Historic Preservation Commission - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the regular meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission. It is Thursday, July 9th at 6 p.m. May we have a roll call, please?

Yes. Commissioner Rogers? Here. Commissioner Baker? Here. Commissioner Dedeck?

Here.

Thank you. Commissioner Rivas?

Here.

Commissioner Speed? Commissioner Hayes?

Here.

and Commissioner James.

We have a quorum. Thank you. I'd like to welcome everybody to tonight's meeting. At this time, please be sure your cell phone is on silent. Tonight's agenda includes a citizen comment period at the beginning of the meeting. You're welcome to speak on any topic. Please be advised, however, if the topic you speak about is not on tonight's agenda, Commission members cannot respond due to requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act, which requires the topics of discussion by the Commission be posted 72 hours in advance of the meeting. If the meeting you wish to speak about is listed as a public hearing, you're welcome to speak for or against the item during the public hearing. If you speak during the citizen comment period about a public hearing topic on tonight's agenda, I ask that you not repeat the same comments again during the public hearing on the same topic. When speaking either during the citizen comment period or during a public hearing, you will approach the podium if in person or unmute yourself if virtual and state your name and address. You are allowed to speak up to three minutes. When you begin speaking, the timer will start. When it turns yellow, you will hear a bell and have 20 seconds left. A bell will ring and the timer will turn red when your time is up. Is there anyone signed up for citizen comment period? No ma'am. Okay. Thank you. And nobody here in the audience.

Okay.

Um, so we'll move on to item number one minutes. Consider approval by motion of the may 7th, 2026 regular meeting minutes. Is there a motion?

I move that we approve the minutes and a second.

I second. Okay. Is there any discussion? All right, can we have a roll call?

Commissioner Baker? Yes. Commissioner Dedek?

Yes.

Commissioner Hayes?

Yes.

Commissioner James? Yes. Commissioner Rivas? Yes. And Commissioner Rogers? Yes. All right, that passes.

Item number two, public hearing, HPC 26-02, 100 Block, East Hopkins Street. Hold a public hearing and consider a request for a certificate of appropriateness by the City of San Marcos Engineering Department to allow the installation of seating within Kissing Alley as part of the capital improvement project, converting the alley from a vehicle-oriented alley to a pedestrian-oriented alley. May we have the staff presentation, please?

Yes, good evening, commissioners. Alison Brake, historic preservation officer. This property is lovingly known as Kissing Alley. It runs east-west between East Hopkins Street and Hutchison Street. It is within the Hays County Courthouse National Register. District, the city's 10-year capital improvement plan includes downtown alley reconstruction. The scope of work includes the reconstruction of these alleys that are located between LBJ Drive and Guadalupe Street and from Hopkins Street to Hutchinson Street. The design and construction costs for this particular project will be partially funded through the tax increment reinvestment zone. Approximately 185 feet of kissing alley will be transformed from a vehicle oriented alley into a pedestrian focused space. The proposed alterations by the city's engineering department are intended to enhance the alley's functionality and activate the area as a vibrant public space. And this portion is within our downtown historic district which is requiring the certificate of appropriateness for certain improvements. To enhance the alley's functionality and activate the area, seating is proposed to be located along the alley, retaining the open space between the buildings and in the alley. This is just a cross section that identifies that seating that's in the engineered design plans. The original seating was denied at the February meeting. The commission at this point indicated there is a preference for the standard black Victor Stanley bench. and also requested alternative options be presented. The proposed seating represents the Main Street Advisory Board's preferred options, which was selected following an extensive series of public engagement sessions beginning in 2020. These benches are comprised of a galvanized steel base with a wood seating area. They are heavy and sturdy while still movable. allowing the flexibility for events and future activations in Kissing Alley. The base colors are intended to reflect the natural color palette of the San Marcos River and are intended to complement the warm tones of the limestone paving and the brick found in the alley. While the standard downtown Victor Stanley bench remains a suitable and compatible option, the proposed seating offers a thoughtfully designed contemporary alternative that provides a fresh approach while remaining sensitive to the alley's historic character and remaining unobtrusive. The Main Street Advisory Board has played an active role in this project since 2014. Main Street Department began informally referring to the alley as Kissing Alley in 2014. It was previously unnamed. There were a series of events and activations in the alley hosted by the Main Street Department along with board members and volunteers between 2015 and 2017. And in 2017, the space was formally designated by city council as Kissing Alley. Main street department also later received a $10,000 design services grant in 2018. And this downtown alley reconstruction project was added to our CIP funding schedule in 2019 with preliminary engineering beginning in 2020. The pictures on the screen tonight show the existing conditions while also showing how some of that impact INPUT INTO WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS TO SEE AS THE ALLEY TOOK PLACE. THE PROJECT HAS EVOLVED OVER MORE THAN A DECADE WITH MAIN STREET INVOLVED THROUGHOUT ITS PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. SO ON THIS SCREEN JUST SHOWS YOU A TIMELINE OF THE RECENT ENGAGEMENT THAT MAIN STREET CONDUCTED FOR PUBLIC INPUT INTO THE PROJECT STARTING IN 2020 ALL THE WAY THROUGH 2024. After the February meeting staff reached out to the Texas main street project design specialists in the community heritage development division of the Texas historical commission for assistance in providing some alternative options, which you see on the screen. They had provided a design report. It's not regulatory. It's provides photos of alternatives for street furniture with some information on the design intent for those elements. The design report notes the ability to move furniture around helps to accommodate and serve different events throughout the year. The long term vision for the alley is to establish an urban parklet incorporating public art, seating, lighting, landscaping and green infrastructure. This aligns very heavily with our downtown area plan, which has several recommendations to prioritize accessible pedestrian infrastructure. Specifically in that plan, recommendation D.1 calls for creating coordinated efforts for infrastructure improvements that also include streetscape improvements that achieve the downtown area plan vision and identifies placemaking assets such as seating and other furnishings and amenities as opportunities to implement that vision. So this project will serve as the first of its kind in San Marcos and it is a re-imagining of the traditional alleyway. Staff finds requests consistent with sections four, five, two, one, I, one, E, and G of the San Marcos Development Code and standards one, five, nine, and 10 of the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. Tonight we have representatives from our CIP Engineering Department, as well as our downtown manager, Josie Filetas, if you have questions. That concludes my presentation.

