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Board hears City Hall rehabilitation update; members press staff to re-notify owners affected by recent contributing-list changes
Summary
Staff briefed the Historic Preservation Advisory Board on City Hall rehabilitation work and a planned public workshop on the A. C. Freeman House; members asked staff to reissue mailed notices to property owners affected by recent contributing-list changes.
The Punta Gorda City Historic Preservation Advisory Board received an update on the City Hall rehabilitation and the A. C. Freeman House and pressed staff to re-notify property owners affected by recent changes to the contributing structures list.
Danielle Berhouse, senior project manager in urban design, told the board that city council wants to rehabilitate the older Chambers area of City Hall. Berhouse said public works director Ron Evertz is reviewing the scope of work and that the council’s direction focuses on making meeting spaces usable: redesigning restrooms to meet ADA requirements, replacing ceiling tiles, removing carpeting and refinishing floors. Berhouse said a joint public workshop on the A. C. Freeman House is planned but that a date had not yet been set.
Board members then raised concerns about property owners who were added to or removed from the local contributing-structures list within the past two years. A board member asked whether owners had been notified by letter; Rachel Berry, zoning official, said that, during the earlier process managed by other staff, letters had been mailed but that those mailings occurred before recent storm disruptions and that some owners may not have understood the ramifications of being added or removed.
Board members requested that staff reproduce the list of addresses that were changed and send a new mailed notice explaining options for owners — for example, how removal from the register affects applicability of the city’s “50/50” rule and whether owners may request relisting or delisting. Berry agreed to work on re-mailing the list to the addresses on the file.
Members also raised a procedural concern about the agenda’s published location. Lucille Ponte said the meeting notice listed 900 West Marion Avenue, which led at least one member to go to the wrong site; the board asked staff to correct the posted agenda to avoid public confusion in future meetings.
The board adjourned after those updates and requests; staff will report back on the re-notification plan and the date for the joint public workshop on the A. C. Freeman House when available.
