HPC Meeting Date: March 5, 2025
To: Members of the Heritage Preservation Commission
From: Mathias Hughey, Associate City Planner
Title
Discussion of the Draft HPC 2025 - 2027 Work Plan.
Body
Action Requested:
The HPC will discuss the draft 2025 - 2027 work plan and provide feedback to staff.
Summary Report:
The HPC is tasked with the preservation and protection of and education about areas, places, buildings, structures, and other objects having special historical interest or value. The primary work of the HPC has been to review proposed projects affecting the exterior of buildings in the Historic Downtown Commercial District, and issue or deny Certificates of Appropriateness (COA) as necessary. In recent years, most of these reviews have involved applications for new signs, but recent amendments to the Land Development Code reclassified signage as "Minor Work" subject to staff approval.
Staff anticipate COA applications will become less frequent due to this change. This should allow the workload to be adjusted to focus on other HPC work plan strategies.
The 2024 redline version of the HPC work plan is attached. Commissioners should review and consider any feedback for initiating new or modifying existing strategies, ways to support existing plans and policies (Comprehensive Plan, Strategic Plan, Climate Action Plan and many others), or other ideas that meet the HPC's goals of protection, preservation, and education. It should be noted, the City Council is working to update the Strategic Plan, so final decisions on the HPC work plan will need to wait until the Strategic Plan is approved to ensure there is alignment between the plans.
Staff currently anticipates the following projects for 2025:
1. Land Development Code updates regarding solar panels in the Historic District.
2. Potential CLG grant to fund an updated Preservation Plan.
3. Following the Adoption of the new Comprehensive Plan, a general update to the Land Development Code.
4. Researc...
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