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Historic District Commission Minutes - 12 14 2016CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES COMMITTEE /COMMISSION: Historic District Commission SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: December 14, 2016 LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street MEMBERS PRESENT: William Finch — Chair, Martin Lian, Wendy Pearl, Suzanne LaMont, and James Younger OTHERS PRESENT: Allison Crosbie; Lee Dellicker - Windover Construction, Charlie Spicer — Windover Construction, Keith Buckley — Endicott College, YB. Rao RECORDER: Travis Lovett Finch calls the meeting to order at 7:05pm. Administrative Business None of the committee members have major conflicts with the 2017 Historic District Commission meeting schedule. Lian may be away for the April meeting. LaMont wants to talk about the Briscoe School and its fate over the next two years. It will either be sold, demolished, or retrofitted, LaMont said. Changes will be coming in 2018, LaMont said, and at a minimum, she would like to see the facade stay. Pearl said the McKay School was sold with preservation as being a condition of the sale. The Hardie School at Montserrat was also sold with a preservation restriction. LaMont asked whether the committee could write a letter. Finch recommends writing a letter saying that "in the past, X was done." Pearl said the commission could offer support for the future owner if they wanted to pursue tax credits or grants from city commissions. LaMont said that talking about the Briscoe School now is better. Pearl said she does not want to see the building to be demolished. There is an article in the Beverly Citizen saying demolishing and rebuilding a new space would be preferred, LaMont said. LaMont would like to send a letter to Mayor Cahill and other city officials. Pearl said Community Preservation Committee (CPC) members will spend most of the first two meetings in 2017 reviewing pre - application submissions. At the CPC public hearing on December 8 Pearl said representatives from Habitat for Humanity North Shore and a resident who wants to make improvements at Independence Park expressed interest in applying for CPA funds. Pearl said she also expects Beverly Historical Society to submit an application for CPA funds. LaMont said representatives from GAR Hall will also likely submit an application. Younger joins the meeting at 7:20pm. Finch said there were questions about the Endicott properties at 310, 320, and 322 Hale Street. A property abutter, YB. Rao, is in attendance. Finch asks Lee Dellicker of Windover Construction to provide some context about the properties in question. Finch said property that is determined to be historically significant can be designated as "preferably preserved," which creates a delay of at least 1 year for any demolition process. The purpose of the delay is to try to find a way to preserve the property in question, Finch said. Dellicker said Endicott College would like to construct a two -story building for graduate housing for 50 students across the three properties (310, 320, 322) on Hale Street. Dellicker said Frates Hall holds 226 students in a three -story building. Dellicker said the graduate housing would be townhouse - style, as they want the project to fit into the landscape of Hale Street. Dellicker said the current buildings do not currently serve the purpose of what Endicott College needs. Spicer said he saw that the property at 320 Hale Street was built in 1800 according to city records. Finch said the property may have been a federal period barn with a hip roof. LaMont said it looks like a barn foundation. YB. Rao, a resident at 328 Hale Street, said he is concerned about traffic and parking along Hale Street. He has lived on Hale Street for more than 20 years. He is also concerned about green space. Dellicker said he is sensitive to the location of graduate housing with respect to traffic and parking. Dellicker said that parking would not be a big issue. Pearl is concerned about demolishing 310 Hale Street, which has a Dutch Gambrel roof. Dellicker said the walkway and parking at 310 Hale Street would be altered. Finch said he is concerned about impacting the scenic byway. Pearl said 310 Hale Street would make a great residential building. Dellicker said they look at projects on a cost - per -bed basis. Finch said he has concerns about preserving the landscape along Route 127. Some of Finch's concerns relate to the construction of the Frates building, which he said was an abrupt change for the scenic byway. Younger said the committee doesn't have the purview to regulate the scenic byway, but he has concerns about the ability to excavate around 310 Hale Street. Buckley, who oversees facilities at Endicott College, said the property at 310 Hale Street is problematic as a residence hall because the current property is not structurally sound. Buckley said that they would look at the property again. Pearl said she has concerns because the campus of Endicott College has grown immensely. Pearl said it feels like death by a million cuts. Pearl said the public gets to keep the public landscape on the street. Buckley said each of the three properties should be taken on their own merit. Finch said determination of historical significance is tied closely to the landscape. 310 Hale Street Vote Younger said the property at 310 Hale Street is historically significant, due to rock wall and scenic byway, and the roof of the property. Younger motions to deem the property at 310 Hale Street historically significant, Pearl seconds the motion. The motion carries 5 -0. Younger motions for property to be preferentially preserved, LaMont seconds the motion. The motion carries 5 -0. 320 Hale Street Vote LaMont motions to declare that the property at 320 Hale Street is not historically significant, Pearl seconds the motion. The motion carries 5 -0. 322 Hale Street Vote LaMont motions to declare that the property at 322 Hale Street is not historically significant, Pearl seconds the motion. The motion carries 5 -0. Administrative Business (continued) Younger said the Rantoul streetscape could be quite vibrant. Pearl said good architecture costs money. Younger said the longer -term vision for Rantoul Street could be better. Finch said in Topsfield, town officials have invested in the town center. Finch said government tax credits created too many obstructions for the Cabot Theatre, so they opted to raise money from private funds. There's a feeling that register nominations block development, Finch said. Younger asks for good city -wide examples of adaptive reuse. Gloucester went through a renovation of their town hall, Finch said. Pearl leaves at 8:25pm. LaMont asks Younger if there is anything that can be done now to preserve the Briscoe School. Younger said if the building is on the historic register, it will add value to potential property developers. Younger said hiring a consultant with CPA funds could be presented as part of the request for proposal. Finch said tax credits do not provide the level of support that they provided 30 years ago — it only works for certain business arrangements, he said. Briscoe could be the centerpiece of a village, Younger said. Younger said he is also seeking good examples where tax credits have attracted artists for live /work spaces. Finch said he is in favor of preserving City Hall as a City Hall for offices and building a new police station. They want to retrofit the police station into offices, Finch said. Police operations would potentially move down to Cummings Center. Crosbie will draft a letter to share with public officials regarding preserving the Briscoe School. Finch said the letter should talk about various options related to preserving the exterior character of the building. Younger likes the idea of live /work studios. LaMont said the property is worth $7 -8 million. It would cost $7 million to tear down the property, LaMont said. Next Meeting and Adjournment Lian motions to adjourn, Younger seconds the motion. The motion carries 4 -0. The meeting adjourns at 8:45pm.