14 - Adoption of the 2009 Design Standards for Historic Districts

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Item No. 14 TO: Mayor & Council FROM: John Godwin, City Manager SUBJECT: DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR IIISTORIC DISTRICTS DATE: April 17, 201. BACKGROUND: The Ilistoric Preservation Commission has long used the Design Standards for the Historic Districts of the City of Paris, Texas, written in 2009, to guide its work with local property owners and historic structures. However, the guidelines have never been adopted by the city council as part of our preservation ordinance. As a result, we asked the commission to review the guidelines and develop any modifications they believe appropriate, then report back to the council. The con-imission created a review committee, which included Randy Hider, Matt Coyle, and Glee Emmite. The committee met on February 9 and prepared a list of clarifications it recommended should be addended to the standards. The commission as a whole discussed these recommendations in February and again in March, and at its April meeting voted to adopt the design standards as amended. STATUS OF ISSUE: Three specific challenges were addressed: fencing, painting, and windows. The commission recommends as follows: 1. Fencim,,. The basic standards prohibit fencing in the historic district, but the commission recommends changing to allow vertical steel tubing that has been powder coated. 2. Painting. Though removal is stilt preferred, paint may be allowed on brick that has already been painted. However., painting unpainted brick remains disallowed. 3. Windows. The commission encourages the repair of original windows as the first option. However, if a replacement window is needed, acceptable materials must be powder - coated metal -clad wooden windows, fiberglass windows, or fiberglass -clad wooden. The window must match the original in profile, dimension, configuration, materials, color and finish (divided light and size will be considered). Unacceptable materials include vinyl or vinyl -clad, and anodized alUnimuni. BUDGET: NA