OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

HAHC Meeting April 23, 2026: Landmark Designations and COA Decisions

Committees and Commissions — Thursday, April 23, 2026
BodyHouston, Texas
SessionCommittees and Commissions
DateThursday, April 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:05:28

Transcript — Verbatim
0:15

We are almost there, but we're going to go ahead and start the front end of the meeting.

0:21

Good afternoon.

0:22

It is now 243, April 23rd 2026.

0:32

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

0:38

I am Commission Chair David Buch to verify we have a quorum.

0:42

I will call the roll.

0:44

The Chair is present.

0:45

Commissioner Jones.

0:47

Present.

0:47

Commissioner Smith.

0:49

Carl Smith, sorry.

0:55

Okay.

0:56

Commissioner Blakely.

0:58

Present.

1:00

Commissioner Escobar.

1:05

Commissioner Hill.

1:06

Present.

1:07

Commissioner Cosgrove?

1:09

Present.

1:09

Commissioner Seidel.

1:11

Present.

1:12

Commissioner Mark Smith is present.

1:15

Commissioner Browning is sick today.

1:18

Commissioner Broadbeck.

1:20

Present.

1:20

Commissioner Garcia?

1:22

Present.

1:23

Commissioner Davis.

1:25

And Deputy Director Robert Williamson.

1:28

Present.

1:29

Thank you, Commissioners.

1:31

We have a quorum.

1:33

I will begin by the Chair's report with the speaker rules for this meeting.

1:40

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

1:46

Please note that the meetings do often start after the scheduled time to allow the HTV broadcast to go live.

1:54

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

2:06

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

2:12

The applicant or the representative for the applicant will be asked to open and speak for three minutes.

2:19

In doing so, you may also be recognized to close with an additional two minutes.

2:25

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

2:31

Please note that the chair or members of the commission may have questions for any of the public speakers and may call upon you for additional answers.

2:43

Please note that for individual consideration of certificate of appropriateness after staff's initial presentation.

3:03

And we hope to keep this meeting on schedule, even though we do have a long uh list of items today, and we will see what will be passing on the consent agenda.

3:15

And with that, we will move on to the director's report.

3:20

Thank you, Chair Buchek.

3:21

And good afternoon, Commissioners and members of the public.

3:24

I'm Robert Williamson, Acting Secretary of the Commission and Deputy Director of the Houston Planning Department.

3:30

For my report today, I've got a couple announcements.

3:33

First, we held a public hearing on March 24th to review and solicit comments for the proposed Norr Hill design guidelines.

3:40

All the comments received are being reviewed and evaluated in a revised draft will be posted for final hearing and vote by HAHC at the May meeting.

3:49

So guidelines can then be forwarded to City Council for approval.

3:53

Second is a housekeeping note for the public and for the record.

3:57

So beginning this past February, staff instituted a hard cutoff date for applicants to submit any additional information by the end of the day on Wednesday, a week before the next HAHC meeting.

4:08

This is required so staff has enough time to finalize draft reports for posting on Friday, allowing commissioners and the public time to review before the upcoming HAHC meeting the following Thursday.

4:21

Applicants will be allowed to present additional and revised information at the HAHC meeting, whereby commissioners may accept and consider that additional information or defer the application to allow additional time to review.

4:35

This change also supports the Commission's longstanding policy of only allowing commissioners to abstain for conflicts of interest.

4:43

Finally, since our two February 2026 meeting, we received nine requests for pre-application design reviews, 40 new COA applications, which brings our total pre-designs to 20 and our year-to-date COAs to 99.

4:58

Today's meeting is the most active meeting we've had all year.

5:01

We've also administratively approved 10 COAs during this cycle, bringing our year-to-date count to 22.

