Historic District Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the Historic District Commission meeting. This is meeting number four-two 26. This Thursday, 04/16/2026. I'm Peter Fossum, the chair of the Historic district commission.

I'm joined tonight with fellow commissioners Seth Dembo, Michael Goldfinger, Anita Neil Powell, and Mercy Shengai. We're also joined this evening by staff members Sheila Bashari as our preservation planner, Cynthia Walters as our deputy city attorney, and Megan Flick as our principal planner. This evening you may watch the HCC meeting on ww.rockvillemd.gov/rockville11, which is channel 11. And then afterwards, all the recordings are also viewable at rockvillemd.gov video on demand. This evening's agenda, first thing on the agenda, our committee organizational reports.

Do we have anyone from Peelers Rockville here this evening? I see Nancy.

Yes, Hi. Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. Thank you, chair of. My name is Nancy Picard.

I'm the executive director for with a quick report. I just want to mostly talk about the upcoming exhibit and programs we'll have for the two fiftieth as 2026 marks the twenty fiftieth anniversary of the United States and the founding of Montgomery County. Together with the Rockville community, the city of Rockville, and other business partners, Peerless Rockville will explore how national themes in American history have unfolded right here in Rockville over the last two and a half centuries. Rockville two fifty will tell the stories of people and places in Rockville that trace our nation's history. We hope you will join us at the pictorial exhibit and other special programming marking two hundred and fifty years of American history.

Peerless Rockville kicked off Rockville two fifty with a virtual presentation on the resolves at Hungerford Tavern on March 30. This was about local efforts that contributed to the eventual declaration of independence by the American colonies. Coming up on April 24 at 12PM, you can walk the streets of early Rockville. A tour will depart from City Hall and proceed to Rockville's oldest streets. Learn about the colonial era, the transition from Montgomery Courthouse to the city of Rockville or the town of Rockville, and life in Rockville from 1776 into the nineteenth century.

Spots are limited, so reserve quickly, I guess. We could always repeat possibly again this summer. Next month, our Rockville two fiftieth, Our American Story exhibit will open in the Red Brick Courthouse on May 11. And we hope you'll join us, and you can get more information on our website, fearlessrockville.org. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Nancy. Appreciate you being here. Commissioner Powell, do you have a report tonight from the Lincoln Park Historical Foundation?

Good evening. I am Anita Neal Powell, president of the Lincoln Park Historical Foundation and the Leroy E. Neal African American Research Center. And tonight, I do not have a report. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Powell. Next on the agenda are public comments. It's open forum. I see we have a jam packed audience this evening. If anyone would like to comment on anything that is not on the agenda this evening, and that includes folks that are joining us online. Do you see anyone Sheila? Okay. Last thing under organizational reports will be from the HTC and also staff. Commissioners, do you have anything to report on or any comments? Commissioner Powell.

Thank you. So I have a question. And my question is, I attended the mayor council meeting on last Monday. And on the agenda, on the zoning, they talked about some of the things that HDC had voted on. I didn't know anything about it, and I wanted to know and I know that they're gonna bring it back on maybe May something.

I don't I'm not sure of the date, but could you provide us with some information about that? And then two, will the commissioners be able to speak to what has already been presented to the mayor and council on zoning, or is it just a work session and we should just sit in and listen? I'm not sure which way to go with that.

Okay. I was gonna say that's a very good question because I won't be here when it happens. I will be out of the country. I do know that, they had originally planned for May 4, which I would have been here for that. And I do know that some of the things that they are looking at are things that we had already had them come and present to us. As far as being able to comment, I know that you can do it in writing, but I am not sure what the format is going to be for that particular meeting on the eighteenth, on May 18, for the mayor and council. Sure. It's a month away, so we will know more before then, though, at that point. But what type of information, what other information would you like?

Basically, whether or not we could speak to items that we had voted on. It was kinda interesting because it it's been a while.

Mhmm.

And I'm like, did we really say that? I think we really did. So I was just sort of curious as to whether or not we could provide additional information or just set in silence. Because one thing that they brought up, and I still don't agree with, is that if an owner decides that they do not want to have their site designated, I don't think that mayor and council or any government agency should be able to say they must. Because, basically, you don't know what the financial situation is of those Mhmm. Folks. So and that was, of course, I think it was a split vote or something like that. I don't know what the vote was, but I know it was not a full vote.

I am going to say first put it in writing. But I would think that if nothing else, there should be, you know, public comment. If not during the actual session, prior to the session, you know, during community comments.

Okay. Thank you.

Commissioner Goldfinger.

All right. Good evening. Continuing with my program of featuring a different historic property within the city. Tonight's short talk will be on the city's old post office building. Beginning around 1794 and for the next one hundred and forty five years, Rockville's post office moved approximately every five years from one rented commercial space in town center to another.

It wasn't until 1926, however, that in town delivery began. In 1937, Rockville's Chamber of Commerce proposed a new permanent post office. Shortly after the Works Progress Administration, known as WPA, gave its approval and the act of Congress dated 08/25/1937 provided funding. The following year, 1938, the old Sentinel and Pepco buildings were condemned and demolished to make way for a new building to house the post office. The building, which stands at the corner of Washington Street and Montgomery Avenue, was dedicated on 07/22/1939 in a ceremony attended by 3,000 people.

