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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-1-25MINUTES OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION FOR WASHINGTON COUNTY October 1, 2025 The Washington County Historic District Commission held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the Washington County Administrative Complex, 100 W. Washington Street, Room 2001, Hagerstown, Maryland CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Chairman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Commission members present were: Lloyd Yavener, Chairman; Ann Aldrich, Tyler Milam, Greg Smith, Brianna Candelaria and Ex-officio County Commissioner Randal Leatherman. Staff members present were: Washington County Department of Planning & Zoning: Meghan Jenkins, GIS Coordinator and HDC Staff member and Debra Eckard, Office Manager. Also in attendance were Katie Greis, Smoky Greis, Cheryl Greis, and Nancy Hall. MINUTES Motion and Vote: Ms. Aldrich made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 6, 2025 regular meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved. Motion and Vote: Mr. Smith made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 3, 2025 regular meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Ms. Aldrich and unanimously approved. NEW BUSINESS Residential New Construction Permits (2025-03538 and 2025-04306) — 25609 Military Road Ms. Jenkins presented two permit applications for property located at 25609 Military Road (WA-IV-057, Highfield/Cascade Rural Village). The applicant is proposing to construct a 2,616 sq. ft. two-story single- family dwelling on a full unfinished welled exit basement and a 624 sq. ft. detached one-story two car garage. The proposed structure will be of frame construction with siding. The structure's exterior appearance does not conflict with existing structures in the Rural Village including materials, style, arrangement of doors and windows, mass, height, roof style, and pitch proportion. The size and orientation are consistent with other structures in the Rural Village. The proposed setbacks do not conflict with other setbacks in the neighborhood. The accessory garage will be set back from the house slightly. The proposed construction does not conflict with the County's Design Guidelines and the characteristic details described in the application have been reviewed against the architectural review standards in the Zoning Ordinance; It does not appear that these structures would detract from the Rural Village. Staff recommends approval of the new construction permits due to the proposed construction's consistency with the County's Design Guidelines for Historic Structures, Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation and Section 5D.5 Architectural Review as listed in the County's Zoning Ordinance based on details provided. Motion and Vote: Ms. Candelaria made a motion to recommend approval of the permits as presented and in agreementwith Staffs recommendation. The motion was seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved. Residential Addition/Alteration (2025-04514) — 4504 Main Street Ms. Jenkins presented an application for property located at 4504 Main Street (WA-III-141 and WA-111- 025) (Barkman Summer Kitchen) in the Rohrersville Rural Village. The applicant is proposing to repair, wherever feasible, and replace, when necessary, with in -kind materials, which are key themes of the County's Design Guidelines and the Secretary of Interior Standards. The goal of this project is the stabilization of the structure with minimal changes to its appearance through the reuse of existing materials or matching in -kind. This proposal does not conflict with the review criteria in Section 5D.5 Architectural Review of the Zoning Ordinance as there are no changes to the building affecting its materials, style, arrangement of doors and windows, mass, height and numbers of stories or roof style. Staff recommends approval of the permit application as presented due to the work's consistency with the County's Design Guidelines for Historic Structures, Secretary of Interior Standards for Rehabilitation and Section 5D.5 Architectural Review as listed in the County's Zoning Ordinance based on the details provided. Motion and Vote: Ms. Aldrich made a motion to recommend approval of the permit application as presented and in agreement with Staff's recommendation. The motion was seconded by Mr. Milam and unanimously approved with Mr. Yavener abstaining from the vote. Citizen Question and Advice Ms. Nancy Hall from Cavetown was present at the meeting and asked members and staff for some advice regarding a historic carriage house located on the property of a water treatment facility on Crystal Falls Drive owned by the City of Hagerstown. The historic structure is deteriorating and Ms. Hall and some of her neighbors would like to preserve it. Ms. Aldrich suggested approaching the City of Hagerstown to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with plans to restore/rehabilitate the structure. She believes that there would need to be a 501(3)c organized in order to receive grants to help offset the costs. Ms. Jenkins suggested contacting the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area as a technical resource. Staff Report • A written report was provided to members in the agenda packet. • Legislative Priorities Update — A draft letter was provided to members in the agenda packet. Members had no comments. Mr. Yavener signed the letter to be forwarded to the County Commissioners. • Update of Town adoption of MOUs for Tax Credits o Signed MOU has been received from the Town of Keedysville o Smithsburg will present the MOU to its Town Council on October 7`^ at 7:00 p.m. o Williamsport anticipates presenting this at its October meeting o Boonsboro will present this at its October meeting o There have been no responses from the Towns of Hancock, Clear Spring, Sharpsburg or Funkstown. Ms. Candelaria will discuss this at the Sharpsburg Planning Commission's October meeting. • A Section 106 notification for a cell tower at Smithsburg High School was received. Ms. Jenkins stated that the proposed cell tower is in the middle of a forest planting that was done by the County. She has informed the applicant of this fact and acknowledged that the HDC would like to be involved in further review of the proposed project. The HCWHA's mini grant will close at the end of October. Ms. Jenkins also noted that they have released their geo-tour which has been very popular. The Comprehensive Plan has been adopted and Ms. Jenkins showed members where it is located on the County's webpage. Ms. Aldrich made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:40 pm. The motion was seconded by Mr. Smith, unanimously approved and so ordered by the Chairman. r% t , Respectfully Lloyd Yavener,