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Council Grants Landlord Consent for Carnegie Library Addition, Conditions It on Historic and Building Reviews
Summary
Council granted landlord consent for the Children's Museum of Southern Oregon to build an addition behind the Carnegie Library, expanding classroom capacity and adding a rooftop terrace; consent was explicitly conditioned on completion of all applicable Landmarks and building reviews following SHPO mitigation discussions.
The council granted written landlord consent to the Children's Museum of Southern Oregon (TCMSO) to build a proposed addition behind the Carnegie Library, subject to completion of all required land‑use and historic‑preservation reviews.
City Attorney Eric Mitten reviewed lease terms and the approval process, noting the city owns the Carnegie Library and that the lease requires landlord approval for tenant improvements; improvements ultimately become city property at lease end. The revised proposal increases total square footage when including a rooftop terrace to roughly 19,050 square feet, adds three classrooms and about 60 full‑time slots for a preschool program, and includes a 20‑year maintenance plan provided by the tenant.
Mitten and planning staff emphasized that landlord approval is a procedural prerequisite to filing a land‑use application and does not bypass the Landmarks & Historic Preservation Commission or building permit reviews. George Kramer, the project's historic‑preservation consultant, described a memorandum of agreement under negotiation with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that would include interpretive and interior historic signage and other mitigation; Kramer said he was confident a final mitigation agreement would be reached.
Councilors pressed staff and the consultant on cumulative effects to the historic property and whether the designation covered the building and park; staff confirmed the district includes Library Park and that SHPO had identified mitigation measures. Councilors asked about long‑term maintenance liability; staff said a $3,000,000 baseline replacement value was being used for planning and that construction estimates for the new work were about $8,000,000, yielding a rough combined replacement basis near $11,000,000 for budgeting purposes.
After discussion, council added explicit conditioning language to the resolution: written consent would be "conditioned on all applicable reviews, including but not limited to Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission and building permits." Motion to approve council bill 2025-95 as amended passed (4 yes, 1 no, 1 abstention).
Next steps include finalizing the memorandum of agreement with SHPO, submitting the formal land‑use application, and completing historic review and building permit processes before construction can begin.