The building was designed by architects Lewis Simon and R. Stanley Brown in the English Georgian style and is more modest in appearance than those in faster growing Bethesda and Silver Spring. The limestone building's two story hexagonal entrance tower marks the intersection of Rockville's most important streets. In 1940, WPA artist Judson Smith painted the mural in the lobby of the building. Building.

The depiction of Sugarloaf Mountain located outside of Montgomery County sparked local disapproval at the time. A plaque inside the main entrance to the building noted that it was completed during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt and lists the high level officials associated with the building and post office department, including James A. Farley Postmaster General. Cornerstone on the exterior of the building near the main entrance dated 1938 lists others associated with the design and construction, including Henry Morgenthau, Jr, Secretary of the Treasury Lewis A.

Simon, Supervising Architect Neil A. Mellick, Supervising Engineer and R. Stanley Brown, Architect. Architect. Rapid post World War II growth in Rockville and the surrounding counties soon made the building too small, and in the mid-twentieth century, it was replaced as the main office by the current building located at North Washington Street and Martins Lane. For a while, the old building served as a marine recruiting station. And in the early years of the twenty first century, ownership of the former post office building transferred to the city of Rockville. And today, it houses the city's police department. And it's a fascinating building. If you haven't been there, it's worth stopping in.

The lobby is open to the public, and it's been well maintained. And it's a beautiful piece of historic architecture. Thank you all. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Powell?

Yes. My comment is to Commissioner Goldstein. I am hopeful that you are tracking this information that you are providing us. And let's say, for example, if the public wanted to get copies of it, would they be able to do that? I mean, the information is so informative. You know, folks might want to follow-up on it.

You know, it's on my computer. I do have it.

I don't think we can go to your computer.

Technically, isn't it part of the public record? Because Yeah. Yes.

So they could do what? And if they were interested in, let's say, the old post office, what they would contact you. How would they get the information? Yes. It is on a part of the public record, but how would they get the information?

They could call the office, call me at the office, and if I can get what information I have and whatever I don't have, I can pass it on to someone who might have more.

Okay. Thank you.

And

thank you, Commissioner Goldstein, for always providing such information to us. And it's very important to our history of the city. So I appreciate you.

Well, I'm learning a lot. It's it's just great to see all these buildings still here with us, attesting to the city's history, long history. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank

you for that piece. So I'm looking at this comment that says, Rockville's post office move every five years from one rented commercial space to the next. So I was like, you know, okay. This must be very difficult time for them. They're moving from space to space every five years. I was like, this was very difficult in those days for them. It's good that they got to build it later. It's not moving around. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm sure it was it was difficult and disruptive. Moving. You know, that's I I think even today, some post offices are in leased space rather than owned

Owned buildings, yeah.

Buildings got torn down. They'd have to move, I assume, something like that.

Thank you.

Any other comments from the commissioners? Okay. Staff, do you have any comments this evening? Okay. Thank you very much. Next on the item is our consent agenda. This next item, excuse me, would be approval of the minutes from 03/19/2026. Do I have a motion? Yes, ma'am.

Wanted to point out that on the consent agenda, I did put actually a Mike, please. And he reminded me of this before the meeting too. I did put on there the item for 04/19 Reading, and I put it on the consent agenda because we looked at this a few months ago in in October, and they just changed the design of the building. It's going to be in the same location. It's replacing the former shed, but it's a slightly different design and slightly larger. So I put it on consent as opposed to putting it on the regular agenda.

But we would vote separately.

You can. Yes. Yeah. Or you can vote all of depending on you.

Separate in case we wanna say something terrible or what have you. But so I'll go back to may I have a motion to approve the minutes of 03/19/2026?

I move to to approve the minutes from the March meeting.

May I have a second? I'll second. Any discussion? All in favor?

Aye. Aye.

Thank you very much. Second last item on the consent list, the certificate of approval. This is 2026260 COA for 419 Reading Avenue. May I have a motion? Do we need to have discussion? Have a

Happy for the motion.

Technically, have to take it off the kitchen agenda if we're going to discuss it.

Do that. I'm asking if that's what the commission wants to do. It sounds like that's what we need to do. Could we staff, could we move it back to regular items out of consent so we can have a formal discussion?

Yes, you can. We can put this on to the end of the agenda.

Okay. Thank you very much. So then we'll move on. Evaluation of significance. The first item is and actually, let me back up a second. Is it possible to merge or do a couple of these at the same time since they're adjacent to each other or do we need to do them separately? I mean the applicant is the same it looks like.

I'm sorry, I missed that. What was your question?

That's okay. Is it possible to do the two that are adjacent to each other with the exact same applicant in the same situation? Should we just do them together or is it necessary necessary to to pull pull them them apart? Apart?

We can do them together. I was told that they were two separate addresses so they needed to be written separately. But the presentation is actually going to be coming from the applicant and they did put it all together on one item. Yeah.

Okay. So we can just discuss it as one and then vote separately.

Yes. Okay.

Okay. Save staff some and the applicant some time. Okay. So our first item is, twenty twenty six two seven eight ESA evaluation of significance. The applicant is Pauli Thanes, at 722 Carr Avenue. Is the applicant with us this evening?

Let me check if they're online.

I'm not

sure if this is

the applicant.

