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HDC Minutes 4 12 17CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES COMMITTEE /COMMISSION: Historic District Commission SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: April 12, 2017 LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street MEMBERS PRESENT: William Finch - Chair, Suzanne LaMont - Vice Chair, Wendy Pearl, James Younger ABSENT: Martin Lian OTHERS PRESENT: Allison Crosbie, Chris Koeplin, Thad Siemasko, Tom Alexander, John Cuffe, Jeanette Cuffe, Maureen McQueen, John Hall, Gin Wallace, Scott Hayes, James Stamos, Paul Wright, Matt Pujo, Jason Silva, Dan Stevens, Dan Finn RECORDER: Travis Lovett Finch calls the meeting to order at 7:35pm. Public Hearing - 211 Rantoul Street Finch said there will be a public hearing to review the City's demolition delay ordinance for the structure located at 211 Rantoul Street, which is currently the site of Ford Motors. The applicant, Windover Ford LLC, proposes new construction on the site. The demolition delay ordinance requires the Commission to review any building older than 50 years. Finch said the Commission has 10 days to review the project and that the Commission decided to hold a public hearing for this property because they deemed the property to be potentially historically significant. Finch said the Commission must make two determinations at this hearing. They will need to decide if the building is historically significant. If the building is deemed to be historically significant, the Commission will also have to determine whether the property should be preferably preserved, where there is public benefit for preserving the property. If a property is preferably preserved, the City's building inspector will delay the construction permit process for one year. Finch said this does not permanently prevent an owner from tearing down a building, but the delay would allow for historical significance to be determined. Tom Alexander, Thad Siemasko, and Chris Koeplin provide a presentation on behalf of the applicant, Windover Ford. Alexander is providing legal counsel to the applicant. Siemasko is providing the architectural analysis of the property. Koeplin is a representative of Windover Ford. Alexander said the building at 211 Rantoul Street is 23,000 square feet. Two - thirds of the property is a cement block building, with the other one -third being an automobile showroom. Alexander said the property is a nondescript mercantile building. There's not much of what's there when it was originally built, Alexander said. It's not within 150 feet of a historic district, it's not associated with one or more historic persons or events, and it is not associated with the economic or cultural history of the city, Alexander said. Finch said the National Register of Historic Places provides criteria to guide this Commission. Archaeology, architecture, and associations of the building are important, Finch said. Pearl also added the method of construction is important. Siemasko said the property is not within the confines of the O'Dell Depot Historic District. He said that Ford Motors took out a part of the storefront to drive cars in and out of the building's showroom, but that two - thirds of the property is currently serving as a repair shop. He said the building was made of concrete block and a steel sash. There are no real defined sidewalks or curb cuts on the property, Siemasko said. In 1919, the property was a house on 45 Broadway and a vacant lot. Jaclyn Towers was a site to a former factory, Siemasko said. There was an open air theatre on the back part of the site. Siemasko said there is not much significant detail left in the building. This wasn't designed by a famous architect, it's fairly generic, Siemasko said. Pearl asked about distance to the historic district and Alexander said the property is 180 feet away from the historic district. Finch reads a message from Estelle Rand, City Councilor from Ward 2 (who could not attend this evening's meeting). Finch said Rand often hears from constituents that they are concerned that the character of Rantoul Street is being changed due to the consistent redevelopment of the street. Rand agrees that there is room for improvement on Rantoul Street, but she has concerns that the street could become culturally and architecturally unanchored. She encouraged the developers to incorporate aspects of the fagade for the redevelopment so that Beverly's history of car selling is preserved. The use of 211 Rantoul St. for mixed use development can tell the story of car manufacturing, similar to the way that Cummings Center has incorporated the history of the United Shoe Manufacturing Company into its spaces. John and Jeanette Cuffe, two Beverly residents, said the city should attempt to preserve what makes it unique and attractive. Municipal buildings were one of city's draws and historic structures constitute an asset, they said. They also have concerns about Windover Ford creating a cultural homogeneity in the neighborhood that would render the street to be architecturally mundane. Maureen McQueen said she does not want Windover Ford to build another ugly apartment building in this space. She would like to