El Paso Historic Landmark Commission requires parkway at 2013 Wheeling Ave. be restored within six months

The El Paso Historic Landmark Commission voted to require the parkway at 2013 Wheeling Avenue to be brought into compliance with the city's historic design guidelines within six months and ordered that no permits or approvals be issued for the property until the work is completed.

The measure addresses an after-the-fact paving of the front yard and parkway at the contributing 1920 house in the Manhattan Heights Historic District. The Preservation Office presented photographs showing nearly the entire front yard and parkway covered with concrete and masonry, leaving very little living ground cover.

The Preservation Office told commissioners that design guidelines and City Code Chapter 20.28 limit hard-surfacing in front yards and parkways and generally require that no more than 50 percent of those areas be covered by impervious materials; the remaining area must be covered with trees or living ground cover. The office recommended removal of the paving and replacement with living ground cover, completion of the work within 60 days, and a prohibition on permits until the property is compliant. The office noted the property had been before the commission in December and that staff had originally given the owner 30 days and later extended that timeframe.

Commissioners discussed several compromise approaches, including staging removal (tearing up narrower strips of concrete in sequence), requiring the top half of the frontage to be completed sooner and allowing additional time for the rest, and allowing the owner to plant mature shrubs that count toward the 50 percent requirement. A commissioner also noted the commission's interest in preventing parking on parkways and sidewalks.

A person identified in the record as the property owner's representative, Renee Diaz, asked for clarification about what counts as living ground cover and whether plantings in raised planters would qualify. The Preservation Office responded, "It has to be ground cover. Living ground cover. You can't plant it into a planter and call it a 50% living space," and said applicants receive credit for the mature size of plants for coverage calculations.

After discussion, a motion was made to require the parkway to comply within six months and to withhold permits or approvals until the entire property was brought into compliance. The motion was seconded and passed. The commission also noted staff will assist the owner if he brings a hand-sketched plan to the Preservation Office to demonstrate how proposed plantings will meet the 50 percent standard.

The commission additionally handled routine agenda adjustments earlier in the meeting, including moving 21107 Myrtle Avenue to the consent agenda and noting that item 1300 Hardaway Street had been withdrawn and would return to a future meeting.

The commission moved to an executive session after the regular business and then adjourned.