Gastonia Historic District Commission Meeting - July 23, 2026
Gastonia Historic District Commission Meeting - July 23, 2026\n\nThe Gastonia Historic District Commission met on July 23, 2026, at 6:00 PM in City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting began with a welcome, call to order, and administration of the oath of office for reappointed commissioners. The minutes from the April 23, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously. Two public hearings were held for certificates of appropriateness: one continued from May for chimney removal at 535 W Harvie Avenue, and one after-the-fact request for siding, paint, and door at 308 W Fifth Avenue. Both items were continued to the next regular meeting on August 27, 2026, with possibilities for special meetings before that date.\n\n### Consent Calendar\n- Approval of Minutes: The commission voted unanimously to adopt the minutes of the April 23, 2026 Historic District Commission meeting as submitted.\n\n### Discussion Items\n- Item 3A – 535 W Harvie Avenue (File PLCA202600152): Applicant Wesley Forbus requested approval to remove a deteriorating chimney, continued from May 28, 2026. Staff presented an engineer’s report indicating the chimney was failing with multiple failure modes and recommended removal. Commission members discussed design standards requiring replacement of architectural features (chimneys) unless infeasible. Since the engineer’s report did not address the feasibility of rebuilding, the commission decided to continue the item to obtain a supplemental engineer’s report on whether replacement is possible.\n\n- Item 3B – 308 W Fifth Avenue (File PLCA202600209): Applicant Tammy Harvel sought after-the-fact approval for replacement of siding with HardiePlank (color Deep Ocean), painting, and a new door. The application was amended to no longer paint the siding white. Testimony revealed that the original siding was Masonite and vinyl, and the applicant had installed blue HardiePlank, white trim, black vinyl shutters, and a tan fiberglass door. Commission members expressed concerns about the combination of colors (white, blue, black, tan) and the use of vinyl shutters (not appropriate per design standards). Because no photo of the completed work was available, the commission continued the item to allow the applicant to provide a finished photo.\n\n### Key Outcomes\n- Item 3A (535 W Harvie Avenue): Continued to August 27, 2026 (regular meeting) or sooner via special meeting, conditioned on receipt of an engineer’s report specifically addressing the feasibility of replacing the chimney. The chair may call a special meeting with 48 hours’ notice once the report is received.\n- Item 3B (308 W Fifth Avenue): Continued to August 27, 2026 (regular meeting) or sooner via special meeting, contingent on the applicant providing a photograph of the completed work to staff. The door will be considered as part of the application (based on an earlier application that included it), but the vinyl shutters are a separate violation and will require a new application.\n- A subcommittee meeting was scheduled to follow adjournment.
Meeting Transcript
Today's meeting. I will now call the July 23rd, 2026 meeting of the Historic District Commission to order. Would the commission members please go around and state their names for the record? Carol Hauer. Caitlin Peeler. Josh Hooser. Stephanie Hartman. Leslie Vanden Herrick. Thank you. All right. If you plan to address the commission night, commission tonight, please be sure to sign it the sign-in sheet. I'm assuming I have everyone's sign in. At the June 16th City Council meeting, City Council recognize Commissioners Caitlin Peeler, Leslie Harris. Sorry, Jalen's did a great job writing this. And Jeff Treple to the HDC. I will now ask Ms. Rebecca Mintz to administer the oath. Leslie, you and I got to go to the report. Do you sometimes or the cost of Christians appeal in the United States? Six meeting minutes. April. Okay. Jeff is not here, so I'm assuming there are no corrections to the meeting minutes. Jalen is thanking. Thank you for that. Okay. We count on him. I know. Is there a motion to adopt the meeting minutes as submitted? I'll make that motion. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? Okay. Okay. Because of the quasi-judicial format of this hearing, people wishing to speak and offer evidence are required by North Carolina law to be sworn in or affirmed. I will now ask Mrs. Rebecca Mintz to administer the oath. So just rise from we can just apply. All right. Prior to today's meeting, notice was sent to property owners within 200 feet of the agenda items. Commission members received a copy of each application and may have visited the sites. North Carolina law provides that people have an opportunity to address an application. Thus we conduct a public meeting on it. During the consideration of each application, we receive evidence to determine that the proposed changes are not incongruous with the special character of the districts. Before issuing a COA, we review this evidence against the designed guidelines. The judicial format of the hearing requires that we be impartial. If any of us have had a reason to discuss the specific details of an application before today or have any other conflict of interest, we will ask to be excused from hearing that application. An appeal for a decision by the commission in terms of granting or denying a certificate of appropriateness may be taken in writing to the Board of Adjustment within 30 calendar days after the decision of the Commission. Only competent substantial fact-based testimony or evidence will be considered by the commission in deciding the quasi-judicial matters listed on today's agenda.
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