The Regular Meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was called to order by Chairman Palacios at 5:30 p.m. 

Ms. Dinah Gonzales, Planning, Zoning and Buildings Administrative Assistant, called roll and a quorum was present.   

Those present were:

Oscar Palacios, Chairman

Paul Figueroa, Vice Chairman

William Christmas

David Henry

Marika Choma

Also present were:

Dinah Gonzales, Administrative Assistant - Planning, Zoning and Buildings Department

Rick Bellis, Town of Taos Town Manager

Commissioner Figueroa made a motion to approve the Agenda.

 
Commissioner Choma seconded the motion. The motion was Passed. Those voting AYE were: Commissioners: Henry, Christmas, Palacios, Figueroa, Choma

Commissioner Figueroa made a motion to approve the Meeting Minutes from the September 10, 2014 Historic Preservation Commission Meeting.

Commissioner Choma seconded the motion. The motion was Passed. Those voting AYE were: Commissioners: Henry, Christmas, Palacios, Figueroa, Choma

Ms. Gonzales introduced Mark and Molly Caudle.

Mark Caudle gave a presentation and time line on the wall and the ramada he built.  The applicants submitted a building permit application and plans for the wall but was told by some women (not Dinah) in the Planning Department that they did not need a building permit for the ramada because they were replacing an existing ramada.  The project valuation on the building permit application included the wall and the ramada and Mr. Caudle paid for both. 

Commissioner Choma asked if staff had a record of who it was that gave Mr. Caudle that information and who it was that signed the permits.

Ms. Gonzales stated that staff does not know who Mr. Caudle spoke to, Mr. Mauro Rosales, the Chief Building Official signed the building permit and Ms. Martha Perkins signed the Administrative Permit.

Commissioner Figueroa asked Mr. Caudle if Ms. Perkins was aware that he was replacing it and not just repairing it when she gave the Administrative Permit.

Mr. Caudle stated absolutely.

Commissioner Christmas stated he is a neighbor and watched the project go up.  He added what went up was not what was there and commended Mr. Caudle on his documentation. 

Mr. Caudle stated he called a few times and asked for a building inspection and spoke to someone, and specified again it was not Dinah, but the inspector never showed up.  He called again and was told Mr. Rosales would go out.  Mr. Caudle stated the thing that really caught him by surprise is that Mr. Rosales had been inspecting the property for the wall and didn't mention the Ramada until the final inspection when he told Mr. Caudle there was a problem.  Mr. Caudle stated he told Mr. Rosales he showed him everything that was going on since the beginning.

The Commissioners  concerns were it is not a pumice fence, it is a pumice wall, they lost the simple entrance that was there, the character of the neighborhood and how a structure impacts that character, the wall and portal are out of scale, they are upscale to what was there  and the lights on the outside are bright and are not in compliance with the Dark Sky Ordinance.

The applicants added they are planning on placing plants and gravel on the outside and are hoping it will make the wall seem smaller.  The lights on the outside are for security reasons as they have had their wall tagged and items were stolen from their front porch.

Commissioner Figueroa directed staff before issuing Administrative Permits to look at it very carefully and to consider bringing it to the Historic Preservation Commission.  Commissioner Figueroa added this was approved administratively and thanked Mr. and Mrs. Caudle for bringing it to the Historic Preservation Commission, for having a chance to discuss it and for giving all Commissioners a chance to speak.

Mr. Belles asked if the building permit had been issued.

Ms. Gonzales stated the building permit has not been issued, staff is waiting for the Historic Preservation Commission meeting to issue the permit and added the permit fees for the ramada were paid with the building permit fees for the wall since the valuation of the project included both projects.

Mr. Bellis stated staff would remove the red tag and will issue the building permit.

Chairman Palacios stated he thinks staff should be compensated for whatever that permit would cost because you need a permit when you are changing the character of a structure in the town especially in the Historic District, they are not asking the applicants to tear it down but as a compromise the applicants should be charged for the permit for not having to tear it down, the staff has the authority to place a red tag when you don't have the proper permits regardless of how it came about.  Chairman Palacios stated his recommendation is to leave the ramada as is but would like to see the lights on the wall modified or toned down and to work with staff.  Chairman Palacios thinks the fees should be paid for the ramada.

Chairman Palacios directed staff to check if the fees had been paid and if they haven't been paid he would like to see them paid and added in the future any construction that goes on in the Historic District the Historic Preservation Commission would like to know about it.

Chairman Palacios thanked Mr. and Mrs. Caudle for coming and presenting their case.

Commissioner Henry commended Mr. and Mrs. Caudle for being transparent and stated he doesn't think the fault lies with the Caudles.

Mr. Caudle stated the ramada costed $1,500.00 more than expected and added if the Town wanted to adjust the permit fees he does not have a problem paying the fees.

Mrs. Caudle asked the Commission about the Dark Sky Ordinance.

Ms. Gonzales informed Mrs. Caudle she would print the Dark Sky Ordinance for her and Mrs. Caudle could pick it up at the Planning Department.

Commissioner Figueroa made a motion for the legal record that the Historic Preservation Commission acknowledges the design and the permit fees have been paid for this matter at 109 Quesnel for the wall and for the Ramada and direct staff to remove the red tag.

