It is now 232, Thursday, February 12th, 2026.

Today's meeting of the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission, HAHC is called to order.

I am Chair David Buchek.

To verify we have a quorum, I will call the roll.

The Chair is present.

Commissioner Jones.

Present.

Commissioner Carl Smith.

Present.

Commissioner Blakely.

Present.

Commissioner Escobar?

Present.

Commissioner Hill.

Present.

Commissioner Cosgrove?

Present.

Commissioner Seidel.

Present.

Commissioner Mark Smith.

So not here.

Okay.

And Commissioner Browning.

Present.

Commissioner Broadbeck.

He's not here.

Not here.

He's not going to be here.

And Commissioner Garcia?

Present.

Commissioner Davis.

Present.

And Deputy Director Robert Williamson.

Present.

Thank you, Commissioners.

We have a quorum.

I'm going to begin with the Chair report and I'll mainly just go over the speaking guidelines.

This meeting can be viewed on HTV, although virtual participation options are not available.

Meetings start a few minutes after the scheduled time so you know to allow for the HTV broadcast to go live.

Speakers, if you wish to address the Commission on an item, please fill out the speaker's form before the item is called and turn it into staff nearest the front door.

The speaker rules are posted on the agenda and are at my discretion at this meeting.

Applicants may open for and speak for three minutes.

You may also be recognized to close with an additional two minutes.

I may call on you for additional time to speak or answer questions from Commissioners.

Other public speakers may speak one time, up to two minutes when I recognize you to speak.

Please note the for individual consideration of certificates of appropriateness after staff's initial presentation.

Commission members, please hold your questions for staff until um after the deliberation the public the public uh input has occurred.

And we do that just to kind of speed up this process and not to repeat uh our questions twice.

Um with that we will move on and move on to the director's report.

Great.

Uh thank you, Chairman Buchak, good afternoon.

Afternoon, Commissioners and members of the public.

I'm Robert Williamson, acting secretary of the commission, and Deputy Director of the Planning and Development Department.

For my report today, I've got several announcements.

First, I'm glad to report that three weeks ago on January 21st, City Council approved the six properties this commission had recommended for landmark designation and the two properties that were recommended for reclassification from contributing to non-contributing designation.

Second, a public hearing date of March 24th has been set with this body to review the proposed draft of the Norhill Design Guidelines.

Formal announcements are being mailed to all the Norrhill property owners, and information will be posted on the planning department website as well as the Norrill under the Norhill page and on the planning department's Facebook page.

The notices being mailed will be four by six postcards like the ones you see on the screen.

So please be a lookout for these.

Don't heave them if they come in the mail.

It's not junk mail.

Finally, as I mentioned last month, I will be reporting the number of design review applications received and the number of COAs that were administratively approved during the review cycle.

So for the current cycle, we received four requests for pre-application design reviews, and that's just the ones that were booked in the system.

Our staff met numerous with numerous other people, uh, both on site uh and in the office.

And we have 29 new COA applications during the during this cycle.

This brings our year-to-date pre-application design reviews to 11 and our year-to-date COA submitted to 59.

We also administratively approved four COAs during this current review cycle, bringing our year-to-date total to 12.

In closing, if you have questions, you can call the Houston Office of Preservation Hotline at 832-39356 or visit our website at Houston Planning.com.

This concludes my report.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We do not have a mayor's liaison report today, so we'll move on to the consideration of the January 15th 2026 HAHC meeting minutes.

Commission members, have you had a chance to review the minutes?

And if so, are there any um of course the changes, observations, or if not a motion to accept one change as called to order by Chair Cosgrove?

That should be Chair Busick.

Okay.

Is there a motion then with that amendment?

Escobar.

I'll make a motion to approve.

Okay.

So uh what Escobar motions and and Hill will second.

So all in favor?

Aye.

Okay.

Any opposed?

Great.

Moving on.

We'll now move on to item A, uh public hearing in consideration of and possible action on a protected landmark designation application for the Trinity United Methodist Church at 2600 Holman Street, Houston, Texas, 7704.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Commission.

This is Staff Person Samantha Delione.

I submit item A for your consideration at 2600 Holman Street for the protected landmark designation of the Trinity United Methodist Church.

The building at 2600 Holman Street is a mid-century modern church designed by George Pierce and Abel B.

Pierce in 1951.

The church is significant for its impact on Houston's black community.

The property meets criteria one, two, three, four, six, and eight for lane uh for landmark designation and criterion one for protected landmark designation.