Thanks. Thank you. Would the applicant like to make a presentation? Good evening, commissioners. Josie Fileta, downtown manager.

I don't have a formal presentation. I did supply a lot of the backup documentation that Allison shared before you this evening. but I am available to answer any questions that you might have. We're really excited about this project. This has been in the vision for downtown for decades and I personally have worked on this project for the last nine years. This was a dream of the Main Street program from about 2015 and so I wasn't even working at the city yet when the first visions for this project came about and so this is one of those long range projects that gets carried over among multiple staff people and I'm just really excited to get there to the start of the project. I'm available for any questions.

Thank you very much. Do we have any public speakers for this agenda item? No one signed up. Okay, I will now close the public hearing. Is there a motion?

I move to approve.

Is there a second? I second. Okay, in discussion. Okay.

Oh, I have a question, I guess. What? It looks like it looks like the furniture has been kind of rearranged or it's been it was it's more it's not. Yeah, it seems to fit more harmoniously into the alley than it did in the original proposal that we saw. What does the colors in the images? Are they accurate? Is that what colors the the seating would be, in the images of the alley, of what it will look like?

Oh, sorry.

See, they look kind of white there. Is that the color that they would be? Or would they be different colors than that?

We have selected the colors based on public input. And I believe Allison has, here we go. So the proposed colors are what we like to think of as river colors, because the river is adjacent to downtown. Coincidentally, they're very in alignment with the new city branding that was just launched recently. So these were selected over a year ago, a year and a half ago, maybe. So it is great that they're in alignment with that, but these are the colors that are proposed on your screen there.

Okay. Um, I'll send some other questions. So I think, I believe that the columns or I guess essentially columns or posts, the metal posts there, they were originally pretty much at least the way it looked, they were against the building material, like the, the, but now they, I, I, I got from what I got. My interpretation is that now they're set out from the edges of the building slightly. So that's true.

Yeah. Tonight we're only talking about the seating. Oh, really? We are only talking about the seating tonight. That is the only thing that is on the agenda.

Oh, okay. All right. Then just one more question. Is the arrangement of the seating in the images that we're looking at right now, is that representative of how you plan to arrange the seating in the project?

Yes, it is the proposed arrangement. However, the intent of the seating is that it's movable so that it can be rearranged as we so desire. So that was always the proposal is that we're not planning on bolting the seating to the street, that we want it to be movable because that way it gives us more flexibility in the use of the alleyway.

Okay. Thank you.

Of course. Josie, how heavy are those? I mean, I'm just thinking about like schools in session and it's a Saturday night and everyone's crazy. How movable are these that they won't disappear?

They're only movable with friends. So they weigh at least 150 pounds per bench. So it's doable, but takes extra friends to help you move it. We want them to be difficult, but not impossible to move is the goal. Great question. That is one of the things that we definitely thought about. Okay.

Any other questions or discussion? All right. We have a roll call then please. Sure. Uh, commissioner Baker. Yes.

Commissioner Dedeck.

Yes.

Commissioner Rivas.

Yes.

Commissioner Hayes?

Yes.

Commissioner James? Yes. And Commissioner Rogers? Yes. Okay, that motion is approved.

Great. Thank you, Josie. Thank you, Rohit. All right, so because we don't have Commissioner Speed here with our next... Are you recusing? I mean, it seems like I probably should. so we need to assign someone to lead the meeting.

Jason, looks like Commissioner Rivas will, you have a script, if you want to pass that along to him, we can. And the last name is Legrevelec.

What was that? Legrevelec. Legrevelec. Yep. I mispronounced it, my apologies.