5:07

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

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Historic Preservation█████████████████████████████████████████████80%
Procedural███████████19%
Legal Considerations█1%
Summary of Proceedings

HAHC Meeting Summary – April 23, 2026

The Houston Archaeological Historical Commission (HAHC) met on April 23, 2026, beginning at 2:43 PM with 13 commissioners present. The commission considered three landmark/referral items and 31 certificates of appropriateness (COAs). Key actions included approving protected landmark status for a Freedmanstown cottage, referring two National Register nominations, and deciding numerous COA applications, some with conditions or deferrals. The meeting also featured public testimony on several items.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved as a single motion (with one abstention) the following items per staff recommendations: D1 (1246 Alston), D2 (1235 Yale), D9 (1519 South Blvd), D15 (415 Harvard – alteration), D16 (415 Harvard – garage), D17 (202 E 31½ St – deferred by applicant), D20 (525 Tyshorn), D22 (824 W Temple), D23 (824 W Temple – garage), D24 (1316 Harvard), D25 (1316 Harvard – garage), D27 (300 Main), D28 (1907 Decatur), D29 (2110 Decatur), D30 (1112 Jerome), D31 (3709 Montrose).
  • Commissioner Garcia abstained from D2 due to a potential conflict of interest.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Item D3 (528 Woodland – addition): Applicant Sam Janukas (Creo Design) and owners Martina and Sam Stevens spoke in favor, citing family needs and neighborhood support. Neighbor Ariel Pragner also spoke in support. No opposition.
  • Items D4/D5 (1521 Columbia – addition & garage): Applicant Sam Janukas and owner Lisa Osborne spoke in favor. Osborne described her personal commitment to restoring the home and requested approval of the double-column porch design. No opposition.
  • Item D6 (405 Highland – second floor addition): Owner Ariel Pragner spoke passionately about multi-generational living needs and demonstrated neighborhood support (35 letters). Architect Sam Janukas explained design constraints to preserve interior historic fabric. Neighbors Martina and Sam Stevens also spoke in support. No opposition.
  • Items D10-13 (1108 Victor – relocation & alteration): Emily Arduin (Preservation Houston) spoke in support, emphasizing cultural preservation in Freedmanstown. Architect Gregory Lake (Heinz AD) answered questions about window and column details.
  • Items D18/D19 (528 Columbia – remediation): Contractor Sabas Lel and architect Alia Deanda explained that work had been done without COA approval, and they now seek to correct errors. No opposition.
  • Item D21 (1118 Two Lane – addition): No public speaker.
  • Item D26 (505/503 Sol Ross – conversion to commercial): Architect Katie Garvey and neighborhood representative Steve Longmire spoke in support, noting extensive community engagement and restoration efforts.

