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2007 05 17 HPC Minutes MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING A Regular meeting held at the La Ouinta City Hall Session Room 78-495 Calle Tampico, La Ouinta, CA May 17, 2007 This meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was called to order by Chairperson Wilbur at 3:07 p.m. who asked for the roll call. I. CALL TO ORDER A. Pledge of Allegiance. B. Roll Call. Present: Commissioners Puente, Sharp, Wright, and Chairman Wilbur Staff Present: Planning Manager Les Johnson, Principal Planner Stan Sawa and Secretary Carolyn Walker II. PUBLIC COMMENT: None III. CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA: Confirmed IV. CONSENT CALENDAR: A. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Wright and Puente to approve the minutes of January 18, 2007, as submitted. Unanimously approved. V. BUSINESS ITEMS: A. Historical/Archaeological Resources Survey Report for The Enclave at La Ouinta Applicant: Bayshore Development Company Consultants: CRM TECH (Michael Hogan and Bai Tang, Principals) Location: Northeast corner of Monroe Street and Avenue 62 in the City Sphere of Influence. 1. Principal Planner Stan Sawa presented the information contained in the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Community Development Department. P:\CAROL YN\Hist Pres Com\HPC 5-17-07 .doc Historic Preservation Commission May 17, 2007 2. Commissioner Sharp asked about the number of residences and density of this project. Staff replied there were approximately 265 to 270 units of two to three units per acre which is typical for the area. Commissioner Sharp asked if a golf course was proposed. Staff went over the development map with the Commission. Staff explained this development was not currently in the City, but was in the south area within the City's Sphere of Influence. 3. Commissioner Puente asked if there was a timeline for annexation into the City. Staff said all Sphere of Influence discussion had currently been put on hold subject to Council's further review of fiscal impacts associated with annexation of lands. They have been meeting with this applicant using this project specifically as a fiscal test model and doing their fiscal modeling assessment, but at this point in time it was essentially on hold. Staff explained the procedures that had to be followed to annex properties/development into the City. 4. Commissioner Sharp asked if it was currently in Riverside County. Staff said it was currently unincorporated. 5. There being no further comments it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Wright and Puente to approve Minute Motion 2007-002 accepting the Archaeological Assessment. Unanimously approved. B. Paleontological Resources Assessment Report for The Enclave at La Quinta Applicant: Bayshore Development Company Consultants: CRM TECH (Michael Hogan and Bai "Tom" Tang, Principals) Location: Northeast corner of Monroe Street and Avenue 62 in the City Sphere of Influence. 1. Principal Planner Stan Sawa presented the information contained in the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Community Development Department. 2. Commissioner Sharp asked if removal of two feet of soil was normal. Staff replied it was normal for areas that had been farmed. 3. Chairman Wilbur asked if this was on, or bordering, Native American land. Staff said it was bordering the Torres-Martinez property. P;\CAROLYN\Hist Pres Corn\HPC 5-17-07.doc 2 Historic Preservation Commission May 17, 2007 4. There being no further comments. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Wright and Sharp to adopt Minute Motion 2007-003 as submitted accepting the Paleontological Assessment. Unanimously approved. VI. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIAL: None VII. COMMISSIONER ITEMS: A. Comments on the Morgan House. 1 . Commissioner Sharp asked about the Morgan House project and why the applicant had not returned to the Commission. He referred back to the Commission Minutes of January 18, 2007. Staff said the Hotel had not conveyed any definitive plans on the maintenance of the Morgan House. Staff did report that they did contact the Hotel about the condition of the southwest section of the Morgan House, which was previously used for storage, and had been cleaned up. They added, there had been a change of management at the Resort and there has been dialog with them. Staff could not go into further detail on the Pool Project due to pending litigation. 2. Chairman Wilbur asked if the Morgan House could be torn down without their permission. Staff replied that it could not. 3. Commissioner Wright said the applicant could request it be torn down but would have to get a demolition permit from the City. Staff replied the application would not be approved without the Commission being informed. 