1999 02 18 HPC Minutes
MINUTES
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING
A regular meeting held at the La Quinta City Hall Session Room
78-495 Calle Tarnpico, La Quinta, CA
FEBRUARY ]8, 1999
This meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was called to order by Acting Chairman,
Robert Wright at 3 :34 p.m. who led the flag salute and asked for the roll call.
1. CALL TO ORDER
A. Pledge of Allegiance.
B. Roll Call:
Present: Commissioners Irwin, Mitchell, Vossler, and Acting Chairman
Wright.
Absent: It was moved and seconded by Commissioners WrightIVossler to
excuse Commissioner Puente. Unanimously approved.
Staff Present: Community Deve]opment Director Jerry Herman, Planning Manager
Christine di Iorio, Principal P]armer Stan Sawa, and Secretary
Carolyn Walker.
II. PUBLIC COMMENT: None
III. CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA:
A. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Vossler/Irwin to add Election of
Officers to the Agenda. Unanimously approved.
B. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Irwin/V oss]er to add Staffing to the
Agenda. Unanimously approved.
IV. ELECTION OF OFFICERS
A. Acting Chairman Wright opened the nominations for Chairman. It was moved and
seconded by Commissioners IrwinIVossler to nominate Robert Wright as Chairman.
There being no further nominations, nominations were closed and Robert Wright was
unanimously elected as Chairman.
B. Chairman Wright opened the nominations for Vice Chairman. It was moved and
seconded by Commissioners Irwin/Wright to nominate Maria Puente as Vice
Chairman. There being no further nominations, nominations were closed and Marie
Puente was unanimously elected as Vice Chairman.
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Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
February 18,1999
IV. CONSENT CALENDAR:
A. Commissioner Irwin had a question regarding exclusion of an item in the January
20th minutes regarding a letter the Commission requested be written to Dr. Bruce
Love commending him on his archaeological reports received at that meeting. Staff
directed the minutes be changed as follows:
1. Page 2, Item #7 add the sentence: "Commissioners directed staff to draft and
send a letter of commendation to Bruce Love complimenting him on the
quality of his reports."
There being no further corrections, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners
Irwin/Wright to approve the Minutes of January 20, 1999, as amended. Unanimously
approved.
V. BUSINESS ITEMS
A. Sf_fling:
1. Commissioner Irwin questioned the change in staffing. Her concern was that
staff changes were made because of the Commission's action at the last
Council meeting.
2. Community Development Director Jerry Herman explained that in order to
allow all staff members to broaden their experience in different aspects of
planning, Mr. Sawa would be replacing Leslie Mouriquand as staff person for
the Commission.
3. Commissioner Irwin stated she thought the City would want the most
qualified personnel to serve as staff for the Commission.
4. Community Development Director Jerry Herman reiterated that staff
assignments are made to benefit the Department and increase the experience
of each of the planners. It is the decision of this Department that other
planners need to gain experience. The Commission is comprised of
professional and nonprofessional members of the community who have
historical and archaeological expertise. Discussion followed regarding how
staffing assignments were made.
5. Commissioners requested this decision be re-evaluated. Community
Development Director Jerry Herman indicated he would re-evaluate the
decision regarding staffing.
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Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
February 18, 1999
B.
~:r~rrt ~~<;:;~haeOlogical Monitoring for the Fxtension of Avenlle 48, between
fi so r t and Adams Street AAG - James Brock and Brenda D Smith
1. Principal Planner Stan Sawa presented the staff report, a copy of which is on
file in the Community Development Department.
2. Commissioner Mitchell corrected the last sentence of the first paragraph that
states the monitoring mitigated the impacts of these resources. The sentence
should read that it was as a result of the monitoring the artifacts were mapped
and recovered. Recovery is what mitigates these, not the monitoring.
3. There being no further comments, it was moved and seconded by
Commissioners lrwin/Mitchell to adopt Minute Motion 99-008 approving the
report as corrected. Unanimously approved.
C. Annual r:ertified Local Government R'1'ort for 1998
1. Planning Manager Christine di Iorio presented the staff report, a copy of
which is on file in the Community Development Department. She then asked
for comments from the Commissioners before finalization ofthis draft.
2. Commissioner Irwin asked if the application she submitted to the City
Council, to serve on the Commission, would be adequate. Staff replied in the
affirmative.
3. Commissioner Mitchell had some comments on the installation of new air
conditioning systems for the Casitas, within the La Quinta Hotel Resort, and
whether that would affect their eligibility for the National Register.
4. Planning Manager di Iorio replied that the Casitas are potentially eligible for
listing on the National Register. She then gave him a brief summary ofthe
steps that had been taken to assure retention of the historic integrity of these
buildings even though they were being modernized.
5. There being no further comments, it was moved and seconded by
Commissioners Irwin/Wright to approve Minute Motion 99-009 accepting
the report as submitted. Unanimously approved.
VI. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIAL
A. Planning Manager Christine di Iorio went over the various items submitted to the
Commission which included tours available through the National Trust, some articles
from the Society for American Archaeology, and an article regarding Jay von
Werlhof and his recent contribution to archaeology.
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Historic Preservation Commission MU1Utes
February 18, 1999
VII. COMMISSIONER ITEMS:
A. Chairman Wright then introduced the new Commissioners Judy Vossler and Mike
Mitchell and welcomed them to the Commission.
B. Commissioner Irwin talked about the video "The Story of La Quinta" and its
reference to Missions in the area. She felt contributions for the video came from Mr.
Wilke and other historians when they put together the information for the video.
Commissioner Irwin offered to contact Fred Rice to see where the information might
have been obtained.
C. Chairman Wright thanked Community Development Director Jerry Herman and
Principal Planner Stan Sawa for attending the meeting.
D. Chairman Wright also relayed a news story about the "Stonehenge of Florida".
E. Commissioner Irwin informed the Commissioners about tours that were to be
conducted in La Quinta. She had contacted Ms. Louise Neeley to do a tour of Point
Happy Ranch as Ms. Neeley was born and raised there and would be able to give a
more accurate historic perspective on Point Happy Ranch. After general discussion,
it was decided the tour of Point Happy Ranch would be conducted on March 29th at
3:30 p.m. with Commissioner Irwin coordinating with Ms. Louise Neeley and staff
obtaining approval from the property owner.
F. Commissioners discussed visiting some un-surveyed sites to gain a perspective on
surface observation work that is done for the Phase I archaeological study.
Discussion of possible sites followed with the possibility of the Commissioners
visiting the property at the northwest comer of Washington Street and Highway Ill,
given the property owner's approval, or a City-owned park site.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Voss1er/Irwin to
adjourn this meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission to the next scheduled meeting of the
Historical Preservation Commission on March 18, 1999. This meeting of the Historical Preservation
Commission was adjourned at 4:15 p.m. February 18,1999. Unanimously approved.
Submitted by:
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Secretary
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