Commissioner Christmas seconded the motion. The motion was Passed. Those voting AYE were: Commissioners: Christmas, Palacios, Figueroa, Choma

Commissioner Henry abstained.

Mr. Barnard Voorhees on behalf of Ms. Crutchfield gave a summary on the wall and the Certificate of Appropriateness that was issued at the  September 10, 2014 Historic Preservation Commission Meeting.  Mr. Voorhees stated he passed on the information they talked about at the last meeting to Philip Valencia and he did not turn the plans in and that is when a red tag was placed.  Mr. Voorhees stated Ms. Crutchfield told Mr. Voorhees she had permission from Ms. Amy Rincon to repair the wall and added he has emails back and forth from Ms. Crutchfield and Ms. Amy Rincon.  Mr. Voorhees stated he had a few questions and asked what Ms. Crutchfield needs to do to move forward, does she need a building permit, could she pull the building permit as a home owner if she does not live in the house or does she have to hire a licensed contractor. 

Mr. Voorhees explained the size of the wall has not changed, it is exactly the same. 

Commissioner Choma explained the wall appeared to be taller and explained how the wall is different from the original wall and added the reason the project was stopped is because the applicant needed to show how they were going to repair the wall.  The direction that was given at the last meeting was to bring the plans to the Town of Taos and to repair the wall with the same materials as much as possible to keep it up to code without changing the wall.

A discussion ensued between Commissioners, staff and Mr. Voorhees concerning the building behind the wall that also needs to be repaired.  The building has cracks in the facade and there is reason to be concerned, it has not been repaired.  If Ms. Crutchfield is not careful she could lose her plaque.  

Commissioner Henry stated as an owner builder Ms. Crutchfield would have to do the work, if Ms. Crutchfield hired a licensed contractor that contractor would be responsible for the work but if Ms. Crutch field pulled the permit as the owner builder she would be responsible for the work.

Mr. Voorhees reiterated Ms. Crutchfield insisted it had all been taken care of by Amy Rincon.

Mr. Bellis stated he had two conversations with Ms. Rincon.  Ms. Rincon was able to say what the applicant should or should not do up to the point where she said she would get this case for the applicant in front of the Historic Preservation Commission but Ms. Rincon is no longer involved in that case once the Historic Preservation Commission became involved. At the September 10, 2014 meeting Mr. Bellis requested the language be put in the motion that the drawings be brought to staff prior to the construction being approved because it was clear it was not a GB98 Contractor and this wasn't an engineered wall and there is a public safety requirement for that.  Once the Historic Preservation Commission made that condition, whatever Ms. Rincon stated up to that point was irrelevant.  The Commission as the governing body puts the conditions on the approval.  The Commission made the correct decision because if you don't get the plans with the specifications prior to building they end up back here.  This case will probably require an officially designated agent on the owners behalf  or the owner to sign all the documents.  The larger concern is owner neglect, we should not wait until the building needs to be demolished and lost forever.  The Town will send a letter to the owner as a result of this meeting.

Mr. Voorhees stated he will go to the Planning Department to pick up the documents Ms. Crutchfield needs to sign as a home owner builder and she can deal directly with the Mr. Valencia, the person doing the plaster. 

Mr. Bellis stated to point out to Ms. Crutchfield if you are the home owner and you do the construction yourself and it is completed, such as a wall, footings or interior wall, it can't be visually inspected. It can't determined if it is safe, the building code actually requires you to get a licensed civil engineer, structural engineer or architect to certify the wall meets all standards.  That is a very difficult and expensive proposition, some architects are reluctant to sign off on something they never saw and it could affect obtaining insurance and the Town can't give you a Certificate of Occupancy for a final inspection.

Chairman Palacios called a five minute recess.

Chairman Palacios left the meeting.

Vice-Chairman Figueroa called the meeting back to order at 7:00 p.m.

Mr. Ginto Nauvokas gave a presentation on the proposed bird cage that will be located at 118 C La Loma Plaza.  The bird cage will replace a flower bed in the corner of the parking lot.  The proposed bird cage is 76.56 square feet.  The bird cage will house pigeons and doves.

The Commissioners concern was the visibility and recommended to place a Latilla fence on the side of the bird cage and directed the applicant to take the plans to staff showing the Latilla fence and to obtain an Administrative Permit.

Mr. Bellis explained this item was on the agenda so the Commissioners that attended the joint meeting had the opportunity to inform the Commissioners that did not attend as to what occurred, mostly concerning an agreement that there will be a combined committee of both bodies to address design standards for those areas outside of the Historic District, to create consistency and potential in the transitional zone particularly in the most visibly commercial corridors.

Commissioner Choma stated she was delighted with the meeting and thinks both Commissions should work together especially where design standards are concerned.  Commissioner Choma stated the Code needs to be worked on.

Commissioner Henry stated it was a very helpful meeting with interesting dialog and added he has some reservations about extending the type of restrictive covenants throughout the town and explained he thinks there has to be room for sensitive modern architecture in Taos.  He thinks it is difficult to regulate style and thinks it is more important to work on the zoning.  

A motion was made by Commissioner Choma and seconded by Commissioner Henry to adjourn the meeting.  The motion carried unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m.