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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPB Minutes 2004-0726 SUMMARY MINUTES City of Sunny Isles Beach Historic Preservation Board Meeting City Hall, 17070 Collins Avenue, Suite 250, Sunny Isles Beach Monday, July 26, 2004, 7:30 p.m. 1. CALL TO ORDER BY CHAIRPERSON: Action: Chairperson Dione Del Monico called the meeting to order it 7:45 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 Deputy City Attorney Hans Ottinot Phillip Chernoff City Clerk Jane A. Hines Casey Gabor David Udoff, City Intern Merry E. Wynne sat in for Ellen M. Wynne City Liaison: Absent Members: Richard Schulman, City Historian Ellen M. Wynne Joe Masters Audience: Interested Citizens 2. SELF INTRODUCTIONS: Action: Members introduced themselves, and Chairperson Del Monico welcomed the Committee members, and thanked everyone for attending this second meeting of the Historic Preservation Board. She announced that two new members were appointed to the Board by the City Commission on July 22, 2004 raising the number of members from five to seven, and noted that there was a meeting scheduled on July 12, 2004 but that there was no quorum. She asked who was taking the minutes, and Herb Abramson moved that City Clerk Hines take the minutes, and Chairperson Del Monico asked City Clerk Hines if she would. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE JUNE 10, 2004 HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING: Action: Phillip Chernoff made two corrections on page 3, correcting the spelling of"met"in the first paragraph, and changing the last sentence in the second paragraph, from "...it is a landmark" to "...as a landmark". Herbert Abramson made a motion to approve the June 10, 2004 Committee meeting summary minutes, as amended. The motion was approved by a 5-0-2 voice vote (Joe Masters and Ellen Wynne absent) Summary Minutes 2004-0726 HPB Mtg Page 1 of 5 4. DISCUSSION REGARDING THE BOARD'S MISSION STATEMENT: Action: Chairperson Del Monico asked Richard Schulman, the Board's Liaison, to report on the Mission Statement. Mr. Schulman reported that the proposed Mission Statement reads as follows: "The Mission of the Sunny Isles Beach "Historic Preservation Board,"is: To Designate, Preserve, Protect and Maintain Historic Buildings, Areas or Sites as a Source of History and Heritage in the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida." Chairperson Del Monico moved and Herb Abramson seconded a motion to adopt the Mission Statement. The motion was approved by a 5-0-2 voice vote. Casey Gabor asked about the history of Sunny Isles Beach and Chairperson Del Monico said that this was discussed at our first meeting and asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinot to explain the legal perimeters of the Board. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot explained that while this Board has some very specific duties that are outlined in Ordinance No. 2004-197, he wanted to make it clear that this Board could consider and have discretion to discuss any matters that they want to discuss, he then read the duties of the Board as outlined in Section 3, and noted that a copy of Ordinance No. 2004-197 will be provided to the new members. 5. REVIEW OF EXISTING RE-DESIGNATING HISTORIC SITES IN SUNNY ISLES BEACH. Action: Chairperson Del Monico asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinot to explain the process for the benefit of the two new members, and he said that this Board will sit in a quasi-judicial capacity basically just like a zoning board, where the City Commission reviews zoning applications, the staff will present a report on each site to be re-designated but since Miami- Dade County already drafted the report we won't have to do it. He said that City Clerk Hines will have to provide notice in the newspaper regarding each site, and also the property owner must receive individual notice because this is basically a routine manner since the sites have already been designated, and it is a public hearing so the public can comment, and after the decision is made by this Board he will draft a resolution to formalize each decision on each site and as a recommendation to the Commission and the Commission will adopt the formalized recommendation this Board will make. Richard Schulman said that during this process that David Udoff will review the paperwork that the County has prepared and we can duplicate that to some extent and present that to this Board for review and go forward from there. Chairperson Del Monico asked for a timeframe for re-designating the three historic sites, and Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said it will be late in September because first we need to amend the Ordinance to add the additional two members, but that the Board can select a date in October, and that he, City Clerk Hines, Richard Schulman, and David Udoff will work on the paper work, including notices. Richard Schulman said he would like plaques be considered placed in several of the historic sites for public review and discuss the wording at a later time. Chairperson Del Monico asked if we got a copy of the Federal Statutes for Historic Preservation, the Federal Standards from the Department of Interior, so we can have some concrete guidance, and Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said he had some information in his office, and that he will look into it, but that everything is listed in the Ordinance, and that the Board determines what is historic. Chairperson Del Monico said when you make a property historic you definitely curtail the value of the property because there are a lot of restrictions on the development, so We have to assume that we will have a huge resistance from extremely wealthy lobbyists and lawyers Summary Minutes 2004-0726 HPB Mtg Page 2 of 5 fighting us on it, so we have to make sure it is truly historic and worth the fight that we will have to allocate the City's resources to fight. She said we are not here to go out and find things, we are here to judge whether something is or isn't historic, and staff is suppose to come to us and make recommendations, and we are suppose to judge the merits, and,that it has a universal historic value. She noted that the County did two surveys, an archeological and an artifact survey, of our area and they did not find any sites that can be designated other than the three already designated: 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 is 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 noted that Deputy City Attorney Ottinot will place the Ordinance on the Commission agenda in September, and Mr. Schulman and Mr. Udoff will prepare the files for re-designation to present to the Board. 6. DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE SITES FOR FUTURE DESIGNATION. + Action: Mr. Abramson said that we should consider the Rascal House Sign as a designated historic site in Sunny Isles Beach. He said it has been there since 195,4, and everyone knows of the Rascal House. Mr. Chernoff noted that at the last meeting Joe Masters had said if you try to take it down it may fall apart and he had suggested just designating a photograph of it. Chairperson Del Monico said if there are any properties that the staff' Mr. Schulman and Mr. Udoff, feels are eligible for historic designation to prepare a file and 'give it to Deputy City Attorney Ottinot for review, and then present it at the next Board meeting. Mr. Abramson said that artifacts is the subject that the Sunny Isles Beach Civic Cultural and Beautification took on, and as a result of the Trust's efforts, we had the horses donated and are now in Gwen Margolis Park, and there were several other items that were eligible. He said that Mr. Schulman was instrumental in preparing all of those as well as gathering all the pictures of the 50's and are in fact making up the Wall of History at the new City Hall. He said he feels that these artifacts should be part of the consideration for this Board. Chairperson Del Monico said we are very lucky to have Mr. Schulman on our staff, but again she asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinot what the purview of the Board is. Ms. D'Arbelles asked if Epicure Markets is aware that there is discussion regarding making the sign at Rascal House historic, and Mr. Abramson said that they are aware of it. Ms. D'Arbelles noted that there is a house in South Carolina that was donated to the City by its owners, and Deputy Attorney Ottinot noted that Richard Nixon's house in Key Biscayne was recently sold and knocked:down, but if there would have been a Board there, it would have saved the house and designated it as historic. 7. NEW BUSINESS: Action: Chairperson Del Monico asked if there was any new business and Ms. Gabor asked about designating a building as historic, and Chairperson Del Monico said that once a building is designated historic then it falls under a more stringent set of zoning requirements. Mr. Chernoff suggested to get a developers okay to place a plaque in front of a site,ifor instance the Ocean Summary Minutes 2004-0726 HPB Mtg Page 13 of 5 Palms Motel, saying "On this property stood the first two-story motel." She said you can put a plaque anywhere, that we wouldn't get much resistance. Mr. Chernoff said that there should be a plaque where the Castaways was, and Chairperson Del Monico said that was a good idea and that he should meet with the Mayor and form a committee, and that it is a wonderful way to preserve history and educate people, and make walking tours as the City progresses, but this is not in our purview but we can support it. She suggested perhaps get a City map and put in flags and write up blurbs and then go to the Commission and ask for approval; and she asked Deputy City Attorney Ottinot his thoughts on this. He said on page 6, Section 3(g) of Ordinance 2004- 197, it states"Increase public awareness of the value of historic conservation by developing and participating in public information programs." She asked how he would recommend handling that, and he said the first thing is to bring it before this Board and vote on it and then have it as a discussion item for the City Commission, and she asked if we had to present a proposed budget for a program, and he said it would be an easier process and show that the Board did their homework. Ms. D'Arbelles said she has graphic designers available to her and she could make some designs for a plaque and bring it to a meeting for its review. Chairperson Del Monico asked the members to e-mail City Clerk Hines any points that they may want on the next agenda for discussion and come prepared to discuss it,:the Board will vote on it, for instance, plaques. It was decided to put plaques on the next agenda for discussion. Ms. Gabor would like artifacts on the agenda as well. Ms. D'Arbelles suggested that the City consider allocating a space in the new City Hall as a museum for the artifacts. Chairperson Del Monico pointed out page 6 of the Ordinance, Section 3(i) "Approve historic markers and plaques and issue recognition to designated historic landmarks and historic landmark districts within the City.", and so under those two sections [3(g)], we can make a proposal,for an historic plaque program here in the City, and regarding the artifacts from the various hotels and motels, she feels that the Trust should be handling these. Mr. Abramson said that the Trust has already gone through it and have surveyed what is available, and Mr. Schulman has presented them, and he suggested for Deputy City Attorney Ottinot to call Miami Beach and get a list of their historic designated properties and the Board take a tour of Miami Beach. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot said he generally wouldn't recommend tours, but he will get the list and each of the members can go on their own. Chairperson Del Monico said regarding the artifacts, that we should make a proposal and present it to the City Commission and get their input as to whether or not they are interested in this for our City. Deputy City Attorney Ottinot suggested putting it on the next agenda for discussion. 8. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING. Action: After discussion it was decided not to have another meeting until October (on a Tuesday or Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.), after the Ordinance expanding the Historic Preservation Board is adopted. 9. ADJOURNMENT. Mr. Chernoff moved and Mr. Abramson seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting, and Chairperson Del Monico adjourned the meeting at 8:53 p.m. ' • Summary Minutes 2004-0726 HPB Mtg Page 4 of 5 Respectfully submitted, June 6, 2005 Jane A. Hines, City Clerk Date Summary Minutes 2004-0726 HPB Mtg Page'5 of 5