Nope. I don't think they're online. I don't think they're here.

Okay. It's okay to move forward, though. Correct? I don't think I've ever done something without the applicant actually here.

We have. Okay. We have.

Okay. Wait a minute. I'm sorry. As as the new chair, I'm have not done it. So now I need to do a lot. Yeah.

Yeah. I think the last case that I presented, the applicant wasn't here as well.

Okay.

So I

think we should be okay.

Okay. And staff, if you have a report, please go ahead.

Sure. Okay.

So this is case 2026278 for an evaluation of significance for demolition at should be 277 Carr Avenue. Wait.

722 Carr.

Sorry. Yeah. 722. I think the case got confused there. It's okay. Okay. Yeah. 722 Carr Avenue. So it's located in the West End Park subdivision on Carr Avenue between Manatee Street and Owen Street. And as you can see in this aerial image here, it's on the south side of Carr Avenue facing north.

So this is a detached residential home built in 1955. It's a variation of a Cape Cod style home. And as you can see on the left here, the front facade, there's a large wood deck out front with a staircase on either side, and then there's also a bay window to the left of the front door there. On the right, showing the rear elevation, you can see a side addition on the left there and then an internal stairway leading to the back door. And then here we have the side elevations, again, just showing kind of windows and landscaping.

Nothing too crazy here. Okay. And there's nothing too historically or architecturally significant to note, so staff recommends to not designate this property.

Okay. Well, once again, the report was very thorough, so thank you for that. Commissioners, do have any questions or comments?

Commissioner Goldfinger. Just technicalities. I think there's been some incorrect labeling in the report, which should be correct if it's going into the

Yeah, I think the formatting got a little funky in Word. I just noticed that myself. Yeah, tons to do that. Some last minute editing there to switch things around. But yeah, The noted. Thank

front is called the south. Think it's actually the north elevation.

Oh, yeah, because it's south side facing north.

Yep. I thought one of the images, page four I have in my notes. One of the photos is actually the mirror image of what's actually there. Either that or Google Maps is reversed. So if you could check that check that out.

Because the bay window's to the left, isn't it, when you look at the house?

Oh, yeah. I think yeah.

Yeah. Because in the presentation, it's it's to the right.

Yeah. I think that's the

I noticed that too. But I noticed that we received pictures. And one picture, it had it on one side and one, it had it on the other side.

I thought it was me. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

I think that's a photographer user error.

And the rear is the south elevation, not the north. The addition is on the west, not the east side. And I guess the addition has a rear facing gable, although I think the report says otherwise. And I guess that's it.

Okay. Got it. Thank you. Sorry for all those errors, guys.

Well, it happens. Just just

checking. We appreciate it.

Yeah. Appreciate it. Yeah.

Thank you, commissioner. Any other comments from the commission? Do we have any comments or any letters from this public?

We had a couple of comments, but it wasn't based on our reviews based on the property itself and what was going to be happening with the property afterwards with nothing that we were, you know, looking at.

So nothing under our purview in other

words? Exactly.

Do we know what's gonna happen? I assume they're gonna build a new house.

Building a new house, two story house. Okay.

Well, if there are other questions or comments, may I have a motion? May have a second?

A motion. Okay. Find that the building proposed for demolition at 722, Carr Avenue does not meet any of the history district commissions adopted criteria for its significance or architectural design and landscape significance. I move that HDC recommend against history designation.

May I have a second, please?

Second.

Any further discussion? All in favor?

Aye. Thank

you very much. Next on the agenda are twenty twenty six two eighty three EOS and 2026 oh, they're both 283. How can that be? Are they supposed to be two different numbers?

Actually, 1395 Picard Drive and 1 Curie Court, they're right there together. Uh-huh. We do have the applicant here, and they would like to give a presentation as well. And I did put in our first pages and our last pages, but they do have a presentation that they would like to give. And so I would like to introduce Vince Biazet from Lerch, Early and Brewer.

Before we get to that, Sheila, I'm sorry I wasn't clear. My question is on the agenda, is there an error with a number for the applications because they're exactly the same for b and c?

There are

two different

cases. There are two different buildings.

Right. So there

are four of

the two

Yeah. Two different cases.

But under the

same So they to be voted they have to be voted separately because they're two different buildings, but it's the same case, basically.

But I mean, the number. I'm sorry. The

actual numbers

They were actually applied in the same number. Yes.

I just wanna get the records right.

Thank you. Sorry

about that. Please go ahead. Okay.

Good evening, chair Fossilman and members of the commission. I wanna get one, just point of correction before we begin. I I think the application number might be 2026283, that was included in the staff report.

It says 285 on the screen. Yeah.

That's okay. We'll proceed with with the idea that it's it's 283. For the record, Vince Biazi with Ler, Shirley, and Brewer on behalf of the applicant Pulte Home Group. With me this evening are Andy Adams, an architectural historian with A Adams and Co, and Bobby Varner with Pulte. We would like to thank miss Bashiri and staff for their thorough review of application 2026283DashEOS for 1395 Picard Drive and 1 Curie Court.

We are in agreement with staff's findings in conclusion that the properties do not meet the applicable criteria for historic designation. We respectfully request that the commission would adopt staff's recommendation. Miss Adams is available to address any commit any questions related to her evaluation, and has prepared a short slide deck if the commission would find that helpful. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Sure. We'd be happy to view the slide.

