Rochester Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Summary - November 25, 2025
Rochester Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting - November 25, 2025
The Rochester Heritage Preservation Commission convened on November 25, 2025, at 5:07 p.m. for a meeting focused on reviewing a proposed statue installation in Central Park, establishing a special committee for historic context development, discussing the potential reinstatement of the Louise Hill Award, and clarifying the economic hardship process for landmark status removal. Commissioner Bedaker, Gandhi, Schable, and Wasmer were absent, excused, or absent without excuse; Commissioners Connell, Dobmeyer, Mutchler, Poyer, and Chair Zastro were present.
Consent Calendar
- The order of the agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
- The minutes from the previous meeting were approved by unanimous consent.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Mr. Skullnick: Expressed full support and congratulations to the Commission for the recent landmarking approval. He offered strong support for the Central Park certification, emphasized the importance of the new HPC committee focusing on relevant inventory buildings to avoid wasted effort, hoped the downtown historic vision report would address reducing demolition by neglect and assisting property owners, and requested specific timelines for the Indian Heights Park consultant selection and work completion. He also expressed hope that the Louise Hill (rescale) award would continue.
- Ms. Hudson: Expressed strong concern regarding the delay in landmarking Indian Heights Park, noting it has been over a year since the work was promised to begin. She urged the Commission to utilize the existing 150-page ethnographic review conducted for Silver Lake Park to avoid duplicating the $30,000 cost and to expedite the process for Indian Heights Park.
Discussion Items
- Central Park Statue (Agenda 5A): Coordinator Patterson Lundgren presented a Certificate of Appropriateness for a new bronze statue of Amelia Hatfield Weatherstein in the southeast corner of Central Park. Lundgren noted the project is consistent with Secretary of Interior Standards for rehabilitation, as memorabilia and statues are typical for public squares. Commissioner Poyer inquired about maintenance and tree removal; Lundgren confirmed the Parks Department will maintain the site and that the selected location required no tree removal. Commissioner Mochler was satisfied that no trees were impacted.
- HPC Committee Formation (Agenda 5B): The Commission discussed and voted to establish a special ad-hoc committee with a maximum of three voting members to develop historic contexts under the Unified Development Code. The committee will utilize a cloud-based sharing platform (likely Google Docs) to maintain communication without violating open meeting laws, while non-voting volunteers may assist with research. Commissioner Poyer noted this is an ad-hoc committee, while Chair Zastro clarified the Chair will appoint members based on volunteer interest if no one else steps forward.
- Project Updates (Agenda 7A):
- Downtown Historic Vision: The final report is being finalized for an internal city review, with presentation to City Council scheduled for February 23, 2026. A subsequent HPC meeting on February 24 is planned to review the full document and discuss a vote on the recommendations.
- Indian Heights Park: The Commission is awaiting feedback from the State Preservation Office regarding a questionnaire submitted for potential National Register listing. The decision remains pending on whether to pursue local landmarking or National Register designation, with a plan to hire a consultant with specific Native American cultural expertise.
- Louise Hill Award (Agenda 7B): Following community reports of a forgotten plaque in City Hall, the Commission discussed reintroducing the Louise Hill Award given from 2009 to 2014. The award recognized leaders displaying courage and dedication in preserving the city's history and culture. Commissioners debated the frequency of the award (suggesting it not be annual to maintain meaning) and the lack of original criteria documents. Commissioner Poyer recommended forming a subcommittee to manage nominations and proposed timing the award during Preservation Month in May 2026.
- Economic Hardship and Entitlement Process: Coordinator Lundgren addressed questions regarding two recent applications to remove landmark status based on economic hardship. She clarified that property owners bear the full burden of proving hardship under the ordinance and that Staff does not assist in constructing that case. Commissioner Poyer expressed a need for greater transparency in notifying applicants of inadequate submissions well before hearings. Commissioner Dobmeyer questioned if the ordinance provides sufficient clarity to prevent political persuasion from influencing decisions; Lundgren affirmed the ordinance is sufficiently detailed and balanced, though she acknowledged the inherent subjectivity and political nature of the City Council's final decision.