From its beginnings with the slaved with the enslaved congregation of Houston's earliest Methodist Church, Trinity United Methodist Church grew to become one of the primary institutions for black Histonians.

The 1915 Red Book of Houston describes Trinity as the mother of ten Methodist um uh churches in Houston and the forerunner of the Sister Methodist churches, the African uh Methodist Um Episcopal Church and the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.

The original uh circa 1951 church building built on Houston Methodist Church property by its black congregants was moved to Travison Bell on the property the trustees acquired in 1866, shortly after emancipation.

Pastor Elias Dibble and several trustees who helped to acquire the new church property.

Document camera, please.

Also helped to secure other significant properties up for the African American community, including Emancipation Park and Olivewood Cemetery.

Trinity Church and its members had a role in the establishment of the Mutual Aid Society of Houston, the Gregory Institute, Wiley College, and the Texas Southern University.

In 1867, Trinity Church served as location of the organization of the Texas Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, and its subsequent buildings on the Travis and Bell property.

The church served its own congregation as well as the larger black community of Houston.

After the church was heavily damaged by a fire in 1946, the congregation acquired property in Houston's third ward at Holman and Live Oak and hired architects George Pierce and April B.

Pierce to design a new building.

The 1951 sanctuary is a relatively early example of post-World War II modern religious architecture in Houston.

It exemplifies the use of traditional church forms with restrained modernistic detailing that type fied modern church design in the transitional era.

In the early 1990s, the congregation acquired the former Pilgrim Congregational Church at Live Oak and Barry, remodeled to resemble the 1951 church building, and connected it to the 1951 uh building with an addition.

In 1995, the congregation hired artist Laura Jean Lacey to design 11 new stained glass windows depicting black history and the civil rights movement along with traditional religious themes.

The windows, though relatively new, are a fitting addition to an for an institution that has had such an important impact on Houston's black community dating back to its original enslaved members.

The protected landmark designation for 2600 Holman would be the second black church designated in the Greater Third Ward.

The designation report was researched and written by Emily Ardwin with Preservation Houston.

Staff recommends that the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission recommend to City Council the protected landmark designation of 2600 Holman Street, Houston, Texas, 7704, known as the Trinity United Methodist Church.

Chairs and members of the Commission, Emily Arduin from Preservation Houston is here to speak on this item.

I am also available for any questions.

This concludes my presentation.

Thank you.

At this time I open the public hearing.

I do have two speakers signed up to speak.

And I'll start with Emily Ardwan.

Uh followed by Mr.

Ed Jones.

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

And apologies, I just read the note on the top of my notes.

It's a good I've reverse the order.

It does, it does, it's okay.

Yeah, uh good afternoon, Commissioners.

Uh Pastor Ed from Trinity is here also to speak.

Um, but I just wanted to say that it's been a real honor to work with an institution that has such a foundational history in Houston's black community, but also Houston overall.

Um we also worked with them on a recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation, which they have achieved.

Um, but I'm very proud of this one because this is the designation that will ultimately protect the church building that they've uh had as their home for 75 years in third ward from demolition into the future.

Um so thank you very much for your consideration of the nomination.

Thank you.

And our next speaker will be Pastor Ed Jones.

Document camera, please.

I don't know how much time I have to tell me.

I have 30 minutes.

Okay.

Uh I I do want to make sure I say thank you to the document camera, please.

Oh, state my name.

My name's Edward C.

Jones III.

Uh I'm grateful to serve as the senior pastor.

Uh, and I want to first also thank uh Emily from Houston Preservation for guiding us through this process to make sure we capture this historic uh institution in every way that we possibly can.

It's been an honor to not only look at the long history that we have, how at the same time uh envisioning what God is going to do for us for generations to come.

And we've learned so much about the historic things that we have accomplished at this time.

We look forward to making sure that we have a foundation that we can build on by making sure that we keep our mother church of all of the other methodism that's expressed in Houston intact and in place.

So thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the audience who would like to speak on this matter?

And if so, rise and approach the microphone.

So not hearing anyone, I'm going to close the public hearing.

Uh Commission members, are there any questions of staff or the speakers?

Or is there a motion to accept the recommendation?

I'll move to accept staff's recommendation.

Okay.

Second.

Escobar will second.

Cosgrove is makes the motion.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Thank you.

We'll now move on to item B.

The consideration of possible action on the following applic applications for certificate of appropriateness.

Um or more items may be taken in one motion as a consent item.

And Terrence is going to give us a list of recommended projects to consider for consent.

Staff Member Terrence Jackson.