And I'll be happy to show them to you. Good evening. I'm Andy Adams, architectural historian with A. Adams and Company. I'm here tonight on behalf of the Mid Atlantic Division of Pulte Group for whom I prepared the report that has been submitted on both of these buildings for your consideration.

The report goes into a lot more detail than I can talk about tonight including about Rockville's mid century development and architecture generally as well as about these two buildings in particular. As you will have seen, I concluded that neither building meets any criteria for designation. They are not significant. They don't meet any of your criteria and I was pleased that your staff came to the same conclusion. Just by way of introduction, I've been doing this.

I've been working professionally in the field of preservation since 1977. I've been recognized as an expert in architectural history and historic preservation by boards of commissions throughout the region including here. And I've evaluated hundreds of buildings for their significance both in the context of historic landmark status, National Register listing, part ones for historic tax credits and so forth. Buildings of all ages, early nineteenth through late twentieth century, all styles, all building types. And I've prepared applications for dozens of buildings for local listing, on landmarks, inventories and the National Register.

I've also successfully opposed the designation of buildings that don't meet the criteria because I think that does a huge disservice to historic preservation especially when regulatory implications follow. So what you are looking at here shows both buildings. The parcels are adjacent. That's Redland Parkway on the top of the slide. Picard Drive runs down the left side and I'll talk about 1395 Picard 1st.

Next slide. That parcel is outlined in red. Again, Redland Parkway on the north or actually it's not the north but on the top and Picard Drive along the left side of the image. Building actually faces a parking lot and a drop off. It doesn't relate to any street frontage which is to me kind of curious. Third slide or next slide. An aerial view again showing the building with the large parking lot in front. Next slide. I don't actually have much to tell you about this building. I looked, I researched, I couldn't find much.

It was built in 1979 fairly recently by GM to serve as offices for its Oldsmobile and Buick car brands. It was not a showroom. It was not open to the public and it was sold in 1999 and has been a commercial office building with a revolving list of tenants ever since. It's unremarkable in its design, dark red brick. It has recessed sort of ribbon windows.

Its inspiration may have harkened back to brutalism of earlier years, but it's not particularly stylistically significant. Next slide. The front entrance which you can see here is slightly recessed, pretty unimposing and takes a lot to find it. Next one please. Basically the same design goes all the way around the building.

The side happens to have a loading dock which you can see here and then the next one is the back of the building which is sort of sunken below Redland Parkway. The architecture is ordinary, its history is ordinary, Has no significance, particular significance. And as I said, I was pleased your staff, came to the same conclusion and we hope you will adopt the staff's recommendation. And I should keep going, right, and talk about 1 Court and you'll come back. Okay.

Please. Next slide. This is the property associated with 1 Curie Court. Again, you can see Redland Parkway at the top and then, cul de sac called Curie Court at the bottom left of the property which is how you actually access the building at this point and you leave by way of going uphill and out onto Redland Parkway. Next.

Again, an aerial photograph. Large building on a very large lot mostly surrounded by parking. Next one. It's a long low building. This is the front elevation. It's built it opened in 1984. It's a perfectly nice building. Not It's a particularly distinguished building. It was designed by local architect Donald Coupard for Computer Data Systems Inc. As a result of a series of mergers and acquisitions including the 1995 merger of Martin Marietta and the Lockheed Corporation.

The building has been owned and occupied since then by a small component of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Brick building features, long flat surfaces and uniform bands of strip windows and bands of contrasting brick and there are some small, actually next slide, small bands of blue that you can particularly see in the upper floor windows that sort of divide the panes but it's very regular uniform building. Its design roots probably were the international style, one of the four major styles of mid century modernism, but which by 1984 most architects had moved on from. Next. No, sorry.

You can see this is sorry. Yeah, thank you. Recessed entrance, two stories. So the 3rd Floor is supported by a stainless steel wrapped column. It is curious to me that although there are entrances on the other side of the building, alongside, the front entrance faces nothing.

Parking lot. Just something I think is curious. Next. The same design goes all the way around and backside very long uninterrupted elevations, interruptions caused by the loading dock facilities and mechanical equipment. The building's actually somehow removed from the public way.

It is down below Redland Parkway. Being off Curie Court means it's a block away from Picard Drive. It has very little sort of visual presence in the neighborhood for especially for such a big building. Makes no particular visual contribution to its neighborhood or the primary streetscape, which is Picard Drive. The architect was a competent workaday architect like so many working in the city and the county during the postwar boom years and the later decades, following that.

He was not a master architect. He was not recognized by his peers for, his design excellence or particular achievements. He was not a fellow in the art American Institute of Architects. The building is neither architecturally nor historically significant and it meets none of your designation criteria. Again, was pleased that the staff came to the same conclusion I did that the building does not meet any designation criteria and, I urge you to, adopt those the recommendations on both buildings. And I'll stop there. If you have any questions, I will be happy to try and answer them for you.

Thank you very much. Commissioners, any questions or comments? Any questions or comments at all? The applicants? No? Commissioner Goldfinger?

No. Just a very good presentation. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Yeah. Was actually thinking that we may we should probably extend an invitation to you sometime to participate in one of our preservation events. Oh. You don't have to agree to it now. I'm putting you under pressure. I'm very happy

to be invited. How's that?

