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Historic commission reviews draft Certificate of Appropriateness form; debates sidewalk, outbuildings and required attachments
Summary
Staff presented a draft update to the Certificate of Appropriateness application. Commissioners discussed which project types to include, whether sidewalks/paving and accessory structures should require review, and what supporting materials to make mandatory.
Mackenzie (staff member) presented a draft update to the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) application and asked the commission for guidance on project categories, required attachments and supplemental guidance links.
Commissioners reviewed a draft list of project types and debated whether to include sidewalk or paving work and accessory outbuildings (sheds, carriage houses) as COA project types. Brian (staff member) explained that public sidewalks within the public right-of-way are the financial responsibility of the abutting property owner when maintenance or replacement is needed, and that the city's building division does not issue permits for private sidewalk replacement. He said that historically the commission has not reviewed routine flat work such as replacing a walkway from the public sidewalk to a house or driveway replacements; by contrast, work that requires a building permit'for example, new concrete steps leading to a porch'would typically trigger historic commission review before the permit can be issued.
Commissioners asked that accessory structures and outbuildings be added to the draft project list so the commission can review them when appropriate. The draft application's attachment list already included existing-conditions photographs, historic photographs (if available), and site plans; commissioners asked that the application encourage applicants to attach historic registry photos where available and noted city files may already contain archive images for many properties.
The commission also discussed adding links on the application to resources such as the Wisconsin Historical Society house search and the state historic tax credit information; members recommended including both links as practical resources for applicants.
No formal vote was taken; staff will revise the COA form to reflect the commission's guidance and circulate a revised draft for further review.
