SALT LAKE CITY HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Room 315, 451 South State Street at 5:45 p.m.
This document along with the digital recording constitute the official minutes of the Historic Landmark Commission regular session meeting held on January 7, 2009.
If this is a hard copy of the minutes; to view the attached materials and listen to audio excerpts of the record go to: www.slcgov.com/boards/HLC/hlc-agen.htm
To download the FTR player and listen to audio excerpts from the record if you are already on the Planning website, click here.
The regular meeting of the Historic Landmark Commission was held on January 7, 2009, at 5:46:16 PM in Room 315 of the City and County Building, located at 451 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84111. Commissioners present for the meeting included: Earle Bevins, III, David Fitzsimmons, Chairperson, Arla Funk, Polly Hart, Creed Haymond, Warren Lloyd, Vice Chairperson, Jessica Norie and Anne Oliver.
Planning staff present for the meeting were: Pat Comarell, Planning Division Assistant Director; Lynn Pace, Deputy City Attorney; Joel Paterson, Planning Programs Manager; Robin Zeigler, Senior Preservation Planner and Cecily Zuck, Historic Landmark Commission Secretary.
FIELD TRIP 4:00 p.m.
Both petitions PLNHLC2008-00885 and PLNHLC2008-00693 were postponed earlier in the day by the applicants so the Commission did not visit either of those sites. The Commission did visit Tracy Aviary, the site of petition PLNHLC2008-00911. Listen to the field trip audio by following the link above.
DINNER AND WORK SESSION 5:29:16 PM
Chairperson Fitzsimmons noted that Paul Nielson could not be present and therefore, the work session was deferred until the following meeting.
Chairperson Fitzsimmons stated that the Planning Division had an award to present to Paula Carl, thanking her for her service on the Commission.
Former Commissioner Carl thanked the Commission for the award and their continuing dedication.
Ms. Zeigler noted that there were a couple of upcoming preservation meetings. She stated that February 18th would be the last public workshop for the Historic Preservation Plan draft, and February 19th would be the date of the first Commercial Design Guidelines open house.
Ms. Zeigler noted that soon, the Buzz Center would be approving some Certificates of Appropriateness over the counter on certain types of projects.
Ms. Zeigler noted that the next meeting would also incorporate proposed changes to the Economic Hardship and Landscaping Ordinances. She stated that the Historic Landmark Commission, if comfortable with those changes, would then send them on to the Planning Commission and City Council for review and adoption.
Chairperson Fitzsimmons noted that since the last Historic Landmark Commission meeting, the Land Use Appeals Board (LUAB) had heard an appeal by Tom Brooks, regarding a decision originally heard by the HLC on October 1, 2008. Chairperson Fitzsimmons stated that LUAB had upheld the Commission’s original decision.
Pat Comarell noted that Mr. Brooks also had a future meeting with the mayor regarding the Commission’s decision.
Chairperson Fitzsimmons noted that elections for Chair and Vice Chair would be held next month.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES from November 20, 2008 and December 3, 2008 5:47:32 PM
Commissioner Harding made a motion to approve both sets of minutes. Commissioner Haymond seconded the motion. All voted “Aye”. The motion carried unanimously.
REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR 5:48:09 PM
Both Chairperson Fitzsimmons and Vice Chairperson Lloyd noted they had nothing to report.
COMMENTS TO THE COMMISSION 5:48:23 PM
No one was present to speak to the Commission.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
PLNHLC2008-00885, Minor Alteration—A request by Trolley Square Associates for minor alterations to Building B at Trolley Square located at approximately 602 East 500 South in the Central City Historic District. The request includes adding storefronts, awnings and signs for the expansion of the Pottery Barn store. The property is zoned CS Community Shopping and is located in City Council District 4, represented by Council Member Luke Garrott. (Staff: Nick Norris, 535-6173, nick.norris@slcgov.com) View the staff report.
This item was postponed by the applicant.
NEW BUSINESS 5:48:40 PM
PLNHLC2008-00693, Minor Alteration—a request by SK Hart, represented by Otto Gehring, for minor alterations to an office building located at approximately 630 East South Temple in the South Temple Historic District. The applicant is proposing to add a covered entry feature and circular driveway. The property is zoned RO Residential/Office and is located in City Council District 4, represented by Council Member Luke Garrott. (Staff: Nick Norris, 535-6173, nick.norris@slcgov.com) View the staff report.
This item was postponed by the applicant.
Petition PLNHLC2008-00911 – Tracy Aviary, New Construction – A request by Tim Brown, Executive Director of Tracy Aviary, for construction of a new building and exhibit cage for the Amazon Adventure Exhibit. The property is located in Liberty Park at approximately 589 East 1300 South. Liberty Park is a Landmark Site zoned OS Open Space and is located in City Council District 5, represented by Council Member Jill Remington Love. (Staff contact: Robin Zeigler, 535-7758, robin.zeigler@slcgov.com) View the staff report.
STAFF PRESENTATION 5:48:42 PM
Ms. Zeigler noted that the applicant was not ready to present their master plan even though that this presentation had been indicated in the original agenda language. She noted that the issue before them was for new construction of an outdoor flight enclosure accessible to the public with a small, attached, one-story enclosure for the exhibit’s birds. She noted that the main building would be constructed of concrete masonry blocks or cmu, lapped siding, and covered with a wire mesh vegetation screen. Ms. Zeigler stated that the project would require the relocation of a non-historic existing fence in a slightly different location. She noted that the design goal was to create a contemporary structure which referenced some of the materials and elements of design present in the Wilson Pavilion nearby. Ms. Zeigler noted that the proposed materials and overall design met the historic design guidelines and staff recommended approval.
QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION 5:51:01 PM
There were no questions from the Commission.
APPLICANT PRESENTATION 5:51:07 PM
Kenton Peters, architect, noted that the idea behind the wire mesh screening and planting was to make the building as unobtrusive as possible. He stated that the visible portion of the structure was meant to reference the Wilson Pavilion materials and the glass block windows set behind the mesh screen were meant to create a flush, washable surface on the interior and bring natural light into the building.
QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION 5:52:57 PM
Vice Chairperson Lloyd inquired if Mr. Peters was involved in the development of the Aviary Master Plan.
Mr. Peters noted that he was not.
Roger Sweeney, curator of Tracy Aviary, noted that he did have a copy of the current master site plan and showed this to the Commission, however, he stated that the map was expected to change.
Vice Chairperson Lloyd noted that it was his understanding that the east gate was not currently functioning and if it were to become active, the placement of the new structure would be directly adjacent to the entrance and wondered how that would affect the Aviary’s circulation pattern.
Mr. Sweeney noted that the Aviary did use the east gate in the summer during times of peak attendance. He stated that the new building would be placed directly next to an existing pathway which would not require any rearrangement.
Commissioner Oliver stated that according to the structure inventory report provided by staff, a number of the structures in the Aviary from the 1930s were scheduled for demolition or removal and wondered if these structures were in the view shed of the proposal.
Mr. Peters noted that most of those older structures were towards the center and west side of the Aviary, and not visible from the path of the proposal.
Commissioner Bevins inquired if the Aviary expected to present other projects before the master plan was available for the Commission to review.
Mr. Peters noted that this was the only project, besides the previously approved changes to the flight cage, being proposed before the master plan would be presented. He noted that Salt Lake County also wanted to see the overall plan to review how available bond money would be utilized.
PUBLIC COMMENTS 6:00:57 PM
There was no one present from the public to speak to the item.
EXECUTIVE SESSION 6:01:05 PM
Commissioner Oliver noted that her only concern was the shed roof design, whereas it seemed every other roof within the Aviary presented a gable or hipped roof design.
Vice Chairperson Lloyd noted that he agreed with Commissioner Oliver regarding the proposed roof design.
Chairperson Fitzsimmons noted that the building that the Commission had approved for the central flight cage would have a shed roof.
Ms. Zeigler noted that the applicant would not construct that addition; however, the existing flamingo exhibit did have a holding structure with a shed roof.
Commissioner Funk stated that she was concerned about approving anything without the master plan being available for review.
Commissioner Oliver noted that she would agree with this as well as the fact that the new structure would be in a highly visible location.
Vice Chairperson Lloyd stated that there seemed to be an issue for the applicant of moving the proposal forward as soon as possible, and inquired if the future master plan contained information which would reveal that the current proposal would not be suitable to the site.
APPLICANT RESPONSE 6:07:56 PM
Rusty Russon, project manager, presented a preliminary drawing of the phase two master plan for the Commission. He noted the general concept was to create a first draw at the east gate with the Amazon Adventure exhibit and later create an open circumference in the center of the Aviary to utilize that space in a more efficient way. He stated that this included reworking the existing amphitheatre and constructing a new rain forest building in the green space currently available.
Commissioner Oliver inquired if there were drawings available of these conceptual buildings.
Mr. Russon stated that there were design drawings available for the rehabilitation of the Wilson Pavillion, however, not for the other structures and noted that the Aviary was still attempting to figure out how the bond money would be distributed.
Commissioner Funk inquired if the shed roof was necessary or if a gable roof would be possible.
Mr. Peters noted the building was oriented east to west and the shed roof had been proposed due to its ability to terminate the end of the flight cage, which would run north and south, into a solid structure face. He stated that they had considered a flat roof on the structure; however, this did not reference any of the buildings in the Aviary and might encourage native birds to nest next to the tropical birds.
Chairperson Fitzsimmons noted that he was not concerned with the small scale of the building or the design of the shed roof.
Vice Chairperson Lloyd noted that he was in agreement about the scale of the structure, however, was concerned that the concrete blocks seemed to be a departure from the traditional wood framed buildings within the Aviary.
Mr. Peters noted that the concrete blocks would be used primarily as pilasters on the exterior of the building with the lap board siding between them to reference the columns on the Wilson Pavilion.
Commissioners Harding, Haymond and Norie noted that they were comfortable with the design.
Commissioner Oliver stated that she was concerned that all of the small wood shed buildings with interesting character were to be demolished.
Vice Chairperson Lloyd inquired if they might require a survey for the Aviary.
Commissioner Hart noted that the issue with this was in obtaining funding and that it would likely be a couple of years before they could obtain that funding through the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).
Ms. Zeigler noted that Commissioner Hart was correct and the Planning Division did not have the resources to complete a truly intensive survey at that time but could provide the Commission with information as to the significance of features within the Aviary.
Commissioner Bevins noted that he felt the structure should ultimately serve the purpose of the Aviary and therefore felt the proposal to be appropriate as well as appropriate in terms of scale and materials. He noted that he felt it would be important to have a master plan in order to move forward with other proposals such as the removal of earlier structures, but was comfortable with this particular proposal.
MOTION 6:25:56 PM
Commissioner Harding made a motion regarding Petition PLNHLC2008-00991, to approve the request based upon the findings listed in the staff report. Commissioner Haymond seconded the motion. All voted “Aye”. The motion carried unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS 6:26:44 PM
There was no further business.
Commissioner Hart made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Funk seconded the motion. All voted Aye. The meeting stands adjourned.