Okay. Perfect. Thank you so much.

Just one quick comment to agree with Michael and basically say I appreciate that the developer takes this process that we engage in seriously enough engage an expert and and who wrote such an excellent report. I think it's it's refreshing to see that they, you know, they wanna tear down these buildings. I I absolutely agree. There's nothing particularly notable about either of them. And but that they that they saw fit to to really engage with the process carefully is is important. Thank you.

Staff, did we have any comments from the public or is anyone online?

No comments from the public. I don't know if there's anyone online or not.

Yeah. I don't see anyone. No. But I I don't have the full I have the

full Okay.

Sure. Please.

Alright. So will you be using some of the materials after building?

I'm sorry?

Will you be using some of the materials? Will it, like, reuse the windows? Or

I think I'm going deaf.

Okay. So will you be reusing some materials from this

building? Recircling.

That is a question for

For him? Okay. Sorry. Alright.

Because I don't have an answer for that. Okay. And I wasn't think was actually thinking that was someone else's problem, not yours. But

Good evening, everyone. Bobby Varner with Pulte Homes for the record. The question was, will we be reusing any of the building materials after demolition? We will not. We will go through the full demolition permit process, make sure that there are no issues prior to demolition, make sure that the utilities are all cut off and everything is copacetic, but we do not it it's gonna be a, you know, demolished through and through. We will not be reusing those.

Thank you. Anything else? Go ahead, Commissioner Goldfinger.

Yeah. No, just following on what you just said. Isn't there a market for used brook that could possibly and these buildings have, must have gazillions of bricks in their facade. I'm just curious.

I

personally don't know if there's a market for used brick. I'm sure there could be. And, when we have a demolition company go and demolish it, they're then responsible for the disposal of everything. So perhaps it could be reused in some regard, but that are that's not our plans at this moment, I can say.

Okay. But just curious. Yeah. Thank you.

Sure.

Okay. Commission, may I have a motion, please? Sure.

Okay. Finding that the building proposed for demolition at 1395 Picard Drive, and I'm gonna also say 1 Curie Court as well, does not meet any of the historic district commission's adopted criteria for historic significance or architectural design and landscape significance. Staff recommends against historic designation.

Okay. Commission once again. Commissioners, once again, does anyone care to make a motion?

I will do that.

Thank you. May I have

a second? Well, let me read it.

You guys are jumping ahead of me. You're making me look bad in front of everybody. Okay?

No. You're doing fine. Finding that the buildings proposed for demolition at 1395 Picard Drive and 1 Curie Court do not meet any of the historic district commission's adopted criteria for historic significance or architectural design and landscape significance, I move that the HDC recommend against historic designation.

May I have a second?

Any

further discussion? All in favor?

Aye. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Have a nice evening.

Thank you.

Thanks for both. Okay, next on the agenda are discussion items. One is We need to go back to the one that wasn't

You're welcome, thank you.

The one we're moving off of consent. 419 Reading? Okay. Thank you for reminding me.

Okay. This is 419 Reading Avenue and this is for a shed. We actually, reviewed the shed previously. Okay. This is the actual house and the lot.

The, shed that we actually looked at replacing is at the very rear of the lot here. And, originally, when we looked at it, the design was the one on the right, the previously approved custom shed, and it was a 10 by 12 custom shed. And the owner actually decided that that was not going to be the right one for the property. So you're looking at a 10 by 14. It's a simpler design, but, basically yeah. Much simpler design, in fact, as we look at it. But, yeah, that's why I put it on a consent agenda because there was not a lot of changes except for the design itself.

Commissioners, any comments, questions? Commissioner Goldfinger? Again.

Yeah. Well, first, I think the current revised shed I think is more sympathetic to the original house than the original one. So that's good. But the other thing I was and I didn't go back far enough, but in the brief book, it said the original approval was 10/10/2025. Is that right?

I don't think the tenth is the right day, but it was 2025. It may have been October 20.

I thought but didn't we discuss that at at last month, the March meeting?

No. It wasn't that was a a different shed that we looked at, I think

Okay.

Last month.

Okay.

Seems wasn't there another, address that we looked at last month that had a shed? I can't recall.

I thought it was I don't know. Maybe

Yeah. Because I actually had to go back a little bit before I could find the one that we had looked at originally.

Okay. Thank you. Mhmm.

Any other comments? Questions from the commission? Do we get any comments from the public, or is anyone online?

The owner is online, I do believe. If

the applicant wants to speak, just go ahead and raise your hand, and I'll unmute you.

They did just come up and say they're here. There we go. That's just they're trying to.

Okay.

You should be able to unmute yourself now and speak.

Okay. Hi, Commission. How's it going? And sorry to, you know, take your time on rereviewing this. The reason for the change, and I just wanna be a little bit more give you a little bit more details, is that it's actually very hard to find a manufacturer in the area that does it into specs that match, like, you know, a historic district such as materials and everything.

Also, you know, one has to pass also local permit inspection. So, basically, you know, one of the issues is is, of course, trying to make it permit worthy as well. Couple of the design changes is that and also who the manufacturer is. It's gonna be Dutch Homes LLC out in Pennsylvania. They're an Amish business.

