Historic District Commission Meeting Summary - May 13, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Historic District Commission Meeting Summary - May 13, 2025
The Chapel Hill Historic District Commission met on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at 6:30 PM in Room 110 of the Council Chamber. The commission reviewed two Certificate of Appropriateness applications, made a candidate recommendation, discussed officer elections and a retreat debrief, and deferred a decision on the summer meeting break. All votes were unanimous unless noted.
Consent Calendar
- 742 Gimghoul Road (Written Decision): Approved unanimously. Commissioner Hawisher moved, Tise seconded.
- 208 Spring Lane (Written Decision): Continued to a future meeting due to lack of quorum after Commissioner Gurlitz recused himself.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Phil Lyons (Preservation Chapel Hill) informed the commission that the application to nominate Coker Hills to the National Register of Historic Places was submitted on Thursday, May 9, 2025, to the state office in Raleigh. The commission congratulated him.
Discussion Items
- Candidate Recommendation: The commission reviewed the application of Laura Moore, a candidate who had interviewed in September 2024. Commissioner Tise stated he knew her and thought she would be a good fit. The commission voted unanimously to forward a recommendation to the Town Council for her appointment.
- Vice Chair Election: Chair Brian Daniels explained that due to proposed Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) text amendments that may reduce the board size from nine to seven, the commission decided not to fill the vice chair position at this time. Deputy Vice Chair Nancy McCormick will continue to serve effectively as vice chair until officer elections in the fall. Daniels noted his term as chair will end this cycle.
- Debrief on Commission Retreat: Commissioners discussed using regular meeting time to tackle special topics related to updating the Design Standards. Town Attorney Kevin Hornik noted that because these standards are land use and development regulations, they may need review and approval by the Town Council; he suggested asking the Town Council and Town Attorney’s office to weigh in.
- Summer Break Poll: The commission agreed to conduct a poll among members to decide whether to take July or August off, and also to find a time for a special meeting to approve the written decision for 208 Spring Lane. Staff reminded that at least 48 hours’ notice is required for a special meeting.
Key Outcomes
- 118 Mallette Street – Rear addition, garage repair, fence, and brick driveway replacement: Motion by Commissioner Hawisher, seconded by Booth, that the application was not incongruous with the special character of the district. Passed unanimously. Commissioners Tise and Gurlitz commented that the addition was architecturally sympathetic, the fence location met standards, and the addition was set back and distinguished from the original structure.
- 707 Gimghoul Road – New exterior entrance and stairway to an existing garage attic: Motion by Commissioner Gurlitz, seconded by Hawisher, that the application was not incongruous. Passed unanimously. Commissioner Gurlitz noted the stairs are located where the guidelines indicate they should be.
- Laura Moore’s application will be forwarded to the Town Council for appointment.
- The commission will hold a poll to schedule a special meeting for the 208 Spring Lane written decision and to decide on July vs. August break.
- Commissioner Duncan Lascelles and Commissioner Michael Booth both announced they will not reapply for the commission; their terms end in June 2025.
- The next regular meeting is scheduled for June 10, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, hello. Welcome to the historic district commission meeting for uh Tuesday, May 13th. I'm gonna start with a roll call. Uh Michael. Josh. Present. David. Present. Don. Present. Nancy. Here. And Brian is here as well. Um Sharnikar Anna Scott, could I ask you to read procedures into the record, please? I'll now read into the record the following. The commission operates under NC General Statutes 160 Dine40, which gives local government's historic preservation authority and the Chapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance, including Article 3, which establish the local historic districts and sets forth regulations governing them. And the Chapel Hill Historic District's design principles and standards, which sets forth standards for changes in the historic districts, and the rules of procedure adopted by the Chapel Hill Historic District Commission, as well as the significance reports from all three historic districts and photos. I also call to your attention each of the applications and associated materials in your agenda packet. All of these items are hereby entered into the record. Thank you. Thank you, Anna Scott. And I'll now read the public charge. Okay. I think that's all we have to say about that. So Anna Scott and Shanika distributed a copy of the agenda for this meeting as a preread. If there's no questions about the agenda or any amendments to the agenda, I'd like to ask for an approval in a second. And Brian. Yep. We might need some a change to the agenda. Okay, please. So with the materials, um, you have the application for Laura Moore. She was a um a candidate that the commission interviewed last September. And so her application is still active, and town staff are getting like candidates ready to send to council for appointments. So we're going to ask if you would review her application and make a recommendation. Okay, thank you for that. And well, I think we'll add that to the first discussion item at the end of the agenda once we take care of COAs tonight. So I think the agenda would be amended to include the application for Laura, and we would do that in discussion items. I think with if there's no other changes, I'd ask for someone to approve the agenda. So moved. Thank you, David. And I'll say Nancy second. So uh all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Okay, that passes. Thank you. Uh, are there any announcements this evening? Um remind commissioners that you still have the CLT training requirements to meet. Um we need two commissioners to do that, and the Arder preservation workshop that'll happen on May 29th. Um, you could attend to to meet that requirement. I have a question about that.
openpublica.com