HARB Minutes
Chairman Gary Shaffer called the Historical Architectural Review Board to order at
7:33 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, 2012. The meeting was held at the Borough Municipal Building, 59 E. High Street. Those in attendance were: Board members Nancie Gudmestad, Colleen Lingle, James McCabe, Philip Goble, Dale Gettel, Code Enforcement Officer; Merry Bush, Borough Planning Technician and Historic District Administrator; and Scott Dellett, Borough Planning Director. Peggy Gustafson arrived at 7:40 p.m.
Also in attendance were: JR Crushong, Pennsylvania Interfaith Community Programs, Inc.
Review of Agenda and Minutes
Gary Shaffer introduced the members and explained the procedures that would be followed during the meeting. He noted that the Board serves as an advisory group to Borough Council, which makes final decisions concerning Certificates of Appropriateness. Borough Council will meet next on Monday, April 9, 2012.
The agenda was modified to remove review of the application for McDonald's building, 517 Steinwehr Avenue, as the applicant requested. The application will be considered during the April 18, 2012 meeting.
Colleen Lingle moved to approve the February 15, 2012 minutes as written. Dale Gettel seconded. The minutes were approved.
Certificates of Appropriateness
A. Alteration. Front entrance. Accessible ramp. Awnings. Fahnestock House.
47 Baltimore Street. Adams County Housing Authority, owner.
Background: The first house on this site was constructed in 1810 by Joseph Cookson as indicated by the property assessment increase from $350 in 1810 to $1500 in 1811. A year later the property was sold to Barnhart Gilbert who operated a tavern in the home. The property was sold at a sheriff's sale on January 13, 1827 and purchased by the Bank of Gettysburg. In 1833 the property was purchased by Samuel Fahnestock. Fahnestock operated a dry good store on the square from 1831 to 1833 when he relocated to what is now known as the Fahnestock House. The building housed the Fahnestock store until 1882.
The Italianate building was sold to Edward McPherson in 1887. Major changes to the property were made in 1895 with the construction of a new brick front with show windows. The second floor was remodeled and a third floor added. The building has housed furniture, hardware, grocery and five-and-dime stores and an undertaking business over the next 84 or so years. The building was vacated in 1971 when the Shank (J. Calvin) hardware store went out of business. Reference: The Fahnestock Property. Research Report No. 1, April 1973. Charles H. Glatfelter, Curator. Adams County Historical Society. Gettysburg PA.
The building sat empty until sometime after 1984 when it was renovated to provide housing for the elderly. At that time windows were replaced and the brickwork repointed, The Adams County Historical Society became the owner and leased the property to the Adams County Housing Authority (ACHA). ACHA recently purchased the property with funding from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development.
JR Crushong, Senior Administrator of Operations for Pennsylvania Interfaith Community Programs, Inc. (PICPI), gave an overview of the project noting that the building was not completely ADA compliant. He explained that the solar panels were required to be three to four feet away from the edges of the building so he though it was unlikely they would be visible from adjacent streets.
Nancie Gudmestad asked who suggested the awnings; she thought they improved the look of the building. Mr. Crushong said it was a suggestion made by PHFA. Ms. Gudmestad then asked about the front door. Mr. Crushong said that the existing window configuration over the front door would remain.
Dale Gettel asked about the materials of the new front door. Mr. Crushong said the door would be made of solid wood. He went on to explain that the front entrance was being raised to meet the level of the community room floor eliminating an interior ramp. He said that the sidewalk would probably be replaced with brick. Mr. Gettel asked if any other location had been considered for an accessible entrance. The applicant said no.
Merry Bush asked if the front door would be solid wood or did it have glass as shown in the application. Mr. Crushong said that the solid mahogany door would have one light or pane of glass.
Findings Of Fact: The structure at 47 Baltimore Street is a sensitive building as defined in Chapter 11 of the Borough Code of Ordinances, Historic Districts (Historic Districts Ordinance). A sensitive building is defined as any building that has been standing for at least 50 years at the time of the application, even though it has been considerably modified, and certain sites of later historic significance or buildings that the Board has determined to be exemplary of later architectural styles.
The alteration to the front entrance is a permanent change, making this proposal a critical project, which is defined in the Historic Districts Ordinance as "A project involving demolition of all or part of any building or change in configuration and rhythm of any building as a whole, or any alteration to a sensitive building."