Good afternoon, Commissioners, Chair, and the public.

Staff recommends the following items for action per staff recommendation in one motion.

Items B1702 Harvard Street, alteration addition in the Houston Heights South Historic District, recommendation approval.

Item B3, 1611 Columbia Street, alteration addition in the Houston Heights East Historic District, recommendation approval.

Item B4, 1611 Columbia Street, alteration of the garage or carport in the Houston Heights East Historic District, recommendation approval.

B5, 1203 2 Lane Street, new construction of garage or carport in the Houston Heights West Historic District, recommendation approval.

Item B6, 1203.

Item B6, 1203 2 Lane Street, alteration addition in the Houston Heights West Historic District, recommendation approval.

Item B7, 1123 Jerome Street, new construction of garage or carport in the Nor Hill Historic District, recommendation approval.

Item B eight, 1123 Jerome Street, alteration addition in the Nor Hill Historic District, recommendation approval.

Item B9, 3,000 Morrison Street, new construction of a garage or a carport in the Woodland Heights Historic District recommendation approval.

Item B 10, 3607 White Oak Drive, alteration of a sign in the Houston Heights Historic District recommendation approval.

Item B11, 303 Hawthorne Street, new construction of a garage or carport in the Westmoreland Historic District recommendation approval.

And item B12, 4007 Oak Ridge Street, alteration addition and windows, porch, and balcony in the Nor Hill Historic District.

Recommendation approval and issuance of a COR.

The Planning and Development Department request approval of all staff recommendations for these preceding items.

Item proposed for individual consideration, therefore are item B, items B2.

We are here for any questions.

Thank you, Terrence.

Commission members, are there any of these proposed consent items you'd like to pull for an individual consideration?

Uh Commissioner Sid No.

I have to abstain from 1123 B 7 and 8.

I'm still not 100% on the protocol of that, but if it stays on the consent.

Okay.

Um I think there's a forum you'll fill out though if you do perfect.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um at this time I open the public hearing to see if there are any uh speakers or anyone that's here to uh address one of these items.

Um I do have for seven and eight.

I think I have a speaker.

Um would you like to pull this for individual consideration?

So um we'll pull seven and eight from consent agenda.

Um I have a speaker for application number one, but they are in favor of the recommendation is my understanding, so there's no need to speak if you agree with the recommendation staff has made for item one.

If there's anyone else in the room that wants to pull project, let me know.

Not hearing that we will close the public hearing uh on that matter, and I will read out the revised consent agenda will include items one, three, four, five, six, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve.

That's correct.

Thank you.

Commission members, um, is there a motion to accept the revised consent list and the recommendations of staff as stated?

Motion by C.

Smith.

Okay.

All in favor.

Aye.

Any opposed.

Motion passes, and we'll move now move on to item two.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the HHC.

This is Staff Person Terrence Jackson.

I submit to you item B2 at 2010 K 2010 King Street.

The property includes a two-story wood frame, 2,293 square foot single family residence situated on a 3,900 square foot interior lot.

The project will include a 94 square foot bedroom addition on the second floor, bringing the total total livable square footage to 2,387 square feet.

There will also be 67 square foot of front porch addition and the proposed back porch is 149 square feet of addition.

The applicant is proposing to partially demolish a non-contribute non-original first floor porch addition, construct an interior remodel on the second floor, convert the existing second floor porch into an addition additional bedroom of 94 square feet as previously mentioned.

Construct an additional new porch at the front of the home of 67 square feet.

Construct a rear porch on the second floor as of 149 square feet.

Remove and replace the existing non-original windows to install new exterior to install a new exterior door with windows on both floors and transom windows on the first floor.

New windows are to be wood windows in set and recess.

The addition shall be constructed with wood siding to match.

And they are they are currently matching the existing eve height at 21 feet six inches and a roof slope of eight over twelve of an eight over twelve roof pitch.

They plan to reuse the existing column at the front elevation or install a new to match the existing if necessary.

Staff would like to submit for the record.

Document camera, please.

Edited drawings, which include a last minute change where the applicants have decided to not construct the rear ports, but will include adding a new window to the second floor at the rear of the home.

Staff would ask that the HAC review the project with the current change.

Staff recommends approval.

Chair members of the HAC, I'm available for any questions.

The designer the designers present and available for questions if necessary.

This concludes my preservation my presentation.

Thank you, Terrence.

At this time I will open the public hearing.

Would the designer like to address the commission or anyone else in the audience for this application?

She is available for any questions if there are any.

Okay, we'll find out.

