Mr. Louis Fineberg read the rules for Public Hearing. Mr. Bob Parker introduced the Couse Foundation Archives team. Mr. Parker is the owners agent and part of the design team, Mr. Carl Jones is the President of the Couse Foundation, Mr. David Henry is part of the design team and Ms. Virginia Couse-Leavitt is the Granddaughter of Mr. Eangar Irving Couse and a member of the board. Mr. Carl Jones gave a presentation on the background of the Couse Foundation mainly on what the foundation is, what the building is and what it is not. The Foundation was formed about fifteen years ago for the purpose of preserving and keeping in Taos and keeping intact the Couse-Sharp Historic Site and the collections that are located at the site and to institutionalize what had been a family operation so that it would be within the protection of a legal entity. The family was concerned with these documents and collections being dispersed and leaving Taos. Three years ago the Foundation acquired the site, the dirt and the buildings and in return for that all of the collections and contents were donated to the foundation to remain in Taos. The site has three historic designations. The Couse Archive (important papers and collections) is currently located in Tucson, Arizona. The building will not change the current use of the property, it will enhance the operations and will make it easier for the foundation to function by housing the documents and collections on site. They are needed on a daily basis and will facilitate the foundations educational program. Mr. Parker gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Couse Foundation site and the proposed building location and design. The approach to this from a design standpoint is to provide an integrated campus that takes a holistic approach and the archives need to be located on site for ease of access by staff, for the planning of exhibitions, the planning and design of publications and for access by VIP guests and major donors who will come to the foundation. Anyone that goes into the archives will require credentials. This is an academic and a scholarly research facility as well as a repository for the conservation of the documents, the artifacts and the other materials that will be contained there. It is institutional in nature as it cares and conserves for a collection of archival records, photographs and artifacts that are significant to the cultural history of E.I. Couse, one of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists and other members of the Taos Society of Artists. The proposed archive building is not a public facility, in analogy is somewhat similar to a rare book library. There will be one full time employee, an archivist and an occasionally visiting researcher. Ms. Leavitt gave a background on the families perspective on this project. About twenty five years ago her and her husband came back to Taos to help take care of the family home and they realized what an incredible asset there was there. It is a very unusual site to have everything together and the family wanted it to stay together so they formed the foundation. Ms. Leavitt and her husband decided that out of all the assets of the foundation the most important was the archive and that it was also the most vulnerable because it has to be protected in a very special way and access had to be made for its use, that is why this archive building is so important, the family has always expected that everything will stay at the site. The family is very passionate about preservation and it is a very important project to them. Commissioner Durham asked about the statement that was made that this is an opportunity to archive several of the early Taos Society of Artists work and asked if it could possibly go beyond the Sharp and Couse archives. Mr. Parker stated there has been expressions of interest for up to six of the founders but beyond that there is very little archival material left anywhere. Presently the archives are scattered, the Couse archive is in Tucson, part of the Sharp archive is out of the country, and one or two archives are here locally. Mr. Jones clarified they are only about the Taos Society of Artists so they have a very limited universe they are dealing with. The materials that are coming here but for this building could wind up at three different major universities, all of them out of state, one being Norte Dame. Mr. Jones stated this would be a precious thing to have in Taos. Chairman Garcia opened the public hearing. Those present to speak were: Jean Richards - She has lived in Taos for thirty years, she has been on the Democratic Central Committee for many years and she cares about the Town, she cares about the zoning in the Town and the Historic District. Ms. Richards stated what will be considered is construction of a large 3600 square foot sophisticated warehouse not in the warehouse zone of M-1 but in the neighborhood zone in the Historic District. The proposed project is a fine idea but it is inappropriately located. The Towns ruling will affect everyone who cares about the authenticity and integrity of the Historic District or believes their home is safe because it is zoned residential. Ms. Richards thinks a smaller building would be appropriate or maybe located