Historic District Commission
Minutes
Land Use Meeting Room
January 15, 2008
Members Present: ~ Chair Ken Fowler, KF; Elaine Steinert, ES; Kate McNulty-Vaughn, KM-V; Jason Berger, JS; and Jim Harwood, JH
Staff present: Mary Albertson, MA, Town Planner; Peggy Ammendola, PA, Land Use Clerk
Minutes of December 11, 2007:
JB made a motion to accept the minutes and ES seconded the motion. The Commission voted 3-0-1 with Ken abstaining as he was not present at that meeting.
Pam Kueber, update on Street Lamp Project in Historic District. Ms. Kueber, Chair
of fund raising for the Westinghouse Street Lamp Project and Suzanne Pelton of the Historical Commission made the presentation to the HDC.
Ms. Kueber gave a detailed history of the circa 1914 cast iron ornamental crook Victorian Street lamps that were installed throughout Lenox. George Westinghouse purchased the lamps for what it is believed to be the first underground lighting installation in America. There were 149 lamps. The lights remained until the early 1980s when they were removed as they had deteriorated and were costly to operate. Approximately 11 of these lamps remain.
Ms. Kueber stated that several interested parties have been working to bring the historic lighting back to Lenox. Discussions have taken place with the Board of Selectmen and Jeff Vincent, the Superintendent of the DPW and the group was told that the first step would be to hire a lighting designer for the project and to do so the group would need to raise $25,000 to cover that expense. To date $21,500 has been raised. Throughout the winter the fund raising effort will continue and it is expected that a lighting designer will be hired by summer. The pilot installation will be on Church Street and it is expected to be done in concert with the replacement of the sidewalks. As many as 15 lamps are expected to be placed on Church Street.
Ms. Kueber stated that it is a goal of this group that this will be a collaborative effort of many including, but not limited to, the following: Chamber of Commerce, Board of Selectmen, Jeff Vincent, property owners on Church Street, Village Improvement Committee, Historical Commission, and the Town Planner. The fund raising effort is to raise as much private money as possible and to look for public funding as well. Two thirds of the total is expected to come from public funding.
Ms. Kueber and Ms. Pelton asked that the Historical District Commission help in this effort.
6:15 PM Invitation to a coffee hour for Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 3:00 PM to be hosted by the Historical Commission. KF said that the Commission wanted to avoid the issue of the coffee being attended by a quorum of the HDC. Ms. Pelton said that it would be social, and the Westinghouse Street Light project would be discussed. JB suggested that since the installation of the lights would have to be reviewed by the HDC having a quorum of the HDC at the coffee would be a violation. MA advised that, according to the law, no official business can be discussed. It was then agreed that the event would be a social event with there being no discussion related to the project.
Strategy for follow up to HDC letter: The Commission has received one comment regarding the letter. Once again the Commission expressed their frustration of lack of enforcement with violations. KF reminded all that the strategy was three steps:
A. Information
B. Notification
C. Enforcement
D.
KF said that without enforcement, there is no purpose in having the HDC.
There is confusion as to whether the Building Inspector has the authority to permit any change within the district without review by the HDC. MA pointed out that the Guidelines states that there are some things require review and some do not, and that in fairness to the Building Inspector, he may feel that some changes do not warrant review. She suggested that the Commission give him clear guidance.
MA will ask the Building Inspector and the Town Manager to meet with the HDC to discuss these issues.
Project review, Gennaro Gallo, 15 Franklin Street (Map 43, Parcel 83 A Special Permit has been issued under Section 5.5 of the Town of Lenox Zoning Bylaws to construct an addition (13 feet x 35 feet) to the pre-existing apartment units located on the second floor.
Mr. Gallo appeared before the HDC in October 2007 and received approval for renovations. The request at that time was changing the roof pitch, windows, and siding. A condition of that approval is for the applicant to come back for approval of materials to be used for the balcony.
On January 2, 2008, Mr. Gallo presented a petition (referenced above) to the Zoning Board. The Zoning Board, by a vote of 5-0, approved of the addition, but asked that Mr. Gallo to return to the HDC to have this addition reviewed to see if this falls within the purview of the HDC. The date of that ZBA hearing was just shy of the fourteen day HDC requirement to notify abutters for a formal review and the next HDC meeting date was not until February 5, 2008. In effort to accommodate Mr. Gallo, the Land Use staff scheduled the informal project review for tonight’s meeting for the HDC to determine if Mr. Gallo had to apply formally to the HDC.
Present was Mr. Gallo and his mother, Caterina Gallo. Mr. Gallo said that he was hoping that the Commission would approve the addition so that he could close the building, (construction is underway) but he would come back for approval of the materials, even though he stated he would be using the same material and same windows that the HDC approved in October.
KF and JB did not have an issue with the second story addition and JB referred to Section 4.1 E, of the Bylaw which gives the Commission the option of waiving a public hearing. JH feels the project is significant, and warrants a formal review. JH also stated he wants more information on the material that is to be used. After considerable discussion, it was agreed that Mr. Gallo will apply formally to the HDC for a Certificate of Appropriateness as the addition is architecturally significant. Mr. Gallo was asked to be prepared to make a full presentation with an accurate description of all materials that will be used. In particular he was asked to provide the following:
1. Copy of the ZBA Decision filed January 4, 2008
2. Copy of minutes of the HDC meeting of Oct. 16, 2007
3. Copy of the HDC approval of Oct. 16, 2007
4. Brochure of skylights chosen
5. Brochure of windows
6. Gable vent-if it can be seen from the street
7. Revise drawing to show the actual materials that will be used. The information shown presently is ambiguous.
8. Paint chips of color to be used
9. Railing system for the egress- It was stressed that this is a key issue as the materials used must be historically appropriate. The Commissioners referred to page 22 of the Guidelines, Section C. Egress Stairs: “New stairs required to accommodate egress must be located to minimize visibility, and designed to complement the architecture of the building.”
10. Detail of the non-descript post holding system shown on the drawing.
It was recommended that Mr. Gallo review the Historic District Bylaw and have his architect to represent him at the meeting. It was stressed that more information is better and pictures are important.
There were no abutters present nor letters received.
KM-V made a motion to adjourn and JB seconded the motion. The Commission voted to agree 5-0. The meeting was adjourned just after 8:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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