They actually produce one of the few sheds in the in the Northeast. That's basically like, this one is gonna be totally wood. The and if you can see right there, there's gonna be a little mustang at the top to match the local elementary schools and the Mustang in the Potomac area as well as I provided a lot of details on there such as the two day the two d flooring, the concrete pad. Everything is designed for longevity that it's gonna survive at least another thirty years. And then also Dutch Homes will actually come over from Pennsylvania to do, you know, maintenancing day to day.

That's the reason why there's a change. It's also to match the style of the the main house, and the coloring is also designed to match the style and the coloring of the the main house. So it's a little bit more architecturally friendly and such. And, yeah, that's again, a lot of the reasons for the changes is so that it can pass inspection, you know, and that it basically aligns with current city of Rockville, Montgomery County court permit and code ordinance. That's the reason. And that that's it. I'm here if you have any questions, and I work closely with Sheila on on this project or any project on 419 Reading Avenue.

Thank you very much. Commission, any questions or comments for the applicant? Anything else, staff? Commissioners, may I have a motion?

Okay. I move the commission approve certificate of approval application 2026Dash260DashCOA at 419 Reading Avenue. The work meets the secretary of the interior standards for rehabilitation number nine and the technical brief number 16 accessory structures.

May I have a second, please? I'll second. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Thank you very much. Have a great evening. Thank you for attending.

Thank you. And thank you, commission.

Okay. Now we can get back to discussion items. First would be old business, and the only thing on there is preservation month event for 2026, which is for next month. Once again, I wanna thank commissioner Dembo for helping route no. That's not true. We've met a few times. We've talked to a lot of different people. So, no, you've been quite the cheerleader and very helpful, so I appreciate that. I'm gonna throw something out there, and I don't I may get poo pooed by the commission, but I'm gonna suggest that we not do an event this year. And there's a number of reasons.

One, because we were struggling to find the appropriate weekend, and the weekend that we picked is the same weekend that's part of the week of Memorial Week. I mean, yes, Memorial weekend. And there are a number of people that aren't even gonna be in town still because they're getting back on Saturday or maybe Sunday. Two, there are other events that are competing on that weekend. Three, we really don't have any staff assistance, and that's no one's fault.

We understand completely. And I just feel like we would be doing a disservice to the historic district commission, to the staff, to the city, as well as to the community that really respects the history of the city. And I I just don't wanna see us do a cruddy job. And I feel poorly personally as the new chair because I really enjoyed the event last month and I mean, excuse me, last year and before. And I know I was looking forward to doing something special this year, but I just don't think that we're gonna be able to do it. So that's just my 2¢. Commissioners, any other do you all have any comments?

Yeah. Commissioner Dumbo? I was honestly thinking the same thing. I think it's given given, you know, this is something we've only been doing for the last few years. It's not something we we have to do. It's a it's it's a nice to have rather than a need to have. And I think given the constraints this year and the fact that we, you know, that this year is very busy, it seems with a lot of events in May because of the two fifty anniversary and the one hundredth anniversary of Glenview and there's so much going on that I think it just makes sense to sort of start to set our sights on planning early for next year. That's what I'd like to see us do.

Thank you. Any other comments, commissioners, questions, interrogation, blame?

I absolutely do not have any comments.

Okay. Thank you very much. Have any comments either.

Thank you. I I know we don't need to vote on this, but it's oh, yes. Staff,

please. I was gonna suggest that maybe you wait until the fall and do something just something celebrating historic preservation. And the plan that you had was a great plan as far as doing a tour. So maybe that will give you time maybe to do a couple houses near each other and within walking distance of one another. And so that's something to consider for later on rather than trying to rush through it right now. And, you know, you want it to be good.

It's a nice idea. Yeah.

By that point too, we would have more staff staff support. Right now, if we were to do it in May, I would be supporting. It would be just me, just to clarify. But, yeah, we would have more support in the fall for sure. Well, we have faith Yeah. In you

I was gonna say, I'm sure it would be we'd have more support than we needed even if it was just you.

You.

Appreciate that. Can I make a quick comment? Think I like the idea of doing something in the fall if we can start planning it now really. And we have a good idea and we could expand on that and really make something work. I mean, historic preservation, it's nice to do it during historic preservation month, but most people out there don't know it's historic preservation month. We do and other people in the historic. But our audience doesn't really and probably doesn't care that much in terms of whether or not they get to do a house tour in October or in May. So I think I like that idea a lot.

Commissioner Goldfinger. Yes.

I like that idea as well given time constraints and everything that Pete it. But the third point or next point is advertising. And I'm just wondering if I didn't see anything in the current Rockville reports, but that's for April. And I don't know if anything's gonna be put in for May about historic preservation month. But

Actually, he sent out a notice. Our public information officer sent out a notice asking was there anything for the May agenda. And I was waiting to see if there was you know, not for the May agenda, but for the publish the publication. And I was waiting to see if there was something to give them. I didn't wanna give them information, and it turns that wasn't accurate. And we don't usually do anything for May in Rockville reports, but, usually, there's a, proclamation by the mayor and council during that day. You've been here several times from that.

I remember. Yes. Yeah.

So they will still have that.

