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02.10.00MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING OF FEBRUARY 10, 2000 5:00 P.M. CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL SANFORD, FLORIDA MEMBERS PRESENT: Scott Singeisen Bob Kuhn Fred Rogers Claudia Weber Don Moore Walt Padgett Bart Rush MEMBERS ABSENT: Julia Goeb- excused Barbara Farrell- excused Barbara Knowles- excused Eline Ransom OTHERS PRESENT: Andrew Van Gaale, Staff Liaison Mr. Van Gaale introduced Brad Stevenson, Planner, who will eventually take over as staff liaison and stated that the members could start calling him with any issues they may have. The Minutes of December 1999 and January 2000 were unanimously approved as circulated. Application for Certificate of Appropriateness - Commercial: 210 S. Magnolia Avenue - Install Corporate Signs and Paint (NAPA Auto). George Wallace, on behalf of Alfred Blankenship, 413 W. 3rd Street, was present. He stated that NAPA is a national organization with national franchises and requested that the entire building be blue in accordance with NAPA's national color scheme. After discussion regarding the request of the entire building being painted blue, the applicants left the Commission Chambers to discuss an alternative. Ms. Weber moved to table until the applicant returns to the room. Seconded by Mr. Kuhn. All in favor. Motion carried. Mr. Rogers moved to remove from the table. Seconded by Ms. Weber. All in favor. Motion carried. Mr. Wallace stated that they would like to have the east and west sides, the two entrance ways to the building, blue in color. Rather than having the entire building blue on the sides, they are proposing a 4' band of blue to connect the rear and the front along the very top. They would like to have a NAPA pentagon on the blue portion of the back and one on the north portion of the building, the portion that faces the downtown, in the center of the blue band. The north and south sides will be white with a blue band. The awning will remain. Mr. Wallace stated that his client feels strongly that he needs to have the solid blue color on the front and rear of the building in keeping so with the national franchise look. Since one of the issues were the blue paint color, Mr. Blankenship suggested softening the blue. Mr. Blankenship is to get some blue paint, use it on a non - high - visible area, in the rear, so that the Board members could come by and see it. The members will call City Hall with their response after viewing the paint color. Mr. Padgett moved to approve based on the second exhibit and move forward with the approval of the paint chip. Seconded by Ms. Weber. All in favor. Motion carried. MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING OF FEBRUARY 10, 2000 PAGF, 7. 218 S. Oak Avenue - Install Sign. A representative was present to answer any questions. He stated that the sign will be like a plank board. The sign on the 3 d Street side will be the same height but smaller in width. Mr. Van Gaale noted that the sign conforms as far as being 30" in height, it is a matter of the building frontage. The representative did not know the frontage width of the building. Ms. Weber moved to table to have the applicant bring in the front elevation so the Board could see dimensions and the shape of the building and the dimensions of the signage. Seconded by Mr. Rogers. All in favor. Motion carried. Applications for Certificates of Appropriateness - Residential. 804 Magnolia Avenue - Install 8'x6' Aluminum Shed, and Install One Piece of Stockade Fence. Mr. Rogers moved to remove from the table. Seconded by Mr. Padgett. All in favor. Motion carried. Valerie Harmon, 804 Magnolia Avenue, was present. She stated that she had installed a metal shed on a wood frame. She would also like to install one piece of stockade fence between 804 and 806 Magnolia. There was an old piece there that was attached to her house. The shed will be located in the tip of the left rear corner of her property, 4' off of the alley. Mr. Singeisen stated that the shed needs to be 5' from the side property line and 2' from the alley. Mr. Moore moved to approve with the shed being moved to conform with the setbacks. Seconded by Ms. Weber. All in favor. Motion carried. Discussion Regarding Code Enforcement: Charles Rowe & Commissioner Lessard. Mr. Kuhn stated that the reason they were asked to attend this meeting is because the Board is concerned about the conditions of the historic buildings. Examples include the Pico Building and the buildings on Is' Street. Tenants are coming in and leaving because of lack of roof repairs, etc. Mr. Kuhn presented two pages of complaints with pictures and noted that the Board would like to have immediate attention to these. Charles Rowe stated that every complaint that has been received has been acted upon. He stated that his department is in need of code enforcement and building inspectors. They are trying to hire a code enforcement inspector. Mr. Lessard stated that code enforcement has never had a systematic methodology for enforcing the codes of the City. He stated that it is going to be difficult to find building and code enforcement people. What we are trying to do now is augment our code enforcement people with the Police, Fire and Public Works Departments. Mr. Rush stated that there are resources available to take buildings away from people who do not keep them up. It is done every day and it raises revenue. It will take a little bit of work to research what it takes to get the programs in place, but the programs are there and they raise revenue for cities. Mr. Singeisen stated that something with the system isn't working. What we need to do is resolve and fix what isn't working to better the attitude of the citizenry that makes the restoration of the District possible. Mr. Kuhn stated that our responsibility is to maintain and make sure these buildings are taken care of What this Board is saying is that the system is not working and we want results. He stated that we want to make sure that we are all on the same page and that the City's efforts coincide with our efforts and that we're looking out for the best interest. Mr. Rowe stated that he would like to come back next month and address the status on the list that Mr. Kuhn provided. He also stated that he went to the Police Department to train them in regard to code enforcement, inoperable vehicles, and how to find code violations and report them. Even when it follows through the code enforcement process, it sometimes doesn't fix the problem. MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING OF FEBRUARY 10, 2000 PAGF, 3 Mr. Rowe stated that the City has sent out letters to every code case that resulted in a lien demanding payment. These liens total nearly $1/4 million. The City will be lucky if it sees 10% of this. The City is moving in the right direction. Mr. Lessard stated that all of the peripheral areas are improving because of the efforts of this Board and the Historic District. A private contractor will be brought in to help the City catch up with the inventory on sidewalk replacement and repair. The City is still moving forward on removing asphalt from the paved streets. Some of the parks around town are getting new equipment. All of the old neighborhood watch signs and bike route signs are being replaced. The City is looking to putting in a police community station in the old library on 1s Street. The Police Chief has made a new commitment to the bicycle police. The other code enforcement issue we need to look at is the rear of the Goodwill building where donations are dropped off. We will try to get Goodwill to put in a brick wall to be locked. The Fina/Texaco Station has made an offer to the City Commission and they are willing to make some aesthetic improvements that we can all be happy with. Mr. Rowe and Mr. Lessard are to attend next month's meeting There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.