SRCC official meeting notes - 4/7/2008
1. Jim Christianson, Norwood House ? as the former chair of the
landmark commission he is very concerned about the condition of the
norwood house (riverside and i-35). despite its historic
designation, the city has allowed the building to fall into
disrepair. the goal is to get the property officially listed in this
year's budget. please call the parks director to push for action.
MOTION: to lobby council to support restoring the historic norwood
house, officially add it to the budget and restore the capped springs
= PASSED
a committee was formed to follow the issue and chaired by Claudette
Lowe, aided by Tim Fojtik.
2. Treasurer's Report by Bob Drew ? the report was postponed while we
work to transfer the account to Bob
3. amendments to the billboard ordinance ? council members dunkerley
and martinez are initiating an ordinance which would extend the areas
where billboards would be allowed (including some scenic roadways)
and increase the permitted size and height to nearly twice the
current limits in some instances. the overall goal is to clean up
signage problems. speakers from Scenic Austin were on hand to
educate members on the proposed ordinance and its potential impact on
the city.
MOTION: to draft a letter urging city council to reject the
amendments which allow for relocation of billboards in areas where
they are not currently allowed, maintain the current regulation
requiring a 10% reduction on all relocated billboards and to ensure
that no new billboards are erected on sites where billboards have
been removed from. a special note has been made concerning the
designation of riverside east of I-35 as a preferred area for
relocation. = PASSED
4. Jim Hargrove requesting a variance for 2101 Alameda ? home was
built in 1949 and he has recently come into ownership of the property
and is looking to remodel the home and add 700-800 sq/ft without
changing the existing footprint. he is looking to enclose the front
porch, which is currently a slab porch, to be used as interior
space. the 25' front setback of the property runs diagonally across
the front porch making it un-enclosable.
MOTION: to support the variance = FAILED ? discussion followed that
determined the request to be a matter of design preference and not a
hardship issue. the potential for future developers to use this
variance to argue for passage of non-hardship variances makes this a
slippery slope that would be best addressed by having the architect
explore other options. another issue was the alterations to the
front of this home would exclude it from inclusion in the count of
historic homes needed for the historic district.
MOTION: to oppose the variance = PASSED
5. Tim Fojtik, 1510 travis heights, speed hump vibrating home ? tim
brought much data collected from 5 years of analyzing and living with
the problem of having a speed hump located on top of the water line
leading to his home. as large trucks drive over the speed hump it
sends vibrations into his home that have physically damaged his
property as well as vibrate his plumbing and toilet. he has been
trying to work with the city to address the problem and was told that
the city would remove the speed hump with approval from the SRCC.
MOTION: to support the moving of the hump 10' to either side of its
current location = PASSED
6. committee reports and announcements
a. april 25th molly ivins bench dedication
b. please visit historictravisheights.org for more
information on the historic district project
garret - co-secretary