Discussion Items

  • Protected Landmark Designation – 1317 Ruthven Street (Item A): Staff presented the circa-1894 cottage in Freedmanstown as meeting criteria 1,4,5,8 for landmark and 1,2,3 for protected status. Unanimously approved.
  • National Register Referrals:
    • Style and Steel Townhouses (Item B): 1968 steel demonstration homes at 4156-4160 Meyerwood Drive. Unanimously approved referral.
    • Olivewood Cemetery (Item C): Houston’s first private African American cemetery, established 1875-1961. Unanimously approved referral.
  • D3 – 528 Woodland (addition): Staff recommended approval. Commissioner Broadbeck moved to defer due to new renderings shown at the meeting (3D views not in packets). No second; motion failed. Commissioner Blakely moved to approve staff recommendation, which passed (Broadbeck abstained citing policy concerns, later advised by legal that abstention only for conflict).
  • D4/D5 – 1521 Columbia (addition & garage): Staff recommended approval with conditions (single column on porch). Applicants requested double columns, presenting examples from the neighborhood. After debate, Commissioner Garcia moved to approve as submitted (including double columns). Seconded and passed.
  • D6 – 405 Highland (second floor addition): Staff recommended denial because the proposed second-floor massing encroached beyond the rear 50% of the house (violating criteria 10 and 11). Commissioner Davis moved to approve as submitted. Vote failed (5-4). A subsequent motion to approve staff denial lacked a second. Motion to defer passed.
  • D7/D8 – 607 Harvard (addition & garage): Staff recommended approval with conditions (setback adjustment on south elevation, ridge height reduction). Approved.
  • D10-13 – 1108 Victor (relocation & alteration): Staff recommended approval. Commissioner Hill questioned column originality. Architect agreed to consider 6x6 or 8x8 posts, but motion to accept staff recommendation as presented passed without conditions.
  • D14 – 815 West Cottage (COR): Home raised without COA, damaging chimney. Staff recommended denial of COA and issuance of COR with remediation. Approved.
  • D18/D19 – 528 Columbia (remediation & revision): Work performed without COA included removal of siding, shiplap, windows, porch steps, and brick pony wall. Staff recommended denial of COA for remediation (D18) and approval with conditions for revised COA (D19). Approved.
  • D21 – 1118 Two Lane (addition): Staff recommended approval, but commissioners raised concerns about incomplete drawings (no foundation shown, stone vs. siding issue) and lack of detail. Motion to approve failed (5-4). Deferral motion passed, with directions to provide more developed plans and address foundation questions.
  • D26 – 505/503 Sol Ross (commercial conversion): Staff recommended approval with conditions (stucco sample, window restoration). Approved.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved Landmark Designation: 1317 Ruthven Street (protected landmark).
  • Approved National Register Referrals: Style and Steel Townhouses (4156-4160 Meyerwood Dr) and Olivewood Cemetery (1300 Court St).
  • COA Decisions:
    • D3 (528 Woodland): Approved per staff.
    • D4/D5 (1521 Columbia): Approved with applicant’s double-column design.
    • D6 (405 Highland): Deferred to May meeting.
    • D7/D8 (607 Harvard): Approved with conditions.
    • D10-13 (1108 Victor): Approved as submitted.
    • D14 (815 West Cottage): Denial of COA, issuance of COR.
    • D18/D19 (528 Columbia): Denial of COA for unauthorized work, COR issued; new COA approved with conditions.
    • D21 (1118 Two Lane): Deferred for more detailed plans.
    • D26 (505/503 Sol Ross): Approved with conditions.
  • Consent Calendar: 15 items approved en bloc.
  • Director’s Report Highlights: Norhill Design Guidelines public hearing held March 24; revised draft to be presented in May. New hard deadline for applicant submissions (Wednesday before meeting). Year-to-date COA count: 99; pre-design reviews: 20; administrative approvals: 22.
  • Preservation Officer’s Report: Staff processed pre-designs, conducted site visits, and implemented the Houston Preservation Tracker survey (open through April). Ethics training completed March 12.

Meeting Transcript

We are almost there, but we're going to go ahead and start the front end of the meeting. Good afternoon. It is now 243, April 23rd 2026. Today's meeting of the Houston Archaeological Historical Commission, HAHC is called to order. I am Commission Chair David Buch to verify we have a quorum. I will call the roll. The Chair is present. Commissioner Jones. Present. Commissioner Smith. Carl Smith, sorry. Okay. Commissioner Blakely. Present. Commissioner Escobar. Commissioner Hill. Present. Commissioner Cosgrove? Present. Commissioner Seidel. Present. Commissioner Mark Smith is present. Commissioner Browning is sick today. Commissioner Broadbeck. Present. Commissioner Garcia? Present. Commissioner Davis. And Deputy Director Robert Williamson. Present. Thank you, Commissioners. We have a quorum. I will begin by the Chair's report with the speaker rules for this meeting. The meeting can be viewed on HTV, although virtual participation options are not available. Please note that the meetings do often start after the scheduled time to allow the HTV broadcast to go live. Speakers, if you wish to address the Commission on an item, please fill out one of the speaker forms before the item is called and turn it into the staff member nearest the front door. The speaker rules are posted on the agenda, but are at my discretion at this at this meeting. The applicant or the representative for the applicant will be asked to open and speak for three minutes. In doing so, you may also be recognized to close with an additional two minutes. Other speak public speakers may speak one time, up to two minutes when I recognize you to speak. Please note that the chair or members of the commission may have questions for any of the public speakers and may call upon you for additional answers. Please note that for individual consideration of certificate of appropriateness after staff's initial presentation. And we hope to keep this meeting on schedule, even though we do have a long uh list of items today, and we will see what will be passing on the consent agenda. And with that, we will move on to the director's report. Thank you, Chair Buchek. And good afternoon, Commissioners and members of the public. I'm Robert Williamson, Acting Secretary of the Commission and Deputy Director of the Houston Planning Department. For my report today, I've got a couple announcements. First, we held a public hearing on March 24th to review and solicit comments for the proposed Norr Hill design guidelines. All the comments received are being reviewed and evaluated in a revised draft will be posted for final hearing and vote by HAHC at the May meeting.

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