Therefore, at this time I'll close the public hearing.

Commission members, are there questions to staff on this item?

If there are no questions, is there a motion on the item?

I make a motion to approve.

I'll second.

Okay.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Item seven.

Presentation mode, please.

Should we take seven and eight together?

Yes.

And um may ask staff when we present seven.

We can also present eight at the same time, so we can we can vote on them separately, but we can discuss the project as a as a pair.

I am sorry, Chair Buchek, you did say that we're presenting both seven and eight at the same time, is that correct?

If that's possible, yes.

Okay, no problem.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chairperson and members of the Commission.

This is staff personantha de Leon.

I submit item B7 and B eight at 1123 Jerome Street in the Nor Hill Historic District for your consideration.

The 1,214 square foot one-story contributing bungalow style property was built circa 1925, situated on a 5,000 square foot interior lot.

The potentially contributing garage was destroyed by fire in December 2023.

The applicant is proposing to construct a 449 square foot detached one-story garage at the rear of the lot.

Additionally, the applicant is proposing to construct a 428 square foot one-story rear addition to the existing home.

The new square footage of the home with the addition will be 1,648 square feet.

Staff recommends approval for both items.

Chair and members of the commission, the agent, Sam Gianukos is here to answer any questions.

I am also available for any questions.

This concludes my presentation.

Thank you.

At this time I open the public hearing and we will start with Sam Gianukas.

I don't know if there are any questions of you want to say something just to introduce yourself and for the record with your state your name.

Sam with Creo Design.

We're doing a one-story addition to a one-story bungalow.

We're under 2,000 square feet.

Again, we try to follow the design guidelines that the city is hopefully going to get uh approved after March sometime.

And um and we follow all the deed restrictions in the neighborhood and all the valid deed restrictions in the neighborhood.

Um if you all have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Thank you.

Not see any questions.

I'm going to move on.

We have one more speaker signed up, which is Virginia Kelsey.

Good afternoon.

I'm Virginia Kelsey, the VP of Deed Restrictions for Norr Hill Neighborhood Association.

Norr Hill very much welcomes one-story additions to the neighborhood.

The primary addition issue is that the existing carport, which already violates the deed restrictions, requiring a 60-foot front setback and three-foot side sack back, is not simply being repaired.

The drawings show it being substantially rebuilt with a different roof structure that is raised up higher off the ground.

In addition, more than 50% of the structure is being just demolished of the carport.

This constitutes a reconstruction, not a repair, and is materially different than say allowing an existing intact garage to have its foundation raised due to flooding.

Moreover, the proposed new garage structure does not comply with the Nor Hill design guidelines.

The guidelines clearly state that the plate height is limited to nine feet and require that accessory structures remain lower than the plate height of the original house.

The submitted plans exceed those limitations.

The proposed eight and twelve roof pitch for the garage is also substantially steeper than the six and twelve pitch, both for the original home and for the proposed edition.

Thus it is out of scale and character with the original home.

I want to focus on those items.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any questions?

I don't see any questions.

Is there any else to speak on this item other than the first two speakers to announce yourself?

Not seeing any, Sam, you do have a rebuttal afforded to you.

Excuse me.

We actually uh during the process of going back and forth with uh staff, we reduce the the ridge height on the garage from what was initially submitted, and we are keeping the original carport that's there.

It it's an original carport.

I mean, not original, but it was built at some point.

We're demolishing the back portion of that to to allow for the one-car garage to be there.

And so uh and and our ridge height is yeah, I believe the ridge height is yes, it is below the original house.

I I mean I I don't know how much more tucked away we could get it in the back.

Okay, so and you're saying that height you are referring to is measured from the ground, which is a lower plane than the main house.

Yes, I think uh let me look here.

The um the ridge height at the rear on the addition is 16 foot nine and the house is 17 foot four.

So we're actually a low lower ridge height on our addition.

Thank you.

I am going to close the public hearing at this time.

Is there any questions of staff on this item?

What were these these are two items and I will call a vote uh for each item individually?

If there are no questions, is there a motion to accept staff's recommendation?

Actually, I have a question for the chair.

Please just for clarification on the 50 percent rule.

Um it's my understanding that it is 50 percent of the value of the asset, not 50 percent of the portion that you are remodeling or or modifying anyway.

Um could could you clarify that, please?

Uh well, I think that the 50 percent rule that I am aware of in construction for innovation is if you were if you renovate more than 50 percent of a floor foot, like a square foot area, it triggers new construction.

Um, but that's a code issue, not an issue for the HAHC.

