The Frederick Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) held a public hearing and workshop on February 26, 2026, at the City of Frederick auditorium. The meeting included consideration of four applications: post-fire replacement work at 137 North Market Street, a rear yard patio and gazebo at 140 West Church Street, awnings for a condominium at 208 East 2nd Street, and a demolition and replacement plan for a barn at 220 East Patrick Street. The commission also heard public comments and conducted a workshop on the barn case. Votes were taken on several items, with one case continued to a future meeting.
Good evening. Welcome to the Historic Preservation Commission hearing and workshop for the City of Frederick. Today's date is February 26th, 2026. Start out there's uh some printed copies of the agenda over on the table by the door if you want to print a copy. I believe there's also a sign-up sheet uh if you want to speak tonight or a member of the public, uh you can sign in just so we can get your name properly, but it's not uh a requirement. And uh also if you have any trouble uh hearing in certain spots in the uh auditorium, uh we do have some uh assisted listening devices up here at the front. You can come up and see uh Tansi uh to get a listening device if one may be required. 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 city council and the Secretary of 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. For introductions, my name is Paul Fitzdow, proudly serving here tonight along with Commissioners Ann Hart, Ed McMahon, Carol Kelly, and our newest commission member, Charlie Kinsey. Join us with city staff is Provision Manager of Historic Preservation Planning, Christina Martinkowski, Historic Preservation Planners Sarah Hoffaditz and Josh Masser, Assistant City Attorney Iris Arnon, and administrative assistant uh Tanzi Brockenberry. All applicants and authorized agents and members of the public who wish to speak tonight must be sworn in. If you would please rise as you're able to solemnly swear or affirm that the response is given and statements made in the this hearing before the historic preservation commission will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so answer I do. All right, thank you. 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, social, 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 site structures and districts for the education and welfare of the city residents of the city of Frederick. A commissioner must first have made the required site visit and attended any and all meetings at which such an application was discussed. In the event a commissioner is absent from any such meeting, a commissioner may satisfy the attendance requirement by reviewing a record of that meeting. That being said, are there any commissioners with statements of eligibility? Yes, uh, Mr. Chairman. Um I'm going to disqualify and recuse myself from uh HPC 26-10, which is the visitation residential application. There's a statements of eligibility. Do we have any announcements this evening? I have one announcement, and this is just a reminder to the public that historic preservation tax credit applications are due on April 1st. And if you have any questions, please reach out to the city's planning staff. Thank you. And then I also have an announcement for HPC 25369 under HBC business, a request for continuance. This case cannot be voted on due to no appearance of the applicant. The applicant is anticipating to request continuance for the April 23rd hearing and asking the Commission to move her case from the March 12th hearing to workshop. No action is needed now, but at the March 12th hearing, a vote will need to be made. So the March 12th, we will have a workshop on this application. Correct. That's the intent. All right, Commissioners moving on to approval of the minutes. Any corrections? Additions or motion. Corrections. Sarah, I have a couple. For the hearing minutes, Joshua Master was not present. And for the workshop minutes. The first one, the second bullet. Property to the left of the building overshadowed by the proposed building and not buildings. It is uh the application is for one building. Yes, sir. I gave you two. I'm sorry. So the one for hearing minutes. Joshua Mather not present.