May 22, 2024 Regular Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes
Historic Preservation Commission
Regular Meeting

May 22, 2024 | 5:30 p.m. l an
Chandler City Council Chambers Grra., CHANDLER
88 E. Chicago Street, Cha ndler, AZ i Community of Innovation
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Chair Weight at 5:30 p.m.
Roll Call
Commission Attendance Staff Attendance
Chair Kevin Weight David de la Torre, Planning Manager
Vice Chair Cheryl Bell Lauren Schumann, Principal Planner
Commissioner Bryan Saba Alisa Petterson, Senior Planner
Commissioner Mark Yost Mika Liburd, Associate Planner
Commissioner Kyle Barichello Taylor Manemann, Associate Planner
Thomas Allen, Assistant City Attorney
Absent Julie San Miguel, Clerk

Commissioner Erika Finbraaten
Commissioner Devan Wastchak

Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Commissioner Yost.

Scheduled and Unscheduled Public Appearances

Members of the audience may address any item not on the agenda. State Statute prohibits the
Board or Commission from discussing an item that is not on the agenda, but the Board or
Commission does listen to your concerns and has staff follow up on questions you raise.

CHAIR WEIGHT welcomed new Commission Member Barichello and asked if he could introduce
himself.

COMMISSIONER BARICHELLO stated that he moved to Chandler about three years ago and works
in real estate development as an entitlements manager. He further stated he has a Planning

He further mentioned that a few of the structures were repurposed buildings from the internment
camp at Gila River.

CHAIR WEIGHT sought clarification regarding a stipulation recommended by the staff, which
required the addition of wooden slats to the existing wrought iron fence located on the north side
of the property to screen the view of the rear yard and the new addition. Wooden slats must match
the slats and design of slats shown in the fence at the southeast portion of the front yard. He
asked for the reasoning behind this stipulation.

MIKA LIBURD, ASSOCIATE PLANNER responded according to Criterion 1, the addition should be
designed in a way that makes it subordinate to the historic property. She explained the carport in
the front yard blocks the view of the rear yard, but once the carport is removed, the screening will
no longer exist. She further explained to meet this criterion, staff asked the applicant to add wood
slats to screen the addition and minimize its visibility.

CHAIR WEIGHT asked if the project would require any zoning adjustments or variances, specifically
regarding setbacks and lot coverage as proposed.

MIKA LIBURD, ASSOCIATE PLANNER confirmed that the project, as submitted, had lot coverage of
38%, which was under the maximum allowed and it also complied with all required setbacks and

other zoning requirements.

CHAIR WEIGHT confirmed there were no further questions or comments from the Commission
Members and asked if the Applicant could come forward.

SOFIA CORDILLERA, APPLICANT introduced herself and stated her and her husband have been in
the neighborhood since 2020 and are very excited about the historic neighborhood. She stated
that she did not have a presentation prepared but would be able to answer any questions and is
excited to start a project in our backyard.

CHAIR WEIGHT confirmed there were no questions from the Commission Members for the
Applicant and announced that there were no speaker cards for this item. He expressed
appreciation for staffs explanation of the criteria for a certificate of no effect, acknowledging the
new structure will be a few feet taller than the existing house, but it is set far enough back that it
will not have much of an impact. He mentioned that the owners were not receiving the historic
property tax benefit and encouraged them to speak with staff about applying for the state-run
program.

SOFIA CORDILLERA, APPLICANT confirmed they had already submitted their application for the
historic property tax benefit but missed the April 15th deadline.

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the project kickoff, project startup, and stated staff is just in the gathering input phase. She
explained staff and the consultant will be collecting information from the community and citizens
and once that is complete, staff will move into drafting and finalizing the plan. She stated the
current goal would be city council approval by the end of this year so that the final plan is in place
as of January 2025. She stated the feedback phase is going to be the most visible and interactive
with the community and there will be multiple opportunities to collect community input. She
explained that staff will be conducting several educational meetings such as this one, conducting
stakeholder interviews with identified key stakeholders and community members. She stated that
the City is getting the website ready to go and that will go live probably at the beginning of next
month. She further explained that through the website, staff will provide updates and meeting
dates and surveys. She stated that staff is also planning on three visioning workshops, the third
of which will be an immersive event. She explained this will be an exciting public event that will
allow the community to immerse themselves in three-dimensional virtual reality scenarios
prepared based on the community input that we collect and there will be ample public notification
in the hopes of engaging the widest range of the community possible. She elaborated on outreach
efforts, informing the community of project info, updates, backgrounds, and goals. She asked if
there is anything that the Historic Preservation Commission would like to see staff include in this
area plan update or something that should not be considered. She mentioned that staff is always
open for any suggestions and welcomed the commission's input.

COMMISSIONER SABA pointed out the new districts in red. He sought clarification on the process
for how the areas were selected.

ALISA PETTERSON, SENIOR PLANNER explained the boundaries in those specific areas grew from
the middle out, with the historic downtown being clearly defined. She further explained Chandler
Boulevard was used as the boundary between the historic downtown and the Northern District,
as it provided a clear distinction between the areas north and south of Chandler Boulevard. She
stated the San Marcos District was also clearly defined and to avoid arbitrary or undulating
boundary lines, they aimed to find clear, obvious boundaries. She further stated east of the
historic downtown, the boundary between the downtown and eastern district ran along the train
tracks, another clear geographic boundary, reflecting distinct character areas. She stated the
Southern District was defined as everything south of Pecos, extending all the way to the 202 to
recognize it as a key gateway into the downtown area.

COMMISSIONER SABA thanked staff for the explanation.
COMMISSIONER YOST asked about the Springs Neighborhood located east of McQueen and north

of Frye. He noted redevelopment appeared to be stretching between and south of Chandler
Boulevard and asked for clarification on that area and what redevelopment entailed.

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Historic Places and suggested that the list might not be comprehensive as he believed as there
are other properties within the boundary, even if not formally listed, that had been considered
eligible for recognition. He emphasized that the more inclusive staff could be in identifying and
proactively encouraging preservation and compatible land use with those properties, the better.

ALISA PETTERSON, SENIOR PLANNER stated that feedback has already been received with
comments from the public asking about those historic areas and that it was one of staff's priorities.
She acknowledged that there were also other areas they hoped to encourage and that the
comments presented will be carried forward.

Member Comments/Announcements

CHAIR WEIGHT announced this year's Arizona Historic Preservation Conference is scheduled June
25" through 28" in Prescott at the Hassayampa Inn. He stated the conference has fantastic tours
and speakers and is a great opportunity to network and to learn about preservation.

DAVID DE LA TORRE, PLANNING MANAGER announced if any Commission Members were
interested in attending, the city would cover the registration costs.

CHAIR WEIGHT asked if the City of Chandler had an updated inventory of historic properties
available. He pointed out, while the city has properties that are formally listed on the historic
register, there are other historic properties that were surveyed back in the 1990's that still might
exist today. He suggested staff update the list and create a plan for outreach to encourage
properties to considered registration, like what was done with the Silk-Stocking neighborhood and
other properties that have been brought before the Historic Preservation Commission.

Calendar
The next Regular Meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission will be scheduled as needed
the fourth Wednesday of the month.

CHAIR WEIGHT pointed out that the fourth Wednesday of June is during the Arizona Historic
Preservation Conference and asked staff the likelihood of a meeting that week as he will be
attending the conference.

VICE CHAIR BELL stated that she will also not be available that week in June.

DAVID DE LA TORRE, PLANNING MANAGER stated there will most likely not be a June meeting.

CHAIR WEIGHT thanked staff and asked the Commission Members to stay tuned for the next
meeting date.

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