Frederick Historic Preservation Commission Meeting – August 10, 2023
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Frederick Historic Preservation Commission Meeting – August 10, 2023
The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) met on August 10, 2023, at 6:00 PM at City Hall in Frederick, Maryland. The meeting included announcements, approval of minutes, an administrative report, a consent agenda item, a continuance, and hearings on three cases involving proposed alterations to contributing historic properties. All decisions were reached unanimously.
Announcements
- Staff noted that application HPC23-631 (122 E. Patrick Street) was revised and approved at the staff level before the agenda was published, so it was not heard.
- Application HPC23-644 (210 E. 2nd Street) did not meet public notice requirements and no action could be taken.
- The Commission acknowledged the volunteer service of Chrissy Ringle for her summer work.
Approval of Minutes
- The minutes of the July 13, 2023, and July 27, 2023, hearing and workshop meetings were approved unanimously.
Administrative Report
- 19 administrative approvals were issued in July 2023, entered into the record.
Consent Calendar
- HPC23-725 – 12 E. Church Street (Frederick County Government rehabilitation) – Approved unanimously. The application was continued to the August 24, 2023, meeting via written request, but was instead approved as a consent item after the continuance request was withdrawn.
Continuances
- HPC23-460 – 607 N. Market Street (rehabilitation) – Continued to the August 24, 2023, HPC meeting by unanimous vote upon written request.
Discussion Items
HPC23-543 – 179 W. All Saints Street (Porch extension)
- Applicant Brandon Newman proposed restoring the original second-floor porch and extending it along the rear wing. The original porch materials had been removed without prior HPC approval. Staff recommended approval with conditions. The applicant agreed to follow staff recommendations. The Commission added a condition that the new porch construction be minimally destructive to existing fabric. Approved unanimously.
HPC23-569 – 191 W. All Saints Street (Rehabilitation – window-to-door conversions and door infill)
- Applicant George Cokinos proposed converting four windows into doors and infilling one historic door on the first floor (and later requested infill of a second-floor door). Staff recommended denial due to inconsistency with guidelines. After discussion, the Commission voted separately:
- Motion to deny removal of existing doors (first floor door and second floor door) – Passed unanimously.
- Motion to approve modification of four windows into doors with conditions: new doors must be half-light doors, product literature to staff for review; transoms permitted only if historic lintels retained; all wood elements painted or stained; updated drawings submitted; removed windows retained for reuse. Passed unanimously.
HPC23-658 – 418-430 Maxwell Avenue (Amendments to previous approval for townhouses)
- Applicant Jessica Underwood (One Eleven, LLC) proposed eliminating transoms and soffits on facade balconies, eliminating soffits on rear balconies, and installing aluminum canopies. Staff recommended approval of canopies and elimination of transoms and rear soffits, but not elimination of facade soffits. The Commission voted two motions:
- Motion to approve canopies, elimination of transoms on facade, and elimination of soffits at rear balconies – Passed unanimously.
- Motion to deny elimination of soffits on facade balconies – Passed unanimously, meaning the original requirement for soffits remains, with alternative materials to be reviewed at staff level.
Key Outcomes
- All actions were unanimous.
- Approved: HPC23-543 (porch extension with conditions), HPC23-569 (window-to-door conversions with conditions), and partial approval of HPC23-658 (canopies, transom removal, rear soffit removal).
- Denied: Removal of existing doors at 191 W. All Saints Street (partial denial) and elimination of facade soffits at 418-430 Maxwell Avenue.
- Continued: HPC23-460 to August 24, 2023.
- No citizen comments were made.
Meeting Transcript
All right, it is six o'clock, so we will get this evening going. Um, so I will call to order this evening's meeting. Um the technical qualifications of the commission and the staff are on file with the City of Frederick and are made a part of each and every case before the commission. The Frederick City Historic Preservation Commission uses the guidelines adopted by the mayor and the board of aldermen and the Secretary of the Interior Standards for rehabilitation published by the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service. And these guidelines are made a part of each and every case. All cases were duly advertised in the Frederick News Post in accordance with Section 301 of the Land Management Code. I will do introductions really quickly. So to the audience's right, we have HPC administrative assistant Shannon Piles, uh, Commissioner Blair Wilson, myself, Commissioner Elizabeth Burns, Commissioner Paul Fitzgerald, Commissioner Ann Hart, and then we have our historic preservation planners Lisa Moroskov Murphy, Christina Martin Koskey, and the Assistant City Attorney Michael Frye. All applicants and authorized agents and member of the public who wish to speak tonight must be sworn in. So please stand if you're able. Okay. Sounds like a no. Um are there any announcements this evening? A couple announcements regarding the agenda. Um item eight, HPC 23-631 at 122 East Patrick Street. Um that application was revised and was approved at the staff level. Um that was before this agenda was published, so that will not need to be heard tonight. And then item nine, HBC 23-644 at 210 East 2nd Street, did not meet the public notice requirements, and so no action can be taken on that item tonight. I also have one announcement, actually, it's an acknowledgement. Um for the past uh couple months uh for the summer, Chrissy Ringle has been served as our student uh volunteer and has done excellent work, uh performing research on special projects, assisting in public outreach efforts, and um attending HPC meetings, workshops, and uh a few site visits. So I want to thank her uh for all of her work and provide a small token of appreciation. Thank you. All right, that's great. Thanks for being an avid attend attender of our meetings. We appreciate it. Um if that's all the announcements this evening, we'll move on to approval of minutes. Um, commissioners, are there any comments or questions about the July 13th hearing and workshop minutes or the July 27th hearing and workshop minutes? All right, I hear none. Does anybody want to make a motion? I will go I will I'll just go for it. All right. Um I move that we approve the July 13th, 2023 hearing and workshop minutes as well as the July 27th, 2023 hearing and workshop minutes. I second all those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is unanimous. Great. Um for HPC business. Do I just mention that? I or that there is an administrative approval report for 19. Sure. Um, as far as the administrative report, we had um I'd like to enter that into the record and note that we had 19 administrative approvals in the month of July. Great, thank you. Um we have one item on the consent agenda. Um, if you don't mind, I'll just make one quick note. Yeah, please. Um, so we did re receive a written request uh for a continuance for this application, and that would be to the August 23rd HPC meeting for the consent agenda item. And I'm so I withdraw my comments and I'll save them for later. Okay. Excellent. All right, so the consent agenda.
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