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1996 04 18 HPC Minutes MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING A regular meeting held at the La Quinta City Hall Session Room 78-495 Calle Tampico, La Quinta, CA April 18, 1996 3:00 P.M. I. CALL TO ORDER A. This meeting of the Historical Preservation Commission was called to order at 3:04 P.M. by Chairman Millis. II. ROLL CALL A. Chairman Millis requested the roll call: Present: Commissioners DeMersman, Puente, Wright, and Chairman Millis. B. Chairman Millis noted that Advisor Lauren Weiss-Bricker would be unable to attend. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Puente/Wright to excuse Commissioner Woodard. C. Staff present: Assistant City Manager Mark Weiss, Community Development Director Jerry Herman, Planning Manager Christine di Iorio, Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand, and Executive Secretary Betty Sawyer. . III. PUBLIC COMMENT: None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Chairman Millis asked that the Minutes of March 21 be corrected on Page 3, Item 7, by deleting the word "generally" as it appears in the sentence. There being no further corrections, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners DeMersman/Wright to approve the minutes as submitted. Unanimously approved. V. BUSINESS ITEMS A. Discussions with Assistant City Manager regardinl! the duties and responsibilities of the Commission I. Staff introduced Mark Weiss, Assistant City Manager spoke to the Commission regarding the status of all CommissionslBoard appointed by the City Council. Acting City Manager Mark Weiss stated he had prepared and presented a staff report for the Council that outlined the organizational or HPC4-18 Historical Preservation Commission Apn118.1996 legislative structure of each of the commissions as well as their history and duties. The City Council reviewed the report and made comments, but directed staff to meet with each of the commissionslboards and solicit their comments. The staff report suggested some alternatives as to how some of these commissionslboards may be merged and streamlined, but there was nothing specific to the Historic Preservation Commission. Even though there was no discussion relative to merging the Historic Preservation Commission with any other commission, staff still felt it appropriate to gain input from the Historic Preservation Commission regarding this issue. 2. Chairman Millis stated that in reviewing the report, the budget distribution of the Commission showed the Planning Commission and Historic Preservation Commission had the largest time commitment upon staff; what was this rationale based on? Community Development Director Jerry Herman clarified that due to the Survey and Context Statement, staff time was excessive. This will change as time goes by. 3. Commissioner DeMersman stated it would be very difficult to merge this Commission with any other commission due to the State requirements for the Certified Local Govemment Certification of the Historic Preservation Commission. In reference to the size of the Commission, it was his understanding that finding professionally qualified people to fill the current five positions was always difficult, it would not make sense to increase the size. Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand stated there had been a problem finding people who were qualified to fill the professional positions. 4. Commissioner Wright stated he too felt it would be difficult to merge the Commission and keep the CLG requirements. 5. There being no further discussion, Assistant City Manager Weiss thanked the Commission for their input. B. Discussion - Design Review of New Buildings with Historic Architectural Styles by the Commission. I. Chairman Millis stated this was a request of Commissioner Woodard and due to his inability to attend this meeting, this subject be continued to the next meeting. Unanimously approved. C. Context Statement - update I. Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand asked if there were any other comments from the Commission on the Context Statement. Chairman Millis stated he was impressed by the thoroughness. He asked if the City had looked into the HPC4.18 Historical Preservation Commission April 18, 1996 change of the ownership title for the Hacienda del Gato, Staff stated it may be better to have the consultant do this, Chairman Millis stated the title search may show if any changes have occurred, Commissioner DeMersman asked ifhe would be allowed to show the document to Dr. Bean, Staff stated there were no reasons why he would not be able to do so, Commissioners Wright and Puente stated they both thought it was very well done, 2, Chairman Millis stated that the section on the history of agriculture had provided some new and interesting information, 3, Staff discussed with the Commissioners the consultant selection process, date and time, 4, There being no further comments, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Wright/Demersman to accept the report, 0, Rancho La Quinta Archaeologist Report 1, Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand informed the Commission that the archaeologist who prepared the report was not available to make formal presentation, but the developer Mr. Tom Cullinan, was present Staff stated they had a meeting with the developer to discuss the concerns raised by staff regarding the recommended mitigation raised by the archaeologist Staff stated that if the developer followed the suggestions of the report, it may be too extensive and expensive. Staff had spoken to the archaeologist regarding the report and they had responded in return, Staff recommended accepting the inventory portion and not officially accepting the recommendation for further work and evaluation. 2. Planning Manager Christine di Iorio stated that asking for research and design questions was similar to the presentation by Bruce Love regarding the cairns, The City needs the archaeologist to submit information gleaned from other sites that would support a research design question, Chairman Millis asked that by accepting the inventory and not the other if this would be any relief for the developer, Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand stated it would make him aware that he may need to shop for other archaeologists in preparation of the Phase II scope of work, CEQA addresses the maximum amount of funds the developer is required to spend on testing and mitigation. 3, Chairman Millis asked the developer, Mr. Cullinan, ifhe had any comments, Mr, Cullinan stated he had no questions at this time. He would speak with other archaeologists, The Phase II project would not be started for two years, HPC4-18 Historical Preservation Commission April 18. 1996 4. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Puente/Wright to accept the report as submitted. Unanimously approved. E. Criteria for a Preservation Award I. Associate Planner Leslie Mouriquand presented the information pertaining to the subject and informed the Commission that staff would bring back a draft of the criteria. Commissioner Wright stated it would be great to have the program in affect. Commissioner DeMersman stated the City of Palm Springs had an award ceremony last year and it drew 90 people. It was very successful and have plans to do it again. 2. Commissioner Puente suggested encouraging participation in the schools. Chairman Millis suggested including the High School and middle schools. 3. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners DeMersmanlPuente to instruct staff to move forward. Unanimously approved. VI. OTHER A. Commissioner Items B. Staff informed the Commission that the City Council had approved the Month of Mayas La Quinta Heritage Month. C. Consultant Selection Committee meeting to be Monday, April 22, 1996. D. Staff informed the Commission that the monthly American Planning Association meeting/luncheon would be held on Tuesday, April 23, 11:45 A.M. at the Sizzler Restaurant in Palm Desert. Mr. Bruce Love would be speaking on "Cultural Research Management". E. Planning Manager Christine di Iorio informed the Commission that the Grant package had been mailed with Council approval. It was due May 1st. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Puente/Wright to adjourn this meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission to a regular meeting on May 16, 1996. This meeting of the Historic Commission was adjourned at 3:44 P.M. Unanimously approved. HPC4-l8