single family houses) staff will be bringing to the HDC in March for consideration to incorporate into the next draft of the plan. Work from George Washington University Professor Longstreth’s Graduate Seminar will be done by April and may contribute to the plan.
F. HDC and PC meeting.
Staff Winstel reported on inquiry for meeting and suggestion that PC comes to the HDC or vice versa. Comm. van Balgooy and fellow commissioners felt that agendas would not allow enough time for the meeting and would like to schedule a separate meeting. Staff with discuss with PC staff liaison, Chief of Planning Jim Wasilak.
G. Osage Orange tree at Frieda’s Cottage
Staff Kebba remarked that Peerless covered most of this, but mentioned she felt the meetings and tests performed on the tree were very helpful and informative in making the final decision.
H. Preserve American Application and Building Catalog
Staff Winstel presented power point on Preserve America program and grant application for $20,000 towards costs of reprinting revised Historic Building Catalog. This was presented to Mayor and Council for required endorsement on December 10, 2007 and applications were submitted to the Advisory Council office and the National Park Service office on December 12. Determination on application and grant are expected in early March.
I. African American Heritage Walking Tour Interpretive Panels. CLG Grant
Staff Winstel presented a power point that provided overview of report submitted to commissions discussing various options for interpretive exhibit panels for existing African American Walking Tour brochure. Comm. van Balgooy stated recent research shows people don’t spend much time reading this exhibits and we should consider augmenting with audio interpretation using cell-phones. In addition an NEH grant could be pursued to study historic interpretation media in Rockville and devise a more coherent plan. Comm. Neal Powell endorsed the idea of the CLG grant to cover additional funding for the interpretive panels, and also expressed the need for more outreach with the current piece, in particular to school groups, the library, community centers and our website –especially in conjunction with Martin Luther King Day and African History Month. Staff will pursue these initiatives.
Chairman Hitchcock – Meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
