Commissioner Henry recused himself as he is part of the design team. Commissioner Christmas recused himself as he is an adjacent neighbor. Mr. Fineberg gave an overview of Case No. HPC2015-30. This is the second public hearing, the applicant presented their case on July 21, 2015 following the approval of a Special Use Permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Historic Preservation Commission offered a number of suggestions. The applicant has revised the plan. Mr. Bob Parker gave a presentation on the changes that were made. They have shifted the building back about 47 feet from Quesnel, they have canted the building so that the east façade is parallel to the workshops. The southwest point is 34 feet from the property line and about 37 feet to the pavement. The existing stone wall will be retained. They have increased from six to seven parking spaces. The setback from the western boundary is 50 feet and the setback from the workshop is 34 feet. The foot print of the building has not changed. On the south façade facing Quesnel to help articulate the building and to add a little more domestic scale to it they placed a half wall to support the column for the corbel and they did the same on the other portal on the same side of the building. They also have a retaining wall coming out of the buttresses on the southwest corner because there will be berming up against the southwest wall. The front door is a replica of an important front door in the Couse House. The shipping and receiving is a wood clad roll up door and the door to the mechanical room is a wood door. The building steps down in a number of areas specifically in the portals and across the front. The columns will be set on stone plinths, it appears throughout the Couse property. The doors and window frames will be painted blue like the rest of the Couse property. They included three windows on the west façade, the north façade remains the same. By setting it back they increased the view shed to the Sangre de Cristos and the Pasture. Those present to speak were: Ms. Rena Rosequist asked Mr. Parker to explain the mechanical system again concerning the level of noise that will be expected. Mr. Parker explained the mechanical engineer who has developed the specifications for the equipment has said that it will be no louder then twenty five to thirty decibels in an analogy based on a chart it is the kind of noise you might hear at night time in a rural suburban environment possibly with a car driving by. The mechanical yard is set back deeper in the hill than they initially thought, it will have a concrete top, the interior will be totally insulated and it will have like a donut hole with a grill on top to prevent access. Cynthia Morgan - She is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist and she has studied audiology, 60 db's which is higher than the 25 they are talking about is the level of normal conversation. Juli Skansie - She had some concerns about the traffic and the trucks coming in and out, the design seems harsh compared to the other buildings on the lot and size to lot. Nathan Oswald - He lives at 111 Quesnel he has a huge amount of support for the Couse Foundation but his concerns are the size of the proposed building and not being able to see the historic buildings and Ed doing what he does when he walks by. He is also concerned about the danger of the construction traffic. William Burden - He shares the concerns expressed and wanted to share his concern of a conflict of interest. He feels that Mr. Figueroa has a conflict of interest in this hearing based on his relationship with the Couse Foundation and thinks it is important that the record reflect that Mr. Figueroa has been closely associated with the Couse and Sharp Foundation and has been involved with programs within the last year or so involving the Foundation and also has collaborated with the Executive Director, Cyndee Gustafson and undertaking certain activities for the last year for the Arts Festival. He thinks it would be appropriate for Mr. Figueroa to either abstain or recuse himself from making a decision. Mr. Burden is also concerned with the location of the building, the parking spaces, if the project is institutional in nature, the existing trees, the acequias or water rights, the actual building that is proposed to be built versus the drawings and the size of the proposed building. He thinks this is a wonderful project but is proposed in a bad location. Ms. Polly Raye - She lives next door to this proposed warehouse, her concern is the safety of her home. There are a couple of documents that she would like to be entered into the record. They are a letter from the State Historic Preservation Division stating their concerns about their historic home getting damaged, a letter from Paul Brian Jones concerning the trees on the property line, a letter concerning emails that answer her concerns. David Rael - He is the Mayordomo of the spring ditch. His concern is development on or around acequias. The Commissioners, Mr. Rael and staff had a discussion concerning location of acequias and Town code concerning acequias. Chairman Palacios called for a five minute break. Chairman Palacios called the meeting back to order. Ken Manning - His concerns are, is this square box of warehouse consistent with the design standards of the Town Code, massing and scale of the building and light and shadows on the building. Lynne Robinsen - She is trying to understand why the archives of the seven artists need the papers and filing cabinets, why they need 3600 square feet to store the archives when the Couse archives are only 300 square feet. Mr. Carl Jones explained the building is not a warehouse or a square building, Quesnel is a funky street and that is part of its charm and they are trying to add to its charm, the items in the archives are precious items, there has never been discussion of the building being 300 square feet, there were 12 artists, they have located where the lateral was on the property and it has not been used for many years, the building will be 70 feet from that lateral, the work zone will be away from any trees, the parking will be beside the building, they passed everything they needed to pass for massing, they do not own the pasture and to purchase it will increase the cost by 3.3 million dollars, the building will block some of the Couse property when you get to certain areas, they don't want to dislodge Ed Sandoval and don't want to throw down any buildings, the work zone will not be blocking the street, the building enhances the use of the property, they also have a letter from the State Historic Preservation Commission stating this is important to the property and he can assure you that Mr. Figueroa's decision does not rise to the level of a conflict of interest. Chairman Palacios wants them to accommodate the pedestrians and his concern is the street scape. Mr. Jones explained they are happy to put a walk way along the Couse property, he will do what he can legally and they have not hired a landscape architect yet. A discussion ensued between, Mr. Jones, Mr. Parker and the audience (from the back of the room) concerning the pasture across the street, the Couse parking lot, buying the JD Challenger building, the expense of converting an existing building to accommodate the archives, what the proposed building is designed for, the reason the initial location was proposed, the neighbors house and trees falling down, the noise the mechanical system will produce. Chairman Palacios closed the public hearing. A discussion ensued between the Commissioners and the applicant concerning size and location, the parking lot location, switching the building location with the parking lot location, the historic use that the applicant does not want to disturb, the landscaping and the neighborhood. Commissioner Choma made a motion to approve Case No. PZ2015-31 for a Certificate of Appropriateness with the condition the applicant provide pedestrian facilities along the frontage of Quesnel.
Commissioner Figueroa seconded the motion. The motion was Passed. Those voting AYE were: Commissioners: Palacios, Figueroa, Choma
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