It's so it's uh that's like a in your permitting, it's something that you'll find in construction.

And um based on how that is interpreted by the permitting office, um they they may require different requirements, but it but it's not um not something that we're that that we're that we're looking for or that we're allowed to look at for this body.

But and I'll just mention is because it was stated both both speakers did reference the proposed Nor Hill Design Guidelines, which have been advertised and are currently uh being considered and will be coming to this body uh next month.

Um, but again, those are not in effect at this time, and so we're still subject to the ordinance that governs Norhill that City Council uh has approved.

So but the 50 percent is irrelevant for the Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Davis.

Move to accept staff recommendation for item B7.

Okay.

A second.

Cosmo Seconds, any discussion?

All in favor?

I think is there a motion for item eight?

I move to accept staff's recommendation for B eight.

Is there a second?

Garcia second.

Garcia seconds, any discussion?

All in favor?

I aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

Thank you.

And with that, I believe we will be moving to item.

I do want to note that um Mr.

Seidel uh recused himself from from both seven and eight.

And with that, we will move on to item C comments from the public.

You can just please approach the microphone and please restate your name for the record for folks that may be watching online.

Virginia Kelsey, Norhill.

Um I just want to understand the process.

Um thank you so much for bringing the design guidelines up for um consideration next month.

I'd like to understand how the process works in terms of your approval.

Will it be at that meeting or is there a separate vote?

Can you explain so I can go back to our neighborhood and tell them what to expect or how to show up in support?

Thank you.

Sure.

The uh guidelines will be presented to this body.

Uh the commissioners will have an opportunity to comment.

Then it'll be opened up for the public.

The public will have an opportunity to comment.

And depending on how those comments go, there could be an opportunity to vote uh at that meeting.

If not, depending again, depending on the comments, we could go back and uh address those comments and then bring them back for additional consideration by commission uh and the public and then have a vote.

And from there it goes to uh quality live commission with city council and then on to city council.

Are there any other speakers uh in the Emily Arc on the Okay?

Um I just wanted to uh remind everyone that our annual Cornerstone dinner is coming up on Friday, uh, February 27th, where we will present the 2026 uh Good Brick Award winners.

I shared some information about those winners at the meeting last month, um, and we hope that some of you will be able to join us there.

Thank you very much.

Emily, can you also just state your name for the record with one more time?

Emily Ardenwell with Preservation Houston.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Is there any other speakers who would like to address the commission?

Um not hearing you and we'll move on to the short preservation officer report for item D.

I did not plan for this, but I want to make sure everyone knows that we have set a record today.

We have not finished our historical commission in 30 minutes in the last six and a half years that I've joined the city.

So we have we have to celebrate today.

Good afternoon, Chair Buchek, Commission members and members of the public.

My name is Yasmin Arslan, and I am honored to serve as the interim preservation officer.

I am pleased to present the preservation officers report for February, highlighting key updates and ongoing efforts to preserve Houston historic character.

The postcards for the Norhill Design Guidelines have been printed and will begin arriving at residents' home within the next three to five business days via USPS.

Please note that some addresses may experience slight delays.

The guide the draft guidelines are now posted on both the PD preservation and PD public notice pages.

We kindly ask that any comments be submitted at least 24 hours prior to the public hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, March 24th at 2 30 p.m.

in this room.

The Lions Avenue Grant project for the National Register of Historic Pleases is nearing uh complete.

Stantec has finalized the nominations, which have been submitted to the Texas Historical Commission THC for review.

In the coming month, staff will schedule a community meeting in the fifth ward to present these nominations and share updates.

The nominations are available on the PD Preservation Lions Avenue page for additional information.

Please contact our office.

Staff is continuing to test the Houston Preservation Tracker site and is working with IT to resolve any technical issues.

Next month we plan to send a survey to applicants to gather feedback on the tracker.

If you have comments or suggestions in the meantime, please submit them to historic preservation at Houston TX.gov.

In March, we will not hold a regular commission meeting.

Instead, staff will focus on ethics training and the public hearing for the Norrill design guidelines.

During this time, we will continue processing administrative approvals, reviewing free pre-design applications, and responding promptly to emails and phone calls and conducting on-site visits as needed.

Our commitment to serving the public remains strong.

We as we finalize the Norhill Design Guidelines and work toward improving our process to better support applicants and the community.

Closing, if you have any questions, you can call the Houston Office of Preservation Hotline at 832-393-6556 or visit our website at HoustonPlanning.com.

This concludes my preservation officer report.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And with that, we are adjourned.