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Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio requested clarification on the language related to story poles and wondered whether leaving the requirement to the discretion of the Zoning Administrator or Planning Commission was sufficient to avoid the intended situation. She requested that staff provide several examples of when story poles might be required at the next meeting. She asked and Mr. Dolan confirmed that the Planning Department has one person designated as a consistent point of contact regarding these regulations so that information is provided consistently. She also asked about how staff would handle metal roofs, which were a common manufacturing technique, on existing homes. Mr. Dolan stated these roofs would typically have been corrugated metal and he would be very hesitant to approve such a thing. BREAK Mayor Thorne called a brief recess at 8:48 p.m. and reconvened the regular meeting at 9 p.m. Mayor Thorne opened the public hearing. Robert Moirano said he purchased a beautiful home on St. Mary's that was built in 20s and is well maintained but aging. In looking at the proposed regulations, he was most concerned with the lack of financial consideration for those attempting to keep their homes exactly as they were built so long ago. He said he was particularly concerned with the financial implications of regulations regarding windows. He said he felt some of the language which uses words like consider, exceptions, and compatible do little to increase certainty for property owners and asked how they are any less subjective than what exists today. He said his own home has a garage located to the rear of the site and, because of the width of his lot, location of the driveway, and certain other features, he was ultimately not able to make the improvements to his basement that he desired. He said the proposed amendments do little to change the present process which relies on planning to make the best decisions possible while still allowing homeowners to preserve and improve their properties. Jerry Hodnefield, task force member, said he owns a post Civil War home on Second Street and has personally dealt with remodeling several historic homes. He said he largely agreed with the staff recommendation with several exceptions. He explained that in many cases when it is discovered that parts of a historic home are no longer usable, it is difficult or impossible to restore these areas without disturbing the remainder of the home. He said that a builder or homeowner should have the ability to remove enough of the unaffected surrounding materials in order to facilitate repairs that match the look and intent rather than a patch job. He said he did not support the recommendation regarding bulk and mass, which is very difficult for a non-builder owner to understand and fails to resolve the issues that invariably arise in the downtown's eclectic historic areas. He noted that under the proposed changes, some of the existing historic homes could not be built today. He acknowledged the effort to preserve the appearance of original windows but noted that many have mechanical features that cannot be obtained today. He advised that the Design Guidelines allow for replacement with energy efficient, waterproof windows that resemble those originally installed in the home. He expressed frustration over staff's recommendation of a minimum lot width of 50 feet when the task force thoroughly debated and agreed upon 60 feet. With regards to Councilmember Brown's concern over changes to the roofline, he noted that he was not allowed to add several dormers to the roofline of his historic home even though this would have added to the overall character of the home. Mike Peel asked that the recommendation regarding the computation of allowable FAR be eliminated, noting that staff suddenly reduced it to a 150 foot radius from the 200 feet presented at the last task force meeting. He also felt the cutoff date for historic value should be 1900 and earlier. Peter MacDonald said the real goal should be smart regulation that both empowers and encourages property owners to invest in rehabilitating downtown properties. He cited three primary issues with the current proposal. First, the City Council rather than some consultant should make the final determination of which properties are to be considered historic resources and all affected property City Council Minutes Page 11 of 20 December 17,2013