It would be nice. That's a very good point. It would be nice if we could do some kind of save the date type of thing and give folks a jump start because we came up against a lot of different events this year in in in May. And I'm sure with going back to school, there may be some other things we're competing with. But neither here nor there. But the point is to save the date might be nice. I I always appreciate that when there's something going on to get ample notice. Commissioner Powell?

Is it possible to at least have something in the Rockford reports about preservation month?

About preservation. I like that idea about it. We can get some space. It's just a really short I'd I'd be happy to draft something, a short article, like, just talking about what the that it's historic preservation month, what the HTC does in a few sentences, and what the value of what the HTC does to the for the city is. I think that's a message we have trouble getting across. And if we could use historic preservation month to give it to get a little bit of space in the in the Rockville reports. I know that's a lot there's a lot of demand for that space. And I know we've come a go up against this before. But we could easily I could we could easily put together some some writing. And that would you know, a lot more people would read that than would attend our events.

Well, what we what we could do also is so we don't take up an enormous amount of space too. You could just do the very basics in the article. And then you could say for more information, and we could have more on the website maybe or something Mhmm. For more detail.

And usually, PIO does the Rockville reports, you know, the written version. But they also, I think, week, out a web version of things that are are current. So that's another thing that con to consider because I have to look and see what the deadline date was for the May issue. Okay. And because he usually sets up so much room for each item that he's putting in there. He'll say, you know, you have this many words or you have this much space. And we'll send him something, and he will actually narrow it down to what will fit in the space that he can allow for it. So, if you go ahead and write something up, and I will try to get it to him.

No. I'm happy to write something up. I just if if we've already missed the deadline, do you wanna let

me know? Know that we have, but even if we have, we would still put it into our weekly reports, be able to say save the date.

Okay.

Save the date. And this is what historic preservation does. Just, you know, kinda make ourselves visible.

And who when you say he, who is that? I'm sorry.

That's Cliff Okay. Who works for PIO.

And where does he live? Here? I

don't know. When I listen to him talk, sounds like he lives in England.

I'm gonna go by and pay him a visit. Talk to him about making room in the news. Commissioner Goldfinger.

Just one one comment. I've noticed for the past two or three months that there's a vacancy announcement for historic district commission. I assume that's the alternate

Alternate position. And I actually had someone contact me about that position. He actually went at one of your positions, but I told him that's the one that was available because he talked about there were gonna be some vacancies in December about terms ending. And I let him know that probably he should go ahead and apply for the alternate position if he's interested because very often, our commissioners do reapply when their term is up. So I said this would be the way to get in.

Thank you. You're welcome. Commissioner Powell.

I have a question. So what is the process if they wanted to if you wanted to do, a a video snippet. Because I've seen where, like, staff if you get new staff Mhmm. They give you some like, a spotlight or something like that. I think So what's the possibility of

I think that comes from channel eleven.

I don't know.

And I'm not sure what the process is as far as getting in there, but I do know that they often are looking for something to publicize. So that's a good idea.

You think you can make

a snippet for preservation?

Mhmm. Yeah.

That's a good idea.

I I shouldn't take up all your time.

No. That's a good idea also.

K.

I'm not doing it if that's what you're suggesting. No. Okay. Anything else about preservation, mom?

I was gonna say if you will send me an email, I'm gonna gonna be in the office part of the day tomorrow. But if you send me an email, I will try to get it over to PIO and and to channel eleven and see how, you know, we could do that or what the process would be to do something like that. And if nothing else, I think that we have some things that we could rerun, if I'm not mistaken, if nothing else. So when

you you say an email, are you requesting the

Email reminder to me to

To you

forward to to yeah. And and if

you could find out how we'll we'll work on the we'll get something rolling for summary anyway regardless, and then we'll be ready to

We'll figure out what the timing might be.

Okay. Thank you. Mhmm. I will I'll do that when I get home. What? Commissioner Powell. Sorry.

Thank you. So I just don't want us not to do anything. So if we could get a spot in the news, in Raphael News, or a snippet, something, let's just not say that because of whatever. Just do something.

Okay. Next under discussion is new business. Commissioners, do you have anything? Commissioner Goldfinger.

Nothing really new. I had spoken earlier with Sheila. And in the past, you probably remember that when we have these small mid century houses up for demolition, I've always commented on the fact that we're slowly eroding the city's part of the city's history post World War II, the tremendous growth that Rockville experienced along with suburbs in most other metropolitan areas. And we're losing that one property at a time, which is not necessarily a bad thing, I want to repeat. But it is a loss of the city's history.

And so my question is and I just wanted to say this to just make it part of the public record. And I believe there has been some documentation of some of the city's historic neighborhoods. And I think you said it was up until World War II, but not much has been done post World War II. And I'd like to see that and I believe you said that there is a request to add money into the budget to extend these sort of surveys. So that's a good thing.

And I just wanted to make sure that we follow that and that before too much is lost, that we at least document it. This demolition and infilling, I think, is a good thing economically, socially. But unfortunately, as I've said, it does take away the sense, the historic sense of the city and how it grew at a certain period of time. So just want to, again, put that out before everybody and just try to make sure that we can document that before too late and it's all lost. Thank you.

