Historic District Commission Minutes 03/02/2017

Meeting date: 
Thursday, March 2, 2017

HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION

MARCH 2, 2017

MINUTES FROM REGULAR MEETING

 

 

 

I.             CALL TO ORDER

 

Chairperson Dianne Mead called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices.  Also in attendance were Michael Glidden, Assistant Town Planner; Janis Prifti, Commission Clerk; and other interested parties. 

 

 

II.            ROLL CALL

Commission members present were Dianne Mead, Marguerite Carnell, Patricia Hyppaa, and Mark Nyquist. 

 

1.            Appointment of Alternates

Chairperson Mead appointed Patricia Hyppaa and Mark Nyquist to serve as voting members.

 

 

III.           APPLICATION

 

1.            Public Hearing(s)

a.            Application #16-05 of Christina Levin Gerdner, Owner, for a Certificate of Appropriateness for the replacement of the roof with shake wood shingles on the residence on the property located at 51 East Weatogue Street (Assessor’s Map H13, Block 108, Lot 009A). Zone R-40. (received 12/29/2016; decision must be rendered y 03/04/2017)

 

Commissioner Carnell read Application #16-05 into the record.  Chairperson Mead noted there was subsequent notification the shingles are asphalt in the wood shake color.  Steven Sullivan, the Applicant’s contractor, provided a sample of the asphalt shingle for the record.  He indicated the current roof has gray architectural asphalt shingles and the only change would be the color shown. He confirmed the new asphalt shingles would go on the front main part of the house, not the garage, which is not visible.  He felt you actually could not see the house roof because the house is tall and has a low slope pitch.  Chairman Mead felt you could still see the roof when driving past.  Mr. Sullivan clarified the garage is set back from the house and connected by a breezeway; the garage has a different color brown/red roof than the house and the replacement a little darker color.  Chairperson Mead asked if he had started the work and then stopped.  Mr. Sullivan indicated when the permit was being issued, they figured out it was in the Historic District and told him to stop, but it was a little late as most of it was done.  He said it was a hip roof with a little kick out in back that part has not been done.

 

Chairperson Mead made a motion to close the Public Hearing.

 

Commissioner Carnell seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

 

Commissioner Carnell made a motion to approve Application #16-05 of Christina Levin Gerdner for a Certificate of Appropriateness for replacement of the roof at the residence located at 51 East Weatogue Street.   The Certificate of Appropriateness is subject to the following conditions:  1) that the roofing material shall be Timberline Asphalt Shingles; 2) that the Building Permit is required for roof installation; and 3) that the Commission finds that the Applicant has demonstrated performance to Design Guidelines contained in the East Weatogue Historic District Manual.

 

Commissioner Nyquist seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

 

 

IV.          GENERAL COMMISSION BUSINESS

1.            Correspondence

a.            Historic House Tour of Weatogue to be held June 4, 2017

 

Chairperson Mead received an email from Ieke Scully, of the Simsbury Historical Society, which was provided to Commissioners, providing notification there is going to be a house tour of historic homes in preparation for Simsbury’s 350th anniversary celebration in 2020.  Ms. Scully noted that the 300th Town anniversary was a very big deal with parades, men growing beards, and the meeting house was built as part of that celebration effort.  She indicated they are beginning to get the word out to involve Town residents in the significant effort required.  To help the Town focus on its history, they would like to do historic house tours once a year up to 2020 beginning with the Weatogue District.  She wanted this Commission to be aware of this endeavor in case there is something the Historical Society needs to be aware of. 

 

Ms. Scully said that currently they have 5 houses signed on and hope to have 1 more.  So far they have signed on 11 East Weatogue (Patty Willis), 327 Hopmedow next to the fountain, they are waiting to hear back from 72 East Weatogue (Heather Goetz), the Linden House B&B has interesting history, 23 Hopmeadow Street (Charley Rice’s old house,) and hope to have 2 East Weatogue (Donna Caldera) which is stately, was a Phelps Tavern at one point, and is also believed to be 2 buildings brought together.  She said unfortunately, some residents with historic homes will be on vacation on June 4, 2017. 

 

Ms. Scully believed the more attention is focused on a property, the more likely it is to be preserved as historic house tours educate residents about local treasures and the value of maintaining their original fabric.  She said they are looking at different Town neighborhoods and may do West Simsbury next year; other neighborhoods include Tarriffville, the Center District where Phelps Tavern is, and the North Village.  Commissioner Nyquist may be able to speak with the Lavery’s about potentially adding their house to the tour.  Ms. Scully explained they prefer to not have all the houses from the same time period.  She said the Browns have agreed to keep the approach to the original Ensign Bickford site clear during the tour, as part of highlighting historic information about the neighborhood. 

 

Ms. Scully said the weekend is evolving to include the Sunday historic house tour preceded on Saturday by a “Pallet of Local Treasures” at the Phelps Homestead, including artists, authors, musicians, and artisans; the artists would set up to do open air paintings, authors would have 10x10 tents, and there will also be garden vendors, etc. 

 

Commissioner Hyppaa commented her 42 East Weatogue (former Elenora Case house) home is where the Echo and Swift Christian newspapers were originally printed; she knows the Case family who printed/developed the paper and offered to call the great, great grandson to see if he would participate in highlighting neighborhood history.  Commissioner Nyquist asked about including the 1820 house, which she said would likely be included in the Center District tour year.  Chairperson Mead asked how the Commission could help.  Ms. Scully responded that on the day of the tour, they could use volunteers in each display room of the 6 houses for 2-hour shifts.  Chairperson Mead offered to assist Ms. Scully in reaching Heather Goetz.  Ms. Scully indicated an alternative could be the Crenshaws across the street.  Ms. Scully noted along with the dates of the homes, another aspect of the tour would be a location where people can buy tickets and a souvenier, possibly on the Linden House porch.  Commissioner Hyppaa suggested a possible location near Foleys and could ask them, if and when needed.  Ms. Scully said they have a speaker, the husband of the Director of the Windsor Historical Society, Mr Haas, who will speak on May 18th, 2 weeks before the tour, and he suggested they have an architectural range of dates for the tour houses. 

 

Ms. Scully planned to keep in touch with Chairman Mead regarding house volunteers and historic home contacts.  She said they have been working on this tour since last summer and have learned a lot and could increase to 7 houses, if that evolved.  Chairman Mead mentioned Scott Wilson’s house across from her which is in the 1870-80 timeframe.  Ms. Scully noted that many of the houses from the 1995 tour have had changes, and they would like to have as many original as they can.  Chairman Mead offered to provide further information Ms. Scully might need and requested she keep the Commission posted.

 

 

V.            APPROVAL OF MINUTES of the January 5, 2017 Regular meeting

 

On Lines 9 and 15, the spelling of “Diane” is corrected to “Dianne”.

 

On Line 45, the spelling the “Burk” is corrected to “Burke”.

 

On Lines 60 and 61, the words “was a version of Rosewood with” are deleted and replaced by “had”.

 

On Line 82, the words “it was not clear what the material would be for the current barn” are deleted and replaced by “but the current barn would be DuraTemp.”

 

On Line 144, the word “that” is deleted.

 

On Line 168, the spelling of “Getz” is corrected to “Goetz”.

 

Commissioner Carnell made a motion to approve the January 5, 2017 minutes, as amended.

 

Commissioner Hyppaa seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

 

 

VI.          ADJOURNMENT

 

Commissioner Nyquist made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m.

 

Chairperson Mead seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.