Community Character Protection Meeting Minutes

Forest Hills  Neighborhood Association 
Community Character Preservation Committee Meeting 
February 25, 2008, 6 PM
 

The Community Character Preservation Committee met at 6 PM.  All members of the committee attended.  Board members were invited to join the Committee to learn more about the process and many members attended.  Amy Moore, City Preservation Officer for the City of Columbia , joined the group to explain the Interim Measures and Historic Designation process.   

Interim Measures.   

  1. Notice.  Application for the Interim Measures requires 30-day notice to all property owners.  FHNA would mail this notice and John Cloyd agreed to provide the mailing labels.  Target date for this mailing is no later than March 21, 2008. 
  2. Content.  With the letter of notice and explanation we will include a copy of the ordinance, map of the district, and agenda for the meeting.  Barbara Rackes agreed to contact other associations that have already gone through this procedure (Whaley, Bradley, Sherwood Forest and Heathwood).  
  3. Meeting.  Given the mail date of March 21, a meeting during the week of 04/28 or 05/05 would be reasonable.   
  4. Meeting and Vote.  At the meeting, Forest Hills Neighborhood Association will review the actions of the committee and the board in relation to interim measures and ask Amy Moore to explain the specifics of the process including timeframe for application.  A vote will be called for from the neighbors attending the public meeting.  
  5. Application.  If approved, a letter is sent from the Association to Marc Miott, Director of Development Services and/or Amy Moore requesting protection under the City's Interim measures.   
Copies of all documents related to Interim Measures are available through the Forest Hills website.  
 
The Community Character Preservation Committee affirmed its decision to recommend positive action on the Interim Measure application immediately.  

Historic Designation.

Interim measures provide temporary (2 years) protection for the neighborhood from demolition of structures 50 years or older and the subdivision of lots without review by planning and involvement of the neighborhood in the process.  Of the 275 properties in Forest Hills , 64 are of sufficient size to subdivide and there are currently no guidelines regarding either demolition or subdividing other than the basic regulation of size by Zoning.   

Historic Designation by the City of Columbia would allow the Neighborhood Association to draw up guidelines for design similar to those already in work for Wales Garden , Shandon, Eau Claire and many others.  These guidelines are likely to relate primarily to size, height and setbacks from property lines and would all be relative to surrounding properties.  These guidelines would be professionally drawn and not extend to more cosmetic issues like color or construction material. 
 
 Application for Historic Designation will commence as close to concurrently as the application for Interim Measures as possible as the process is long and could potentially extend as long as the 24-month Interim Measure protection was in place.  Historic Designation would replace the Interim Measures as protection of the Forest Hills Community.

Tasks Assigned  

  1. Discussion ensued about the type and cost of professionals to assist the Neighborhood in the development of design guidelines.  Mary McCants suggested hiring a consultant and will contact Archives and History about the possibility of a grant to pay such consultants.  Mary will also look into the Can Do grant program of the City of Columbia to see if we could hire support help to complete the application.
  2. A map that precisely conveys the boundaries of the Neighborhood and those properties to be affected must be sent with all correspondence of notice.  Lee Ruef agreed to communicate with CCN (Council of Neighborhoods) to make sure that boundaries published match those on file with CCN.  
  3. Mary McCants agreed to chair the application for Historic Designation with some administrative support.  Jenny Smith agreed to provide that administrative support.  

    Conclusions  

-          The Community Character Preservation Committee will formally report to the Board of the FHNA on Monday, March 10 to gain approval for their recommended activities and timeline.
 -          We will request continued support and participation from Amy Moore at the City of Columbia as we move into the application process.
 -          We set a goal of concluding the initial application for Interim Measures before the end of May, 2008.