see housing for residents over 55 years old. Finch said they are not here to judge Windover Ford. John Hall owns a graphic design business in Porter Mill and he said that Urban Land Institute is one of his clients. He appreciates the industrial grit and supports transit - oriented development. The street needs investment, but he believes the street has huge potential. He said he has been disappointed with the wholesale clearing of the entire block, aside from the Veteran's Housing, which showed that Windover Construction was capable of adaptive reuse. Hall said he was encouraged when Mr. Koeplin stated that he liked the way the dealership building looked. Hall said he was disappointed that the view of the property has changed. He said there are several examples of auto dealerships that have been converted into supermarkets, restaurants, and marketplaces. Gentile Brewery and Notch Brewery capitalize on the industrial feeling, he said. Rantoul St. has an industrial vibe, he said. Gin Wallace of Beverly Main Streets said it is a shame that all that's left of this building is the corner. She said what it used to look like has long -since been painted over. She said we have to took at the reality of what that space is and to consider the impact of yet another huge empty building on Rantoul Street. She said total reconstruction of Rantoul Street will be a sorry situation. Wallace wouldn't be surprised if some of those businesses didn't make it through the reconstruction. Scott Hayes said he saw that there are plans for three or four Windover Construction projects in the city. He has concerns about the overcrowding of schools. Finch said this meeting is not meant to be a review of all Windover Construction projects. James Stamos, a resident of Bow Street, said much of the original detailings on the property seem to be gone. He liked the 1930's Spanish tile roof that seemed to be adapted at a later time. Finch said that changes over time may be significant, the question is in relation to the building if the changes are of major significance. Paul Wright, a former Beverly resident who now lives in Salem, said he wanted to speak to the design. He said it was a mission -style design that looked like it had been streamlined throughout the years. He said what few elements are left, whether it was the arch at the front of the building or the general impression of the facade, do have some relevance. Matt Pujo said there have been several buildings that have been saved or preserved and he encouraged the Commission and developers to find history and hope in buildings. Jason Silva, a Beverly City Council member, said he would echo Gin's comments about the historic integrity of the building. He believes a lot of the integrity and character of the building has deteriorated. He also agrees with Mr. Hall that adaptive reuse of the building is a really positive project for the city, but he said to compare the warehouse building to this building is like comparing apples to oranges or apples to bananas. They should consider whether the delay is actually going to save the building. In this case, Silva said he is betting the delay will not save the building. Silva said transportation - oriented development is a cornerstone for Rantoul Street. This is an ideal location for a project, Silva said. Rantoul Street is evolving and we are nowhere near the end of that cycle, he said. Silva said we need to be mindful of keeping the momentum going. The City just underwent a housing assessment and the housing need is very clear, Silva said, adding that there's a big need for housing in all categories across the board. It's a regional problem, not just a Beverly problem, Silva said. John Hall asked Koeplin about the building. Koeplin said they have looked at many ways this building may be preserved, but the costs for preservation were significant. He said sandblasting, providing temporary shoring of the facade, and making the property compliant for the Americans with Disabilities Act would drive up renovation costs. Alexander said the process isn't about new construction. Alexander said he was involved with the United Shoe project and it had historic significance. Not every old building has historic significance, Alexander said. Dan Stevens said cities like Lowell and Salem have old mill buildings with historical significance. Salem has an urban renewal authority, Finch said. They were subject to a municipal review process. Pearl said in Lowell there is a board that enforces minimum maintenance requirements. Pearl said it seems like there's quite a bit of talk about historic significance. She said the question is whether or not the economic history of the property is significant. Pearl feels the building is historically significant and she said integrity is used a lot. Pearl said there are seven qualities that contribute toward the sense of integrity: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association; Pearl argues that the property qualifies as meeting four components of integrity: location, setting, feeling and sense of industrial property, and association of it being a car dealership for almost 100 years. Integrity isn't always about the physical material that is left, Pearl