We have actually several years repeatedly asked for money for a survey, a city survey. And each time we've been turned down, but each time we keep trying. One of the things is is that the last survey only covered up until just past nineteen forties, architecture, and there was so much more architecture that was not looked at. And I think at the time, it was because they weren't 50 years old yet, and so they were just looking up until the, point that buildings were 50 years old. But then that's been forty, thirty, forty years ago that that happened.

So, definitely, we have a lot of buildings in inventory now that are mid century modern, and past and beyond. For example, the two buildings that we looked at tonight, the, they're in a office park. And so I think that they were pretty much not even looked at at all when the survey of the city was done previously. And I think I don't know if it was because they were in a office park, and that was not the priority at the time. But, you know, it's just for us to be able to document the buildings that we have, all the buildings that we have, and not wait and be reactionary when something shows up to be demolished so we will already know that this is something we wanna save or something we we're willing to let go.

Commissioner Demba.

So given that, we keep asking for this money and and council keeps not giving it to us, we need to It's our job to sort of get in their ear when we have the opportunity to say and I've said and we've said this to you before, but, you know, when when we when we get an opportunity, we should be pushing that with mayor and council because they're they're they're the ones with the purse strings.

Yeah. I guess the question is, do we have to come under the, preservation office? Or can we, as a commission, ask for our own money? I see other commissions doing that.

It is actually historic preservation the historic preservation budget that it comes from.

So when you have, I guess, it's pedestrian or when the other commissions come before the council and they ask for money, so they come under a particular department or something?

I think it all depends on how much you ask for it. I think there's a certain limit that you don't have to go through the budget. There's some special money set aside. I think that if if it's over and this is me speculating and guessing because I'm not really sure. But I think that if it's over a certain amount, then it does have to go through the whole budget process as well. So I'm not sure about the other boards and the the amounts that they received and what the process was for that.

And the first question the council's going to ask us if we lobby them is, how much is it going to cost? Do we have any idea how much it would cost?

I think that the last time that we asked, I wanna say close to a 100,000 was the amount because doing a citywide survey is really big endeavor.

So go ahead, please, Commissioner Goping.

Was that intended as a one time total city overview or an incremental Yeah. One time city overview. Might it be more advantageous to do incremental surveys? It

could And maybe that

might get through more easily. Is this something that staff could look into and sort of come up with a a broad overview of what a multiyear

I would say wait until Katie gets back and because this is gonna be a major endeavor. It's not something I'm gonna be able to take up, And I'm sure it's not something Megan's going to be able to take up. So we definitely want to wait. Because Katie controls the budget as well. She controls the purse strings in our department.

Okay.

No, that's great because that gives us, I think, some direction.

Okay.

I just wanted to add, I think from my understanding what we've discussed, what was outlined in the preservation work

survey would be a little more risky just in case it doesn't get funded in the future. We don't want to have just part of the city done and then other parts end up not getting funded.

I I see your point. If we had an increment if one year didn't get funded, we just push it to the next year, maybe. I don't know. I just think that we ought to look into it because, again, right now, I don't think anything's being done. And we're losing that part of

our history.

Yeah. We can definitely look into that for sure.

Okay. Anything else under new business? Staff, anything?

Yeah. This is quite possibly my last meeting.

Here we go again.

Yeah. I've been giving a lot of thought to it and the fact that the economy is wreaking havoc with my retirement. You know? I'm starting to say it's not worth it to wait much longer because it's starting to you know? So I'm pretty sure I won't be here for the June meeting. I haven't put in a date, you know, with the city or anything like that, but I'm pretty sure that this will be it.

Well, can you

With a big smile.

Yeah. I'm sorry.

Are you gonna are you gonna remain in the area? Pardon? Will you remain in the area? No?

Nope.

I know you had talked before about

total absolute relocation. I'm actually my birthday is on May 16, thirty days from today. I'm going there to get my apartment. I plan to spend it's my seventieth birthday, and I plan to spend the night in my apartment on my birthday, getting ready to start shipping things to Panama. I just found out today that I can go ahead and apply for my visa, my Social Security and everything is gonna take care of that. So nope. Nope. I said I'm this weather today is I'm practicing for heat all the time.

Well, let me just add that it's been a pleasure working with you, Sheila. Thank you. I'm gonna miss it. I think we'll all miss you so much. Megan, you've got but I I think you're absolutely capable of doing that. But we will miss you, Sheila.

Okay. There will be occasion that I will be coming and forth. I will have residency there and residency here still, and I gotta vote, and I gotta pay taxes. So

I wish you the very, very best Thank you. In your retirement.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I'm excited. Who would think I would be this excited about turning

70? And

I'll say it again. The days are not long enough in retirement.

I can imagine, but you keep pretty busy. I was planning on taking it easy.

No. I don't see that happening, Sheila.

I know.

You're not that kind

of person.

No. Oh, you'd be surprised. It's probably gonna take a while before I get this totally bored with it and say, okay. Now I need to do something.

Okay. That's fair. Yeah.

But they have a wonderful historic district in Panama.

1,500

Spanish. It reminds you of New Orleans.

It's gorgeous. Yeah.

And they've been restoring buildings. And so there's a lot going on there. And they have great infrastructure too.

I'm sure you'll find something to keep you busy.

Okay. If there's nothing else, may I have a motion to adjourn?

I move to adjourn the meeting.

May I have a second? I'll second. All in favor? Thank you very much. Thank you, staff. Thank you, Channel eleven.