That's okay. All right, we have a commissioner who is recusing themselves, and we will pick up as soon as, We get, yes, that's fine. And she is recusing, um, because she owns a property next door. Just put that on the, on the record.

You need me to say what you just said?

No. Okay. I said it in the mic. It's fine. All right. You can continue.

Item number three, public hearing for HPC-26-06617 West Hopkins Street. Hold a public hearing and consider a request for a certificate of appropriateness by G.L. Hunt Foundation Repair on behalf of Patrick Legrevelec.

Very good.

apologies to allow the replacement of existing painted stucco skirting material along the front facade with galvanized metal skirting materials designed to resemble brick. May we please have the staff presentation?

Yes. Alison break historic preservation officer. This property is located within the Hopkins street historic district. It's south of Blanco street. It's not a recorded Texas historic landmark and it's not on the National Register of Historic Places. It was evaluated with a high preservation priority in the My Historic SMTX Resource Survey and it was noted that it reflects early 20th century neighborhood development. The home is a national folk style with neoclassical influences and has a steeply pitched hipped roof, historic age projecting side L wood siding and the original two over two wood windows with exterior storm windows and original double door with a transom. The historic resources survey database notes that the property owner at the time the historic resources survey was conducted in 2019 stated that the home was originally a farmhouse that was built by local architect Edward Northcraft. He was architect of Old Main on Texas State's campus and notes that his daughter Lucy married the grandson of General Burleson.

Excuse me.

She lived in that house through the 1940s. As part of a larger foundation repair, the property owner is proposing to replace the existing painted stucco skirting with this galvanized metal skirting that's designed to resemble brick. It will be replaced around the house. However, the only portion that we're focused on is what's up front and what you see in the bubble. The historic design guidelines caution installing a pressed metal skirt where one did not previously exist. However, the existing landscaping along the front facade will effectively screen the skirting, minimizing any visual impact, and there's no real record of what was originally on the house. Pressed metal has been installed as skirting material on several houses within the district, even though the material currently present on some of those homes probably is not original as well. Staff finds a request consistent with standards one, two, four, and 10 of the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation and section, staff finds the request neutral regarding section 4521I1G of the Development Code and standards three, six, and nine of the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. That concludes my presentation and I don't, I think we do, we might have a representative from the Foundation Repair Company online, so.

Thank you. Would the applicant like to make a presentation?

Hey, how you doing? My name is CJ. I'm the superintendent with GeoHunt Foundation. Yes, so basically what we'll do is we're removing the exterior skirting and just replacing with the five foot panels of the galvanized skirting with the brick stamped. And we will be doing framing on the inside to hold it. That way it stays firm. It is rust resistant and it's rodent resistant as well. We'll be adding vents to keep the moisture good.

Staff, do we have any public speakers for this agenda item?

No, sir.

I will now close the public hearing. Is there a motion?

I make a motion that we approve. Is there a second?

I'll second that. Is there any discussion?

I have one quick question. I'm just curious. Is it, is it going to be, is the skirting going to be painted or, or is it going to be just the metal?

But when we install it, it'll just be the metal. It'll look exactly like what's shown on the picture. Um, the homeowner does have the option to paint if he wants, if y'all agree. Uh, but we don't do no painting or coloring or nothing like that.

Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you. Is there any more discussion? If none, may we please have a roll call vote?

Yes. Commissioner James? Yes. Commissioner Dedek?

Yes.

Commissioner Hayes?

Yes.

And Commissioner Rivas? Yes. And Commissioner Baker? Oh, I think you're muted. Okay, I think you're nodding your head.

She nodded yes.

She nodded yes? Okay, I think we might have to, okay. Well, that motion passes.

I'm good to head out, or do I need to stick around?

No, sir. You are good to go. I'll send a follow-up letter tomorrow.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Yes, sir. Appreciate y'all.

And then we can get Commissioner... Oh, she's already in. Look at that. Oh, sorry.

All right, so that moves us to item number four, updates. Staff will provide updates on the items listed on the agenda.

Yes, the only update that I have is that there won't be an August meeting. We didn't receive any certificate of appropriateness applications, but starting in September, if we don't have any, I'm still gonna put together something, I'm thinking something along the lines of like a back to school kind of refresher course, just so that we can all kind of, now that we have a new commissioner, just walk through some things. But that won't start until September.

So enjoy your all summer. Thank you. And this is an opportunity for the press and public and the audience to ask questions related to only items on this agenda. Is there anyone in the audience who wishes to speak or ask a question? All right. Seeing and hearing none, we will move to the next item, which is adjournment. Um, may I have a motion to adjourn? I'll make a motion to adjourn and a second second. Okay. And a roll call vote, please. Okay. Commissioner, uh, Hayes.

Yes.

Commissioner James. Yes. Commissioner Rivas?

Yes.

Commissioner Dedek?

Yes.

Commissioner Baker?

Yes. And Commissioner Rogers? Yes.

Okay. That passes. Thank you. We are adjourned at 622. All right.