said. Younger said he isn't as convinced on the integrity side, but does agree that this property is historically significant, mainly due to its association as an automobile dealership. LaMont said the building is unique and that the design intent is clear. It's meant for retail, she said. This is what Rantoul Street was for a long time. LaMont said the property is historic significantly. Finch said the question of locational integrity is of significance, but he views this as a double -edged sword. It's a surviving example of the automobile industry, but on the other side of that coin, there's very little integrity left to the property, he said. The property no longer has that context, Finch said. There's no question to Finch that there's a general associational value related to automobile sales in Beverly. Finch said there ain't much (value) there now. The judgment of the property being historically significant is marginal, he said. Pearl asked about the inclusion of the property in the transportation district. LaMont said the district relates to the history of the railroad. Pearl motions that the property is historically significant and it meets the criteria set forth by the city. LaMont seconds the motion. The motion carries 4 -0. Finch said the Commission should consider the motion about whether the property should be preferably preserved. Younger said that unfortunately, there isn't much fabric left to the building. Younger said the significance of the site is the scale of the building with respect to other buildings on Rantoul Street. Younger said compared to many other decisions the Commission has made, that this property has less integrity than several other sites. Younger said it shouldn't be preferentially preserved. LaMont said she thinks that some of the building features could be restored to retain the history. People are looking for things that are unique, LaMont said. It's different and it gives an interesting theme to attract people to come. LaMont said she thinks this is a great opportunity to leverage the historic nature of this property, to at least preserve the fagade and some of the history of the street scape. Pearl looked at the ordinance and determined that the property should be preferably preserved. It is in the public interest of the property, she said. Pearl said she can't get over that the property has been used for almost 100 years for the same purpose. It feels like a deep root for the city and part of where the city grew from, Pearl said. Pearl said that much of the Commission's work focuses on the oceanfront properties and Cabot Street, but history isn't always about beauty. Regardless of the borderline integrity, Pearl feels that the property is preferably preserved because the Ford dealership has been a commercial anchor in this city. Finch said the loss of integrity is quite real. As someone trained as an architect, he said he looks at design and that the original building had some character. There was a time when preserving facades wasn't terribly exciting, Finch said. Finch said they could reconstruct the fagade and in the end if the property becomes a brewery, what does that have to do with being a car dealership. Finch isn't very sold on the concept of this being preferably preserved. Some fairly mundane school properties are preserved, Finch said, but he doesn't quite think the same standard should be applied to a car dealership. Finch said he doesn't think people get very romantic about the car dealership. Finch said there's just not enough of an association there and that the building could have been any number of things. Younger said there isn't a great public benefit. Younger said he likes the scale of the building as it relates to the surrounding block of property. Younger makes a motion against designating the property as preferably preserved. Finch seconds the motion. Pearl and LaMont vote against the motion, resulting in a 2 -2 tie. The Commission was unsure of what a tie vote meant. 42 Water Street /27 Front Street Property Update Dan Finn, a trustee of M.T.S. Realty Trust gives the Historic District Commission members an update on renovations to property he owns at 27 Front Street and 42 Water Street. Finn has been working with his daughter, Meg, to redesign the property's exterior features. Finn said there have been challenges coming up with materials for the facade. He doesn't want the fagade to be just a block. They decided to use corrugated metal to create texture on the exterior. The accent color for the I -beams will be aspen green. The accent color will appear on the face of the I- beams, posts, and diagonal braces. The property will have a flat rubber roof. The horizontal line will be a light gray. The metal wrapping around from the roof will be black, while the window frames will be dark bronze. Younger applauds Finn for coming back. Younger likes the design because it takes a different path of departure to celebrate an industrial pool building. Pearl motions to approve the property at Water Street as presented. Younger seconds the motion. The motion carries 4-0. Adjournment Younger motions to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 pm. Finch seconds the motion. The motion carries 4 -0.