Key Outcomes
- Approval of Central Park Statue: The Commission unanimously approved the Certificate of Appropriateness for the installation of the Amelia Hatfield Weatherstein statue in Central Park (Motion by Commissioner Poyer, Seconded by Commissioner Dobmeyer).
- Establishment of History Committee: The Commission unanimously voted to establish a special ad-hoc committee with up to three voting members for the purpose of historic context development (Motion by Commissioner Poyer, Seconded by Commissioner Mutchler).
- Scheduling Decisions: The Commission decided to keep the December 16th meeting on the calendar but will review for cancellation if no business arises; a preliminary survey will be conducted regarding next year's calendar, specifically regarding the May Memorial Day date.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome everybody to the November 25th Heritage Preservation Commission meeting. Before we call to order, we start each meeting with a 15-minute public open comment period. This is an opportunity for the public to comment to the commission regarding items that do not have a public hearing on today's agenda. Comments regarding agenda item 5A would be appropriate at this time. Each speaker has up to four minutes. The commission will not discuss or respond to any comments made during this time. Please be concise and mindful of your time during your remarks so that everyone wishing to speak has the opportunity to do so. Will the first speaker please step forward and clearly state your name into the microphone. Hi, hi all. I want to congratulate the committee, the commission on uh the fact that the city council approved another um a landmarking. I think it's great. I I always liked it because I've been I was on it for a number of years. I always liked having when one of the landmarking was approved. To me, it's a major accomplishment of the HPC. Not just this one, which is an accomplishment too, but all of the ones when you do it. To me, it always made me feel good. So I congratulate you, you know, for doing that. Um, I I hope you also approve the Central Park certification today as a worthwhile addition to the park. Um, on the uh HPC committee formation um for the uh context. I I think that's a good idea too. The only thing is I'm hoping when you look at the context, you look at the context that might be relevant for as many of the of the buildings on the uh the so-called potential list or the inventory list as possible. So you don't wind up doing something that is has no relevance to the buildings that are already there because we're very far behind. So I'm just hoping that you can pick good context to write about that has some relevancy to the to the workload. Um then uh the downtown historic vision. I'm hoping that includes information on how the city can work better. What I heard on how the city could work better on um reducing demolition by neglect, as well as working with the property owners to help them uh keep their properties uh uh uh up to date and and to make it useful for them also. Um again, I've never seen the final report. I'm just hoping it says something about how to make it useful to the business owners. Yeah, and hoping. Um I'm also hoping you uh have um specific targets for Indian Heights, both in terms of when the consultant will be chosen to do that, just a timeline, a target, and then also how long they think uh it will be uh for that consultant to complete the work. Because I know it's a lot of work, but I'm just wondering if it's like a month, two months, three months, and how to say the uh rescale award. I I I was on I I wasn't on the H the Heritage Preservation Committee before the commission, but I used to attend those meetings when I first came here about 16 years ago. And I I remember when I attended some of the ceremonies, and they always were attended by other people, and it was always a welcome award, uh, both John Krisel and uh and and other people and Judge Lund is on that as well. And you see it in your packing. I just think that's a good word award too. And uh I'm just hoping we have a nice meeting tonight. Anyway, thank you all. Thank you all for coming. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Skullnick. And the next speaker, go ahead and state your name. My name is Barb Hudson. I stand here again talking about Indian Heights Park and hoping it will be landmarked. A year ago, uh this month, I was also standing in front of the commission. Uh you were getting ready to do the work uh that it takes to landmark Indian Heights Park. And it was going to be done the first of the year, and here I am in November, you know, almost a year later, and it's still not there. I just want to remind the commission also that there was an ethnographic review of Indian Heights Park as well as a Silver Lake Park. And that uh was that is a hundred and seen pages worth of information, a lot of information. It costs 30,000 to do it.
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