in a different area. Lawrence Baker - She has been in Historic Preservation for fifty five years starting on the East Coast. Ms. Baker would like the applicants to think about keeping this property historically accurate and even tearing down the part that isn't accurate which is where those artists are. Maybe place the archive building across the street. Lynn Robinson - She has lived in Taos off and on for thirty five years. She feels the same way Ms. Baker feels. She thinks they have to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the Historical District. She thinks this is a wonderful idea and applauds the applicants for creating these archives, she thinks the brilliant preservation of these materials is priceless and historically people will be indebted to them for many years to come. Ms. Robinson asked if the parking lot that is leased to the Town would be a more appropriate location for a big building. She thinks the placement of this building is inappropriate and thinks the archive is absolutely incredible and should be applauded and supported. Mr. Ken Manning - He is a resident of Taos his perspective is, is this good planning. Mr. Manning asked is a warehouse an institutional use and added the original plans described this as a warehouse. The second question is, is a warehouse an appropriate use within the Historic Overlay Zone. The third question is, is a warehouse an appropriate use within a C-1 Zone even if arguably institutional. Mr. Manning added a warehouse is not allowed in a C-1 zone, C-2 zone, CBD zone, you have to get to M-1 light Manufacturing before a warehouse use is allowable. Mr. Manning asked if they wanted to jump to the most intensive zoning category that the town has in this kind of location. An institutional use is to be interpreted this broadly, if he goes to buy a house does he have any assurance that the surrounding zoning is going to provide him with the protection he thought he had. Mr. Manning stated this takes the Special Use Permit to a level and a direction that doesn't seem to him like it was trying to go. He thinks they kind of bent the concept to the breaking point and he has real trouble saying that is good planning. Mr. Manning stated it is an amazing concept. Rena Rosequist - She asked how much noise the mechanical part of the building and the generator are going to make throughout this quiet neighborhood and will it be 24 hours a day and 365 says a year. Ms. Rosequist stated the other thing is as long as they are talking about history we should go back to calling Ojitos Ojitos. It was that because of the springs that have been there forever. Quesnel had no historical meaning and please change the name back to Ojitos. Mr. Parker stated there are two pieces of equipment in the mechanical yard. There is a HVAC unit that will cycle on and off to maintain both the temperature controls and the humidity controls within the facility and there is an emergency generator located there should there be failure of the electric service in the area. Both pieces of equipment are in a concrete and insulated bunker and are set into the side of the hill and there is only an air passage for the circulation of the air for the HVAC unit. The HVAC unit will be around 30 decibels. The site will be heavily landscaped. If the electric service goes out the generator will start after six hours because the building is so insulated. Mr. Parker stated the truth is it is a repository and warehouse is an inappropriate use of the word. It is clearly an institutional use as an accessory to the main Couse museum. Mr. Jones stated the noise will be a non-issue and added the places that were suggested to place the archive building are not owned by the Foundation and it is expensive property and would double the cost of the project. To re-purpose an existing building would also be very expensive. They have taken all the suggestions into consideration. Chairman Garcia closed the public hearing. Mr. Louis Fineberg stated the questions that were presented on the handout by Mr. Manning are all extremely good questions and these are the questions the Commission should ask themselves when they are deliberating on this case. Mr. Fineberg added often in land use things aren't black and white, definitions often are not given in codes as to what things are but these are all questions that he has asked himself in reviewing this application. Commissioner Debay made a motion to approve the Special Use Permit in Case No. PZ2015-31 subject to the following three conditions: - The proposed use must be in accordance with the use parameters outlined by the applicant in the application materials and presented to the Commission including, but not limited to, proposed hours of operation, building location, building massing and parking configuration.
- The proposed use must be in accordance with any additional conditions determined necessary by the Commission to protect the health, safety, welfare and continued aesthetic beauty of the community.
- The applicant must obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission for the proposed structure.
Commissioner Pollard seconded the motion. The motion was Passed. Those voting AYE were: Commissioners: Pollard, Patterson, Garcia, Durham, Debay, Lucero |