OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Syracuse Preservation Board Meeting - February 19, 2026

Public Meetings — Thursday, February 19, 2026
BodySyracuse, New York
SessionPublic Meetings
DateThursday, February 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 56:26

Transcript — Verbatim
5:00

Nicole Fragneed him.

5:01

Kyle Gregory.

5:02

Jeff Romano.

5:03

Amber Dillon.

5:04

And Kate Owetter.

5:06

Any excused?

5:09

Yes.

5:09

Julia.

5:11

Sorry.

5:12

No answer the closer.

5:14

We have Julia.

5:17

Julia.

5:21

And thank you very much.

5:26

Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting.

5:32

And if you accept the minutes?

5:33

Do I have a second?

5:34

A second.

5:35

Thank you.

5:37

Any modifications to the minutes as submitted?

5:42

Hearing none.

5:44

Any all in favor of passing minutes as submitted?

5:46

Sorry.

5:47

Aye.

5:48

Opposed.

5:51

Good job in the minutes, Kate.

5:53

Oh, well, thank you.

5:58

Public hearings, Kate.

6:00

Oh, do you want to start with Mr.

6:02

Spield?

6:03

Yeah, you're right.

6:03

I'm getting ahead of myself.

6:05

All right.

6:06

So the board will conduct the public hearings on today's agenda.

6:11

First, the applicant or the applicant's representative will be invited to describe the proposed scope of work and to present any material or documentation regarding the proposal to the board.

6:22

Next.

6:23

Persons wishing to speak in favor of the proposal will be given the opportunity to address the board.

6:29

Then persons who wish to speak in opposition will be allowed to address the board.

6:34

Finally, the applicant or representative will be given the opportunity to make closing comments to the board.

6:39

Following public comment, the board may vote to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application just heard.

6:46

The board may also decide to hold this decision until the next public hearing.

6:50

If the hearing is closed, no additional information will be allowed into the record except for the information that the board may request.

6:57

That information will be available for public review with the board's staff.

7:02

Staff will now introduce the first application.

7:04

Now it's my turn.

7:07

So this is the first uh public hearing is CA-2602.

7:11

It's a certificate of appropriateness for 726 West on Indaga Street, which is the Alexander Brown House.

7:21

This is a basement window replacement project.

7:25

And uh the house is a protected site, and the owner uh Mr.

7:31

Birch is here.

7:33

Um and we're ready for you.

7:34

Yep.

7:37

If you could introduce yourself.

7:38

Okay, my name is Albert Birch.

7:40

I am uh well one of the two owners, myself and Patricia McDermott uh own 726.

7:46

And welcome digging her out.

7:52

So what we've got going on here, um, as you'll see the the house itself, there's no foundation windows in the front.

8:00

The foundation windows, as you'll see when you go to the survey, which was just up there briefly, uh they're on uh I guess the northwest side, the southwest side, and the northeast side, none of which are observable from the street.

8:17

Um what's going on is uh and you can see from some of the pictures, um the framework uh has rotten out.

8:26

Uh this one was just replaced with a uh sheet of plywood.

8:31

We could go down one more.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Historic Preservation█████████████████████████████████████████████69%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████20%
Procedural███████11%
Summary of Proceedings

Syracuse Preservation Board Meeting - February 19, 2026

The Syracuse Preservation Board met on February 19, 2026, to conduct public hearings on three certificate of appropriateness applications and to continue discussion on a facade alteration project. The board approved two applications, one was withdrawn, and one item was tabled pending additional information.

Consent Calendar

  • The board unanimously approved the minutes from the previous meeting.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public spoke in favor or opposition during any of the three public hearings.

Discussion Items

  • CA-2602: 726 West Onondaga Street (Alexander Brown House) – Applicant Albert Birch presented a proposal to replace nine deteriorated basement windows with glass block and aluminum vents. The existing wood jambs would be retained or rebuilt where rotted. After questions about material compatibility and potential moisture issues, the board approved the application as submitted.
  • CA-2603: 300 Waverly Avenue – The applicant, Syracuse University, requested withdrawal of the application, which the board accepted, removing the item from the agenda.
  • CA-2604: 334 Berkeley Drive – Kevin from McClurg Modeling presented a stair replacement and railing upgrade for a rear deck. The board discussed the need for painting the new pressure-treated stairs to match the existing house. The application was approved with a condition that the new stair be painted at a color to be approved by staff.
  • Old Business: 713–15 East Genesee Street (Facade Alterations) – Minesh Patel presented revised plans for a hotel conversion, including removal of EIFS from the front facade, addition of a center mullion to proposed windows, and signage. The board requested more information on the window product, details on how vinyl windows would interface with existing masonry, and the treatment of deteriorated sills. Discussion also covered ADA access and branding. The board decided to hold comment open and continue the review to the next meeting pending submission of additional details.

Key Outcomes

  • CA-2602 approved unanimously (motion by board member, seconded, vote: all ayes).
  • CA-2603 withdrawn by applicant.
  • CA-2604 approved with condition (motion to approve with condition that new stair be painted, color to staff approval, seconded, vote: all ayes).
  • 713-15 East Genesee Street continued to next meeting; board will provide a written request for additional information on windows and masonry details.
  • The board acknowledged the departure of member Amber Dillon, thanking her for her service.

Meeting Transcript

Nicole Fragneed him. Kyle Gregory. Jeff Romano. Amber Dillon. And Kate Owetter. Any excused? Yes. Julia. Sorry. No answer the closer. We have Julia. Julia. And thank you very much. Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting. And if you accept the minutes? Do I have a second? A second. Thank you. Any modifications to the minutes as submitted? Hearing none. Any all in favor of passing minutes as submitted? Sorry. Aye. Opposed. Good job in the minutes, Kate. Oh, well, thank you. Public hearings, Kate. Oh, do you want to start with Mr. Spield? Yeah, you're right. I'm getting ahead of myself. All right. So the board will conduct the public hearings on today's agenda. First, the applicant or the applicant's representative will be invited to describe the proposed scope of work and to present any material or documentation regarding the proposal to the board. Next. Persons wishing to speak in favor of the proposal will be given the opportunity to address the board. Then persons who wish to speak in opposition will be allowed to address the board. Finally, the applicant or representative will be given the opportunity to make closing comments to the board. Following public comment, the board may vote to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application just heard. The board may also decide to hold this decision until the next public hearing. If the hearing is closed, no additional information will be allowed into the record except for the information that the board may request. That information will be available for public review with the board's staff. Staff will now introduce the first application. Now it's my turn. So this is the first uh public hearing is CA-2602. It's a certificate of appropriateness for 726 West on Indaga Street, which is the Alexander Brown House. This is a basement window replacement project. And uh the house is a protected site, and the owner uh Mr. Birch is here. Um and we're ready for you.

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