Historic Preservation Commission Agenda and Packet 2023 04 24

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Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes March 20, 2023 Page 6 of 9 When discussing the mass and scale in this zone district, there are three main categories: Roof design, lot coverage and floor area ratio, and setbacks. The roof pitch must be at least 6:12 or above. Lot coverage is the footprint of the building on the lot, including garages, sheds, and covered porches. The floor area ratio (FAR) is the square footage of the structure. It would include the first, second, and third floor. The lot coverage and FAR are based on the size of the lot and has the same thresholds as the lot coverage. Another piece to this are density bonuses. A density bonus is if you meet certain criteria, your property is eligible for increased lot coverage and FAR. There are two different options to quality: Preserving the front portion of the house, which is defined by the municipal code and landmarking, which must meet the alteration certificate criteria. HPC does not currently directly review density bonuses. So far, through staff's research, it is a relatively low rate of adoption and is uncommon in other jurisdictions. She highlights major points from the diagnostic report and summarizes below the meeting minutes from this initial review phase. • Code prevents creation of new smaller lot sizes & frontages (oppositional to historic development) • Trend of larger buildings in region, out -of -character "large" structures could increase • Dissatisfaction with demolition stays (technically a separate Code) • Mixed opinions on character of new construction on "preserved" buildings • Oversupply of large houses, undersupply of smaller/affordable houses regionally • Size, articulation, massing all part of the coming draft ordinance phase Based on the meeting minutes, the commissioners had these concerns: • Incentivizing scrapes if smaller lots allowed. Are smaller lots realistic adaptation wise? • Not allowing small structures incentives larger builds. This could result in an uphill battle for preservation. • Predict rise in interest in smaller homes • Subdivision would require comfort with density • Design and aesthetics are important • Bring existing homes into compliance There was one speaker from the public who mentioned that the landmarking and preservation should be separate with different standards. The "I" statements on the design should not be part of the code, and the perception problem is greater than the size problem. 7