Historic and Architectural Preservation Board Meeting - October 9, 2025
Historic and Architectural Preservation Board Meeting - October 9, 2025
The Historic and Architectural Preservation Board (HAPB) of Venice, Florida, met on October 9, 2025, at 9:00 AM in Council Chambers. The board considered two quasi-judicial public hearings: a continued application for a new three-story mixed-use building at 256 Nokomis Avenue South and a new application for a second-story addition to an existing garage at 625 West Venice Avenue. The board also held an election for chair and vice chair.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the minutes from the September 25, 2025 meeting (moved by Ms. Trammell, seconded by Mr. Green, all in favor).
Discussion Items
PLAR25-0019: 256 Nokomis Avenue South – Proposed New 3-Story Mixed-Use Building
- This was continued from the September 25, 2025 meeting. Staff planner Brittany Smith summarized the board's previous comments and the applicant's updates, including changes to the roof (metal tile), windows, railings, and wall recesses.
- Applicant Beka Saldadze (B Design LLC) presented revised drawings. Board members discussed that while many improvements were made, the building's massing still did not meet the Venetian Theme Architectural Control District guidelines (Section 7.10.2.B) because the facade remained largely flat without sufficient planar offsets.
- Board members suggested additional changes: offsetting the east entry wall, changing material at column bases (e.g., stone), and making the solid waste enclosure consistent with the building architecture. The applicant agreed to consider these.
- The board continued the hearing to the next meeting on November 13, 2025, to allow the applicant time to revise and provide updated renderings addressing the massing issue. Motion moved by Ms. Trammell, seconded by Mr. Watkins, passed unanimously.
PLAR25-0008: 625 West Venice Avenue – Proposed 2nd Story Addition to Existing Garage
- Staff planner Nicole Tremblay presented the application for a second-story addition to an existing 1970s garage on a 1926 single-family home in the Historic Venice Architectural Control District. Historical Resources Manager Harry Klinkhammer provided comments on differentiation.
- Applicant Chris Alexakis (CSA Construction) explained the design maintained consistency with the home's Venetian Historic Precedent style, including matching doors, railings, and lighting.
- Board members offered minor suggestions: raising the decorative tile eyebrow to the parapet line and extending it across the front elevation, and adjusting the light fixture spacing. Staff noted these could be handled administratively.
- The board approved the application with the condition that the tile eyebrow be raised to the parapet roof line and extend across the front elevation. Motion by Mr. Watkins, seconded by Ms. Trammell, passed unanimously.
New Business: Election of Chair and Vice Chair
- The board re-elected Mark (Mr. Bere) as Chair and Jean Trammell as Vice Chair for the upcoming term. Both were unopposed and approved by voice vote.
Staff Comments
- Planning and Zoning Director Roger Clark noted the value of pre-application meetings for large projects and encouraged applicants to use them. He also invited board members to suggest clarifications to the design guidelines based on recent cases.
Key Outcomes
- PLAR25-0019 continued to November 13, 2025, at 9:00 AM (Council Chambers) for further revisions on massing and other items.
- PLAR25-0008 approved with a condition to modify the eyebrow tile roof.
- Chair and Vice Chair re-elected for the new term.
Meeting Transcript
When you are chair. Nine o'clock. We'll go ahead and open call to order the October 9th meeting of the historic architectural and preservation board. Can we have a call to order and roll call attendance? Chair Bere. Ms. Trammel. Present. Mr. Stecity? Here. Mr. Watkins. Here. Mr. Green. Here. Mr. Barrett? Here. And Miss Derry Berry will be absent. She's excused. All right. This time we'll look at the approval of the minutes of the September 25th meeting. Just for the record, we don't have anybody for general audience participation. Oh, we do not. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Um we'll go ahead and look at these minutes. Uh have those before you with any modifications or changes. Uh if not, we'll entertain a motion to approve. I'll move to approve. So that's Ms. Trammell approves and Mr. Green suckets. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Post. All right. Minutes are approved. All right, we'll move to the public hearing. We're continuing uh from September 25th, 2025. A proposed new three-story mixed-use building in the Venetian theme. Architectural control district, it's PLAR 00193 at 256 Nicomas Avenue South. Brittany Smith is our planner. And Belkas, the fella does a design professional for this. This is a quasi judicial hearing. And I'm gonna go ahead and read the advertisement. This is to certify that the public hearing for this petition was appropriately advertised on September 6th, 2025, as required by the City of Venice Land Development Code.
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