4. Commissioner Wright said he has spoken to the Council about the preservation of the Morgan House. Staff commented they are interested in protecting the Morgan House and will open dialog with the Hotel after litigation has been settled. 5. Commissioner Sharp said he was concerned about the chain link fence. Staff said the conditions did not include chain link, but a more appropriate type of fencing. 6. Commissioner Wright was concerned about the maintenance of the Morgan House. Staff said there was nothing conveyed to them about the Hotel not maintaining the building. 7. Commissioner Wright said the City could expect to see a grass roots effort to get the resort to address the situation of P;\CAROLYN\Hist Pres Com\HPC 5-17-07.doc 3 Historic Preservation Commission May 17, 2007 retrofitting the Morgan House. There was no such movement involved with the Hacienda del Gato because the applicant did what was necessary to preserve the house. He said the media would be involved in the grass roots movement to preserve the Morgan House. 8. Commissioner Puente asked about the possibility of moving the house. Staff said the building would never survive the move. The adobe structure report did not support the ability to relocate and reconstruct the building. 9. Commissioner Wright said the Morgan House should remain where it is. It is a historic site. 10. Commissioner Puente said she went to see the property and it was beautiful and needed to be preserved. 11. Chairman Wilbur asked where the building was versus where the new pool structure would be placed. Staff explained what was to be included in the proposed water feature/pool project. 12. Chairman Wilbur asked about historic markers. Staff replied there were none. 13. Commissioner Sharp said there seemed to be some confusion as to what the Hotel's position was on this house. Staff stated they had been working with the previous General Manager and were hoping for a more direct dialog with the new General Manager. 14. Commissioner Puente asked if the project would come back to the Commission. Staff said if there were any changes in the project, they would bring them back to the Commission. They would require the hotel to maintain the building which is . currently off limits but is being monitoring. 15. Commissioner Puente said they expected the applicant to come back with figures on retrofitting. 16. Chairman Wilbur added the Commission had requested this information at the last meeting and had expected a response from the applicant. 17. Staff said they could contact the applicant and request them to give the City an update, but would hold off doing so until the current litigation's resolved. P:\CAROLYN\Hist Pres Com\HPC 5-17-07.doc 4 Historic Preservation Commission May 17, 2007 18. Commissioner Wright said nothing would happen until the litigation was over. Staff agreed. 19. Chairman Wilbur. said maybe the public input would have an effect on what was ultimately done with the Morgan House. 20. Commissioner Wright said it is going to take some time to resolve this. B. Comments on Fritz Burns Sculpture. 1 . Commissioner Sharp said he was concerned about the rainbow sculpture at Fritz Burns Park. The sculpture had been re-painted to match the City Logo and altered with the addition of the words - "La Quinta Gem of the Desert", as well as Gambriel Quails and palm trees. He was questioning who had the authority to make these drastic modifications without the consent of the artist. 2. Staff recommended he contact the Community Services Department as they are in charge of the Cultural Affairs Commission which has authority over public art pieces. C. Comments on the Laing Property. 1 . Commissioner Wright asked if there were monitors on the Laing property. Staff said there were full-time monitors as well as a tribal monitor. The monitors would be following up on any artifacts found. 2. Commissioner Wright thanked staff for their monitoring efforts. D. Question about Commission vacancies. 1. Commissioner Wright asked about the upcoming Commission vacancies and application deadlines. Staff briefly explained the vacancies and the application process. E. California Preservation Conference. 1 . Commissioner Puente commented on the Preservation Conference and shared some photos with the Commissioners. P:\CAROLYN\Hist Pres Com\HPC 5-17-07.doc 5 Historic Preservation Commission May 17, 2007 VIII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Wright and Puente to adjourn this Regular Meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission to the next Regular Meeting to be held on June 21, 2007. This meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was adjourned at 3:40 p.m. Unanimously approved. Submitted by: !J~ Carolyn alker Secretary P:\CAROLYN\Hist Pres Com\HPC 5-17-07.doc 6