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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPB Minutes 2004-0610 • SUMMARY MINUTES City of Sunny Isles Beach Historic Preservation Board Meeting City Hall, 17070 Collins Avenue, Suite 250, Sunny Isles Beach Thursday, June 10, 2004, 7:00 p.m. 1. CALL TO ORDER BY CHAIRPERSON: Action: Chairperson Dione Del Monico called the meeting to order at,7:20 p.m. The following Committee Members and City Officials were present: Committee Members: City Officials: Herbert W. Abramson Mayor Norman S. Edelcup Michelle D'Arbelles Vice Mayor Gerry Goodman Dione E. Del Monico, Chairperson Commissioner.Roslyn Brezin Joe Masters Deputy City Attorney Hans Ottinot City Clerk Jane A. Hines David Udoff, City Intern City Liaison: Richard Schulman, City Historian Absent Members: Ellen M. Wynne • Audience: Phillip Chernoff 2. SELF INTRODUCTIONS: Action: Each member introduced themselves, and Chairperson Del Monico welcomed the Committee members, noting that her home is one of the historic properties in Sunny Isles Beach, and thanked everyone for attending this first meeting of the Historic Preservation Board. 3. APPOINTMENT OF MEMBER TO TAKE MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS: Action: Chairperson Del Monico asked for a volunteer to take the minutes for the Board and Michele D'Arbelles said that she would. 4. DISCUSSION REGARDING THE BOARD'S MISSION STATEMENT: Action: Chairperson Del Monico asked if everyone had a copy of Ordinance No. 2004-197, which describes the Board's Mission Statement, to designate, regulate, and administer historical, cultural, archeological, and architectural resources in the City. Deputy City Attorney Hans Ottinot said that Section 2 of the Ordinance basically outlines the duties and responsibilities of the body and the Mission Statement can be just a paragraph outlining what the Board intends to do and its responsibility, and after the drafting process the Board can vote on approving the Mission Statement. Summary Minutes 2004-0610 HPB Mtg Page 1 of 6 5. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT: • MEETING WITH IVAN RODRIGUEZ AND DAVID HERTZBERG OF THE DADE COUNTY HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD: Action: Chairperson Del Monico reported that she met with Ivan Rodriguez, Chairperson, and David Hertzberg, Archival Department, of the Dade County Historic Preservation Board and that they told her what the Board needs to do to establish itself, such as create the By-Laws, file an annual report each year with the County to maintain the Board's status. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said that creating By-Laws is not a requirement under Ordinance No. 2004- 197, but that a Annual Report must be filed per the County's Ordinance, which basically advises the County of what activities that the Board was involved in over the past year, outlining any action that the Board has taken, and the County has agreed to provide the City with any technical assistance if the City needs to create this Annual Report. He said that the letter he received from the County, and he spoke with Tom Logue, the Assistant County Attorney, some of the initial steps that this Board needs to do, and Mr. Logue suggests that we re-designate certain property that the County has already designated as historical in the City, for example, the Pier, and there are two more additional properties within the boundaries of the City that were designated historical by the Historic Preservation Board of Miami-Dade County. Chairperson Del Monico noted in that letter that a copy of Ordinance No. 2004-197 needed to be forwarded to the County, and Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said that a copy also needs to be sent to the Florida Secretary of State, and noted that he is the legal advisor to the Board, and he provides the Board with legal opinion. He said in terms of the day to day activities that the City Manager should have a staff person to assist this Board in terms of whatever issues it needs to look into, whatever documents needed from the County, we should have a staff liaison to assist this Board and carry out its duties. Chairperson Del Monico wanted to clarify who would be responsible for calendaring things like the Annual Report, etc., and Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said that he would, in terms of the Ordinance, give the Board an outline that has to be done and generally he has to review any document for legal'sufficiency and he will review any report, and make sure that it is proper and up to form. Chairperson Del Monico said that the County also told her to create a Certificate of Appropriateness form, and that the County gave her a copy of the form'. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said he will get other forms from different cities to compare and after review he will create the best form, and he will present it to the Board, for review and approval. • MEETING WITH CITY MANAGER CHRISTOPHER J. RUSSO: Action: Chairperson Del Monico reported that she met with City Manager Christopher Russo last week and he suggested that Richard Schulman would be the Board's liaison because he is the City's Historian. She asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinot if he would delineate what Mr. Schulman's staff person's responsibility would be. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said that the Board would give Mr. Schulman direction, that is non-legal, such as working with the County and getting materials from the County, setting a workshop with County officials on historical preservation issues, etc. Chairperson Del Monico clarified that people Would call Mr. Schulman regarding Historic Preservation matters, and then Mr. Schulman would report to the Board at the normal meetings. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said that in terms of an application, that is Summary Minutes 2004-0610 HPB Mtg Page 2 of 6 an issue that needs to be discussed with the City Manager, if there is an application for an historical site who should receive the application, if the Board would like to receive it, or he feels that the City Clerk would be the appropriate person because the Clerk is the official records keeper for the City, and applications should come to her to be calendared, but Mr. Schulman would have a copy of it. Chairperson Del Monico asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinot what he meant by calendared, and he said if there is an applicant o;rthis Board desires to designate a particular site, you have to have a public hearing, and so the Clerk would arrange the hearing in accordance with the Board's calendars. Chairperson Del Monico said that the County said if someone wanted to submit the appropriateness form, that the staff person would actually review this form first for completeness, accuracy and validity) as we have standards that have to be met and to meet a threshold basis and the staff person would have to be responsible for that and report to the Board, and once the Board reviews it, then it would go to the City Commission for their approval or disapproval. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said that was correct, but that for filing purposes it should go to the Clerk. Chairperson Del Monico clarified that the process would be to file it with the Clerk, and then the Clerk would disseminate it to Mr. Schulman, and he would begin the process of preliminary review of the application. Mr.Abramson noted that the City Manager's choice of staff liaison was'very fortuitous and that Mr. Schulman was the Chairman under the Sunny Isles Beach' Civic, Cultural, and Beautification Trust and he was the archives and artifacts chairman and has made an extensive study of all historical items that are within the City and we have a number of those on record, and he has gathered photographs of old Sunny Isles from 40-years ago, and at some point he should make a presentation. He noted that the only thing that was not previously discussed was the Rascal House sign, as a landmark. 6. REVIEW OF EXISTING DESIGNATED HISTORIC SITES IN SUNNY ISLES BEACH. Action: Chairperson Del Monico reported that we have three existing designated historic sites: Newport Pier; the two bridges on Atlantic Isle, actually it was three bridges but at this point we are down to two bridges; and the property at 334 Atlantic Isle which i&Water Court Villa. She said she had a long discussion with Ivan Rodriguez regarding when you have a designated historic site and it is destroyed because the bridges going onto Atlantic Isle fall in this category, and the other bridge over the Lagoon is still original although deteriorated. She said in her opinion that a site like that, that there is nothing left of it that is historical and has actually been moved from where the original site was, shouldn't be qualified as an historic site. Chairperson Del Monico opened the floor for discussion on what ithe Board wants as a designated historic site in Sunny Isles Beach. Vice Mayor Goodman said that the Rascal House sign is on a piece of property that has a restaurant on it at the present time, and if you are going to declare that as a landmark historical site, and if the people sell the property and close the restaurant, what do we do with the sign, and how many years are we talking about in reference to being historical, and he said he agrees that if something is completely destroyed and redone, it shouldn't be declared historical. Joe Masters suggested taking pictures of the Rascal House Sign because if it is moved, it may fall apart. Mayor Edelcup suggested to consider adopting what already has been adopted as historic, at least start with the three we have now. Summary Minutes 2004-0610 HPB Mtg Page,3 of 6 • Richard Schulman stated when he was appointed the City's Historian seven years ago, he took on the task of capturing and preserving the history of this City. He said he was able to obtain some artifacts, the horses and carriage from the Colonial Motel were fifty years old, which was donated to the City by the Dezer Corporation, and they were placed in the Gwen Margolis Park with a plaque. He said he was also able to obtain a 12'2" pelican from the Driftwood Motel, along with six Egyptian images from the Dunes Motel, which are now in storage. He also said he created Historic Books, and at this time there are seven of them, one year for each year of existence, capturing the history, written and pictures of this City. Chairperson Del Monico answered the question posed by Vice Mayor Goodman regarding the time for something to be historic, generally at the County they are downito 50 years, the mimo regulations have not been developed to the legislative status yet, they figured it would be another two years. She said that they have got to be able to show that it has a universal application, so that is what they are tying to do now, and so there is riot much they can do at this point, and unfortunately, that is where most of ours falls in that mimo time period. She said touching on what Mr. Schulman said, that we have to distinguish between artifacts and historic properties, property usually means there is real property or building, or an archeological site, in the County they have confirmed that we have no archeological sites here in Sunny Isles Beach. She said that the County is in the process of doing a new historic property survey right now, and that probably won't be finished for five to seven years. She said what we are looking for here in Sunny Isles Beach is, if you are looking at the camels in front of the hotel, or the horse and carriage, that would be more like an artifact for the City, it has no value to anyone except those here who have a fond memory of those things, so for them to be under the purview for this Board, she doesn't think so. She asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinot how he felt about that and he said that is within the Board's discretion, and that in a future meeting they could bring up this item to whether or not this Board wants to consider artifacts as items for this Board to discuss and vote on. Ms. D'Arbelles noted that perhaps in the future we can place these artifacts into a museum for display. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said one of the duties of this Board is to increase public awareness of,the value of historical preservation, and Mr. Schulman can write a report to this Board regarding collecting artifacts, which is a public awareness. Ms. D'Arbelles said that she can work oh the public awareness campaign because she is doing it currently with the State of Florida. Mr. Abramson said if we look at the duties of the Board, it states to approve historic markers and plaques and issue recognition to be designated historic landmarks and historic landmark districts within the City. He feels that we only have historic markers such as the Rascal House Sign, the Camels, the Horse and Carriage, the Pelican, and he said that Mr. Schulman did a very extensive survey of what items were available and he doesn't believe there were any buildings that could qualify. He feels that this Board should be directed toward artifacts rather then buildings, and Mr. Schulman said that a survey may designate possible districts or an area or a block on the west side possibly for discussion, this Board shouldn't just designate artifacts. Chairperson Del Monico agreed, promoting the gathering and displaying of artifacts is something that we would do but it is not something that we need to approve or monitor or in anyway supervise. She said under the current set of criteria, except for the three things already designated, our City really has nothing that qualifies as historic designation. She said age aloneildoes not qualify you for historic designation, and she asked if we can get a copy of the Secretary of the Interior's Historic Standards booklet. She feels each member should get a copy of this. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said that Chairperson Del Monico is correct, age alone does not qualify a site as historic, and as to Vice Mayor Goodman's question, if you designateia site and the property Summary Minutes 2004-0610 HPB Mtg Page 4 of 6 owner sells the site, whether the new property owner can destroy the site, the property owner has to come before this Board if they intend to demolish, make any repairs to any historical preservation site that has already been designated by the City. Vice Mayor Goodman noted the moratorium on size of signs, five years to remove sign and come within compliance, and Chairperson Del Monico said this is something we will need to discuss with legal to see if it can even be considered an historic site. Joe Master asked if the signs could be grandfathered in, and Mayor Edelcup said any old signs that don't conform regardless of historic value must come down. Mayor Edelcup said there are properties here that may be considered and that is the Ocean Palm Motel which is the first two-story motel ever built in South Florida, and the other is the Lagoon Restaurant. Chairperson Del Monico said that is why she had hoped that Ellen Wynne would be here because she knows about these things but understands that Ms. Wynne fell down and hurt herself. Mr. Abramson said that the LagoonlRestaurant is for sale and is in bad shape, and they have already sold off the western portion, and he thought that the Ocean Palm was sold for redevelopment, but it was not. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot wanted to remind the Board that the designation of a particular property is a Quasi-Judicial matter, and you don't want to discuss it until that site has been presented before this Board, but you can ask Mr. Schulman to review particular sites within the City,and if an application needs to be made at the time when it is presented to the Board, you should!discuss it then. 7. DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE SITES FOR FUTURE DESIGNATION. Action: Chairperson Del Monico said the reason this is on the agenda' is to discuss if we are going to be a maintenance board or an active board where we have things to review, and how many things. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot clarified saying that they can discuss the site but not the merits of it. Mr. Schulman noted that David Udoff has done extensive work. Mr. Udoff said that he has taken many pictures of Collins Avenue, existing structures; etc. Chairperson Del Monico requested that Mr. Schulman and Mr. Udoff present a summary to the Board of their work and any properties that they would recommend the Board to consider for historic designation. Mr. Udoff said the Golden Shores area where Ellen Wynne lives, and Mayor Edelcup said that Ms. Wynne's home is being replicated by the University of Miami campus as an historic rendition of an old Florida home. Joe Master asked if you designate a home as an historic site, what are the ramifications? Chairperson Del Monico geld as far as what Mr. Schulman said about the County approving, the County doesn't have to approve anything in this City anymore unless the people want a tax break. She said the three ways it can become historic is: 1) the owner asks for it; 2) Mr. Schulman, our staff person; could ask for it; and 3) the Board can ask for it. Chairperson Del Monico asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinot what would qualify as an historic district, what are the parameters that a district has to meet? Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said he would research it and check with other cities such as Miami Beach and Coral Gables, on the process and how historic designation comes about. Chairperson Del Monico asked if Deputy City Attorney Ottinot if he could go a step further and let them know if we have any areas in the City that would qualify for historic district status. Ms. D'Arbelles said a site on the Website is the Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation, that would provide information to us. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said that in the definitions section of the Ordinance it defines what constitutes an historic district, and we have to be consistent with our ordinance. Summary Minutes 2004-0610 HPB Mtg Page 5 of 6 8. NEW BUSINESS. Action: Chairperson Del Monico said the only new business she had is if Mr. Schulman accepted his staff position, and gave him the files. She asked if Mr. Schulman could get a filing cabinet, and Joe Master asked if we had a budget, and Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said there is no budget for any advisory boards but if you need supplies, than Mr. Schulman can check with the City Manager. Vice Mayor Goodman said the Strand Hotel is not up for sale because it is a time share, and he thinks the Strand is over 50 years old. Chairperson Del Monico said that if a building has been designated an historic site, it takes away the value of the property. She asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinotto come back to us about historic districts, etc. 9. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING. Action: After discussion it was decided to have the meetings the third;Tuesday of the month (subsequently it was changed as the Education/Schools Committee meets then), and Mr. Master said that he will be out of town the month of July. Deputy City AttorneyiOttinot said that under the County Ordinance, the Board must meet no less than six times per year. Mr. Schulman said that he will draft a Mission Statement for the Board to review at the next meeting. 10. ADJOURNMENT. Mr. Abramson moved to adjourn the meeting, and Chairperson Del ,Monico adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, cz:Sen 4 July 26, 2004 Jane A. Hines, City Clerk Date Summary Minutes 2004-0610 HPB Mtg Page 6 of 6