The building is a contributing structure to the Gettysburg Battlefield National Register District.
Based on the application materials submitted by the applicant: The accessible ramp, new front door and awnings will be visible from both Baltimore and Middle streets. The solar panels installed in the middle of the roof toward the north side of the building would have limited visibility from the south and east.
Peggy Gustafson moved to recommend to Borough Council that a Certificate of Appropriateness be issued for the replacement of the front door, installation of an accessible ramp and awnings on the front elevation and installation of solar panels on the roof of the building as presented in the application. Nancie Gudmestad second. The motion carried 7 to 0.
64 Breckenridge Street
Peggy Gustafson asked JR Crushong for an update on the renovations at 64 Breckenridge Street. He reported that they are ready for inspections of the roughed-in plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems (heating, ventilation and air conditioning). He said they hoped to be completed by July 1st including having the new sewer and water lines installed and the sidewalk replaced.
B. Alteration. Solar panels. 922 Johns Avenue. Greg and Donna Sweesy, owners.
No one attended the meeting representing 922 Johns Avenue. As is the policy of the Board when a representative is not present, Philip Goble moved to deny a Certificate of Appropriateness until the application is resubmitted and a representative is available to attend a meeting. Colleen Lingle seconded and the motion carried, 7 to 0.
Old Business
Minutes
Peggy Gustafson asked to reopen the February 15, 2012 minutes as she had a correction to make. The Board agreed. Ms. Gustafson asked that the first two sentences of the last paragraph on page six be changed to read: "Peggy Gustafson questioned the infill of two windows with bead board below, noting that a similar infill was presented last month for a garage door at 60 York Street. Meade School is a fantastic building that has no use of bead board on its exterior."
Colleen Lingle moved to accept the amended minutes of the February 15, 2012 meeting. Jim McCabe seconded.
Historic Preservation Awards
A folder with color photographs of potential winners was provided to each Board member. The Board reviewed the buildings and made the following recommendations for awards. Instead of referencing street addresses the Board referred to the page numbers upon which the buildings appeared.
Page 3 Honorable Mention, attention to detail
Page 4 Consider in 2013
Page 5 Merit, attention to detail
Page 6 Honorable Mention, attention to detail
Page 7 Honorable mention, paint
Page 8 Exceptional Merit, adaptive reuse, significant impact on the neighborhood.
Page 11 Merit, attention to detail, porch restoration
Page 12 Exceptional Merit, true restoration of the front portion of the building, new addition, attention to detail.
Page 14 Exceptional Merit, true porch restoration, attention to detail
Page 16 Honorable Mention, attention to detail
Page 17 Honorable Mention, attention to detail, good use of negative space, adds to streetscape.
Page 18 Merit, attention to detail, rehabilitation and contemporary porch addition
Page 19 Honorable Mention, front facade
Page 20 Merit, restoration of porch, attention to detail
Page 21 Exceptional Merit, relates to street scale, infill, vernacular design that reflects architecture of the town
Page 22 Honorable Mention, paint, attention to detail, maintenance of historic fabric
Page 23 Merit, paint, retaining historic material, fire restoration, attention to detail using alternate materials
Page 24 Exceptional Merit, commitment to Borough by business owner
Page 25 Merit, paint, maintenance of historic fabric
Page 26 Merit, commitment to Borough by business owner, paint, attention to architectural detail
Page 27 hold until 2013
The Board will reflect on the nominations and make final recommendations at the April 18 meeting.
Comments by Chairman
Gary Shaffer expressed his concern over the discussion of the conceptual McDonald's restaurant application. He said that any recommendations by the Board must be based upon the Historic Districts Ordinance. A defensible record must be developed for each case. In the case of McDonald's we must look at the context of the neighborhood/streetscape. While the strip is within the Historic District, the area reflects the period of the 1960s-1970s.
Mr. Shaffer reminded the Board of the need to meet with Borough Council to evaluate the Borough's demolition policy. He suggested that the meeting be held later in the spring, perhaps April 30 would be a good day. He asked the Board to check the dates and, if necessary, look at other dates at the end of the month. Peggy Gustafson requested that a copy of the Quick Guide: New Tools to Address Blight and Abandonment that she had received after attending the HARB training in November be forwarded to Gary Shaffer and Scott Dellett.
The meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Merry V. Bush
Borough Planning Technician and
Historic District Administrator