TOWN OF BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND HISTORIC: DISTRICT COMMISSION OFBRIS Historic District Commission Meeting Minutes Town Hall - 10 Court Street, Bristol Rhode Island Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 7:00 PM Written comments may be submitted to the Historic District Historic District Commission, Bristol Town Hall, 10 Court Street, Bristol RI 02809 or via email to totnepristolri.gor Commission via regular mail addressed to: 1. Pledge of Allegiance The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM, and the Pledge of Allegiance was promptly recited afterwards. In attendance: Millard, Church, Lima, Allen, and Goins Absent: Bergenholtz, O'Loughlin, Ponder, and Teitz Review of Previous Month's Meeting Minutes 2. 2A. Review of minutes of the October 23, 2024 meeting. Lima: Are there any additions or corrections? Allen: I have. On page 13, I'm not certain what applicant meant by, "not viewed which are double hung". Maynard: Sorry, it was supposed to be "not viewed from Allen: Okay. Page 14 it's "Lima" not "Liam" in the last paragraph. In regard to page 18, about materials of the fence approved, it was not mentioned and then it was Maynard: There was a bit of a confusing back and forth about it and wasn't discussed again until the motion. the street". stated wood? Allen: Okay. That's all I had. IOCOURTSTREET, BRISTOL, RI 02809-2208 401-253-7000 FAX401-253-2647 www.bristolirigoy Lima: On page 16, the St. Michael's application, I'm not sure if he was a property committee member or something else. Anything else? Can we have a motion to accept the minutes? Allen: I will. Motion made by Allen to accept the minutes of the October 23, 2024 meeting as amended; Seconded by Church. Voting Yea: Lima, Millard, Church, and Allen 3. Application Reviews 3A. 24-035 - 44 Bradford St, Bristol Molly Holdings: Discuss and act on change of proposed windows from previously approved Marvin replacement windows. Toth: Calls for applicants. No one present. Lima: Anyone here? Toth: We can go back to this later. Lima: Amy, do we need a motion? Goins: No, just wait until the end of the meeting. Toth: Anyone here for 44 Bradford? Okay, continued to Motion made by Lima to continue the application to the December 2024 meeting; Seconded by Allen. Voting Yea: Church, Millard, Allen, and Lima the December meeting. 3B. 24-150: 70 Griswold Ave, Constance Laflamme: Discuss and act on placement of wood fence along Metacom Constance Laflamme and Jessalyn Jarest present. Allen: Read history into the record. "JOHN Avenue frontage. DEWOLPHOUSE/THE FARM 1787, 1798, C. 1900: Known simply as The Farm, this 2-story, 5-bay, gable roof, Federal farm Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 house was built in three sections. After the Revolution, John DeWoIf 1760-1841 gradually acquired land on both sides of Griswold Avenue until his farm stretched from Bristol Harbor to Mount Hope Bay. He began this house in 1787as a summer home; he started work on his winter house at 433 Hope Street in1789. In 1798 work on The Farm was resumed. A contract with his house wright Simeon Pierce is at the Bristol Historical Society. Fine period detailing survives both inside and outside. After John DeWoIf's death, his son John1786 1862, who represented Bristol in the General Assembly and taught chemistry at Brown University, lived here. Title to The Farm passed to two grandsons. John James DeWoIf received the land west of Ferry Road including the sites of Blithewold, St. Columban Monastery and Wind Hill and A. Sidney DeWoIf the land east to Mount Hope Bay, with this house. A. Sidney Dewolf's daughter Clara married Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, one of the founders of the Herreshoff Manuracturing Company, in1885; the Herreshoffs lived here until her death in 1905. Remains of the gardens, laid out by John DeWoIf in 1798 and developed by the Herreshoffs, are still evident. Among the specimen plantings is perhaps the largest lemon wood tree in America." Jarest: I am the landscape architect for the project and a resident of the Town. Contance would like to erect an 8ft stockade fence on the portion of the property that is on Metacom Avenue with mixed vegetation hedges to screen the property from the view of Metacom as well as for noise reduction. Toth: There is a letter of support there. Lima: Read letter of support into the record. Goins: Just make a note of it in the packet. Lima: It is dated November 5, 2024 from Keith Maloney who is in support of the fence. Jarest: Usually a stockade fence would not be appropriate, but there are similar fences on Metacom and this part of the property is not part of the original farm. It is a subdivision and not original to the farm. Lima: It is not about the appropriateness of the fence. Has there been any consideration about fence with DOT? Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Jarest: We went to Zoning on Monday and got preliminary approval. If you give approval tonight, we will follow Lima: I would hate for you to do it and have someone come out and say it is not allowed. There is a precedence Allen: Are you dead set for steel pipes for support? Jarest: The area gets soggy, and steel would be more Allen: We haven't allowed steel posts in the Historic District since 2006 and that would be something I would be against. We asked Pick & Pay to enclose the posts in Jarest: We are going to do plantings on both sides to shield it from view and wrapping them in wood would be Church: Are you covering it with shrubs since it is Jarest: Yes, the homeowner doesn't want to see it up with DOT to follow the guidelines. with stockade fences on Metacom. effective than cedar or other wood. aw wood sheath. overkill. facing the house? either. Church: How far away from house is it? Jarest: I'm not sure. It is about 15ft off the property line off Metacom. I can check that for you. It is very far away. I can show you a drawing. Lima: On number 65? Jarest: I have a different plan that was not part of the packet which shows the distance. (Approaches the Commission.) Church: Around whole property? Jarest: Just on the Metacom side and it extends 20ft over here. Millard: It is very far away from the house. Church: Okay. Show it to John. Lima: Can we keep this? Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Jarest: Sure. Lima: Nick, we're keeping this. Toth: Just write Exhibit 1 on it. Lima: Okay. Are there any other questions or comments? Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak Cindy Carroll: I am a direct abutter. I am the closest who will be seeing the fence. I'm for it. The noise is horrendous. I was a landscaper, and I understand the layering to be done. There is noise coming off the tires on Metacom. This height and greenery will mitigate the sound coming off the tires at high speed and during inclement weather. I believe it is a fair way of fixing for or against this? the situation in the long term. Lima: Thank you. Can we have a motion? Allen: Sure. Motion made by Allen to approve the application as presented with a finding of fact that usually the Commission does not approve stockade fencing but it is in the general area right now currently and it is not close to the house in this case, and is being use as border to deaden the sound, and the approval of the use of steel pipes because of the wet location which will be shielded from house and street. Additional finding of fact that the plantings will be done with 1% years from the date of approval, and that this part of the property is not original to the farm; Seconded by Church. Church: Can there be a deadline for plantings? Lime: They have a year to start the work. Church: I just don't want them to put up the fence and eventually 10 years later put plantings in. Lima: Planting has to be within the year. Goins: You can make that a condition of the approval. Jarest: My client doesn't want to see that either. Allen: Within a reasonable period of time. Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Lima: Your first plantings would have to be in within the Jarest: Doing the fence this year and plant next year. Maybe in the spring and in the fall to layer the year. plantings. Allen: A year. Jarest: Can we have 1 year to 18 months just in case? Allen: We'll add a finding of fact that you will have 1% years to complete the plantings. Laflamme: As long as it is okay with you. Jarest: Just to get the right materials. Susan, I appreciate your position. Lima: Contingent on DOT. Jarest: Does anyone know who I need to contact? Goins: Ed Tanner would know. Maynard: You also need to make a finding of fact that this part of the property is not part of the original farm. Allen: Thank you. Yes, finding of fact. Voting Yea: Millard, Lima, Allen, and Church Secretary of Standards: #9 & #10 Project Monitor: John Allen 3C. 24-154: 13R State Street, Kendra Sheehan: Discuss and act on installation of sign on wall to replace existing sign for previous business. Kendra Sheehan and Amy Schenck present. Sheehan: We are opening a wellness center which is an off-shoot structure on State Street with an entrance on Thames Street. It is 30ft back from the road, requesting a 4ftx6ft sign to be installed to the right of the entrance. Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2 2024 Church: What are the materials? Sheehan: The sign is aluminum with a printed design which would look like what you see in the application. No Lima: Is it affixed to the building like the other sign? Sheehan: That was the sign for the former business. metal is showing on the sign. Church: Is it a larger size? Sheehan: Correct. I have another picture that shows Lima: I will add this to the packet. Which street? Sheehan: It is on Thames across from the Bristol Harbor. This gives you a sense of how small it would look from what it will look like from the street. the street even with the larger size. Lima: It will be the colors as shown here? Sheehan: Yes. Allen: Straight forward. Lima: Anyone have questions? Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak for or against this? Can we have a motion? Church: Sure. Motion made by Church to approve the application for a 4ftx6ft aluminum sign on the west facing extension of the building facing Thames Street as presented; Seconded by Millard. Voting Yea: Millard, Lima, Church, and Allen Secretary of Standard: #9 & #10 Project Monitor: Sue Church Lima: If you have any questions or problems with the installation, contact Nick and he'll contact Susan. Nick: The certificate will be ready online. Lima: Good luck. Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Sheehan: Thank you. 3D. 24-156: Independence Park, Lafayette Trail/Town of Bristol: Discuss and Act on Installation of Lafayette Catherine Zipf present representing Julien Icher. Zipf: I am here on behalf of Julien Icher for the installation of a historic marker in Independence Park next to the Quitos sign. Diane, Ed, and I all agree that it falls in the Town right-of-way. Julien will provide for the cost of the sign itself. It was approved by the Town Council. Julien is in Maryland and did not want to Historic Marker at Independence Park. come up here for this. Millard: Is this it? Church: What are the dimensions of the sign? Zipf: 41ft from the ground. I'm pretty sure it is 2ftx2ft. It is a metal marker. I think it is aluminum. Church: Is this true that he was there? Zipf: I thought the farm was a better location, but he Church: Do we have to approve it since he wanted it? wanted Independence Park. Lima: Where Quitos is? Zipf: Yes. Diane and Ed tried very hard to space it away from the Quitos sign. It is parallel from the street. Allen: Is the information only on one side? Lima: Is there no other place it can go? Zipf: Not sure. Zipf: I think Mt. Hope Farm would have been better. Lima: Why would we put a sign that is historically important there where it would take away some of the commercial information and perhaps have some effect on the business. We do not have dimensions, materials, or anything, and we are not approving it sight unseen. My Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 opinion at this time is to continue it and have contingency approval for a better location. Goins: I would think that it would be a new application. Lima: We do not feel that it should be placed in a commercial area, as there are more appropriate places like Thames or other places that it could be placed and when the application comes back to us, we need the dimensions, materials, and colors. Maryland or not. Zipf: I tried to talk him out of this. My heart sank. If we are here and it is a no, it's helpful and I can argue for someplace else, maybe elsewhere in Independence Park or Mt. Hope Farm. Where would you want to put this? Goins: What about across the sidewalk is that not in the Town right-of-way? Zipf: Correct. Goins: 10ft away from the sidewalk. Suggesting any further than that site then the HDC would be interested in it, if that's not enough space to address concerns. Lima: This is across from the condos correct? Zipf: By driveway into Quitos. Goins: I do not know if that is far away enough. Millard: There are sculptures on either side. Lima: That is in the park. I do not think it should be in the commercial area. The driveway to Quitos is also part of the commercial area. If it is elsewhere, it would have to be a new application. Zipf: I would be for elsewhere. Church: The Lafayette House. Zipf: That is what I said, but this is what he wanted. He was perfectly happy to go through compliance to do this. I think you get to say not here and find a different location. Lima: Let's take a poll. Sue? Church: Against it. Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Millard: I am for it, but I would like to have a specific placement without interference. I think it should stand away on the right side towards the water. Church: For visibility. with signs in the area. Zipf: Same here. Allen: First, I would like to say that I've had enough Allen: I think it is great to have something more permanent. I like this sign but prefer it not to be here. Maybe somewhere else in the park. Maybe on the left side of the walkway into the park across from the Lima: Some other place in Independence Park, just not in the commercial area would be more appropriate. Or other place like the house with reference to Lafayette. Zipf: I explained to him about the magnitude of compliance. Do you want to take another poll as to the choice of where to put it? Lafayette House, farm, or the sculpture. park? It is all in your purview. Church: Mt. Hope Farm or the Lafayette House. Millard: Independence Park or the Lafayette House. Allen: The Lafayette House is my first choice or Independence Park. I think it would get lost at the Mt. Millard: The farm was held by a British person, correct? Lima: I am for the Lafayette House and my last choice Hope Farm. Zipf: Yes. would be Independence Park. Zipf: This is very helpful. Thank you. Lima: Shall we continue this? withdraw and file new application. Goins: Continue it with an understanding that she might Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Lima: Let's move to continue it to next month. This way he will understand that it is either with our suggestions or to da a new application. Zipf: I lean towards the Lafayette House. Lima: Three of us think so. Again, there are members missing tonight but that is not a problem. Zipf: I believe the Town Council approved the site. Do we need to go to the Town Council again? Lima: Yes. Church: If it is closer to the water then needs to coastal resources would need to be involved. Allen: What about the owners of Quitos? Have you spoken Zipf: No, but they are into history, and I am not worried about them. I think it would have to go to DOT. Toth: If it is in the Town's if town right-of-way, I do Motion made by Lima to continue the application to the December 5, 2024 meeting; Seconded by Allen Voting Yea: Allen, Millard, Church, and Lima with them? not think so. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Concept Review Monitor Reports & Project Updates HDC Coordinator Reports & Project Updates HDC Coordinator Approvals Other Business 1. 2025 Meeting Schedule Toth: I have the 2025 meeting schedule. Church: Looks fine to me. Allen: Me too. Millard: Same. Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Lima: All in favor? Voting Yea: Lima, Millard, Allen, and Church 2. 2024 CLG Grant - Design Guidelines Discussion: Discuss items and themes members of the commission or public would like included in Design Guidelines. Toth: As I mentioned I think last month, we got a grant agreement and are starting to work on putting together an RFP. Are there specific things you, as the Commission, want to see to make sure we are hitting on topics the Lima: As many examples as possible of the different Toth: Ben provided me with a style guide from Stanton, public should know? characteristics. Virginia. Zipf: Good example. Toth: I want to follow their example as much as possible. There are a lot of specific examples of things. Maybe we can get a consultant on board for things specific to Bristol for what would be appropriate Lima: We do have a number of local little books that people have published regarding Bristol. Typical style for the 18th century window configurations, doors, chimneys and things like that, so - we do not have to reinvent. I think with some homework pictures specific to Bristol should be a part of the whole plan because like the applicant from last month, he was directed to for architectural styles. look at other houses in his time period. Millard: We have to window shame. Allen: We have done a lot of that. understand why it is appropriate. Millard: We are looking for other reasons to make them Church: To enhance the appearance of the house. Lima: Examples would be appropriate. Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Allen: Another thing that was suggested was to use the East Greenwich style guide. They have done a lot of work, and we can adjust it to us. Toth: Absolutely. Millard: Does Warren have any catalogs or pictures? They have sO many period houses that are Colonial rather Lima: They do not have a historic district. Sandy Scott Church: A suggestion that would be very helpful is if applicants can provide dimensions and materials for any Toth: I am planning on a section of what needs to go into a successful application. Usually I try to, but I Church: An application is not complete unless it is in Allen: Catherine can provide a lot of information. Zipf: Sometimes it is just a matter of putting stuff on than Federal. would know. changes. just missed that one. there. the form that prompts that. Toth: I just missed that. the online form. It is great. Zipf: Something simple as describing materials. I love Toth: Thank you. Church: How was the workshop? Zipf: Great! Exactly what I wanted. We had mostly homeowners. It was a great conversation. There is a lot of anxiety regarding the application process with the HDC. It offered an opportunity to Nick and will mention it next year. What would you want to say to an applicant. Are there any materials? Just food for thought. It went well. Lima: Hopefully this project can help. Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024 Zipf: Going to tackle it style by style. We have an ability in the guidelines to separate it by style which Toth: I am looking at Virginia to follow that. Giving people an idea of what would be appropriate based on would be nice. style would be helpful. Lima: Good idea. Zipf: Trying to do more walking tours to discuss character defining features and the like in order to help people fall in love with their homes. Lima: Work with the library and do a presentation sO it is less intimidating. People do not want to come here because they fear we will tell them what to do. It might Zipf: I thought about doing scavenger hunts, something to help bring it softer to the public. Programs for realtors, contractors, and others sO we are all on the same page. To cut to the chase more quickly. Maybe doing something at the library focusing on a style of the Maynard: Building on Catherine's idea, why not do an article in the local newspaper featuring a style of the month with a few pictures and a brief article and list the email of the person writing the article along with make it a little softer. month. any references sO people can reach out? Allen: Good idea. Lima: Yes, good idea. Would be helpful and it will reach everyone. It little pieces, this might be a little bit better for some people to digest. This causes a bit of anxiety, and we. do not want to do that. Anything else? Can we have a motion to adjourn? Church: Sure. Motion made by Church to adjourn; Seconded by Allen. Voting Yea: Lima, Church, Millard, and Allen 9. Adjourned at 8:07 PM Tyme Orypa Historic District Commission Meeting November 7,2024