Good evening.

I'd like to call to order the excuse me, Thursday, August 24th, 2023 session of the City of Frederick Historic Preservation Commission.

Technical qualifications of the Commission and 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 board of Alderman 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 are duly advertised in the Frederick News Post in accordance with Section 301 of the Land Management Code.

I'd like to begin with uh introductions.

On my left, the audience's right, we have the HPC administrative assistant Shannon Piles, uh Commissioner Blair Wilson, myself, Commissioner Robert Van Rennes, Commissioner Paul Fitzgerald, and Commissioner Ann Hart.

And we have uh historic preservation planners Lisa Mrodick Murphy and Christina Martinkowski.

And then Assistant City Attorney Michael Fry.

Excuse me, and not present this evening is our aldermanic liaison, Donica Zumjak.

Would everyone who wishes to be heard this evening on a case please rise and be sworn in?

Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the response is given and statements made in this hearing before the Historic Preservation Commission will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

If so, answer I do.

Thank you.

Please be seated.

It is the purpose of the Historic Preservation Commission to safeguard the historical and cultural heritage of the City of Frederick by preserving sites, structures, or districts that reflect elements of cultural, historic, economic, political, archaeological, or architectural history to stabilize and improve property values of such sites, structures, or districts, to foster civic beauty, to strengthen the local economy, and to promote the preservation and appreciation of such sites, structures, and districts for the education and welfare of the residents of the City of Frederick.

In order to be eligible to vote on an application, a commissioner must have made the required site visit and attended any and all meetings in which such an application was discussed.

In the event that a commissioner is absent from any such meeting, the commissioner may satisfy the attendance requirement by reviewing the record of that meeting.

That being said, are there any commissioners with statements of eligibility?

Seeing none, I'll let's move on, and I will ask city staff if they have any announcements this evening.

No announcements, thank you.

All right.

Let's move on to approval of minutes.

Yes, sir.

I move that we accept the minutes from August 10th, 2023, the hearing a second.

All right, that carries unanimously.

Thank you.

Moving on to HPC business.

HPC 2381 DR request for demolition review 411 Wilson Place.

That one's my I'll go ahead and enter that memo to the record.

And present a little some background and for information.

Thank you.

Planning staff has determined that the structure is in whole or in part 50 years of age or older, and based on this evaluation, the historic preservation commission is charged with determining if the property is potentially eligible for individual historic designation.

The memo outlies the designation criteria.

And I'll just go to note that the property at 411 Wilson Place is part of the neighborhood of Villa Estates.

The area was previously part of an area known as Gorman Farm and was platted in 1915, with streets laid out at a traditional grid pattern and lots advertised as little estates or little farms.

The neighborhood evolved over time with different developers constructing homes with various architectural styles and setbacks.

And the oldest dwellings in the neighborhood were situated closer to Rosemont Avenue and along either side of Wilson Place, near the former lines of the Hakerstown and Frederick Electric Railway.

Similar to other neighborhoods that emerged in the first decades of the 20th century, deed restrictions were placed on the lots of villa lots, requiring that all development be residential in type with a house valued at no less than $2,000 to maintain a building setback of at least 50 feet and did forbid any African American residents from residing thereon.

Despite some early success in the sales, the neighborhood was not quickly developed, and it was more than two decades later before the interior lots were constructed upon.

The drilling at 411 Wilson Place appears to represent the earliest phase of development.

Deed records show that Lawson H and Eve M.

Summers purchased several lots from Emory Crum in 1914, and by 1916, the Summers were advertising a home for rent for sale in villa estates.

The property was then sold as an individual lot with home by 1920.

The building retains a high degree of historic integrity, maintain its location, design, its study, materials, workmanship feeling, and association.

The building's form and detailing appear to reflect a transition between the free classic Queen Anne style and the colonial revival style.

The neighborhood of Villa Estates was evaluated for eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places with the determinant of eligibility form in a Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties form in 2018.

It was determined that Villa Estates was not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Staff has reviewed this assessment and performed site-specific research for 411 Wilson Place.

The building clearly exhibits some level of local significance, serving as a good representative example of early suburban development in the city and illustrating a transition of architectural design, reflecting both again Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles.

However, staff did not identify distinctive characteristics that show the drilling is a true representative style of a particular type or period or method of construction that would make it individually eligible for designation.

And therefore, staff recommends that the commission not initiate an application to apply a historic preservation overlay on the site.

With that, I'll take any questions.

Commissioners, any questions regarding the staff report.

Are there any members of the public who wish to comment on the on the demolition review or have questions regarding the staff report?

All right.

So just to clarify what you're looking what staff is looking for here is for us to indicate whether or not we would we would wish to initiate an application for an HPO.

That's right.

It would be a vote on whether or not an application should be made to designate.