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Council asks staff to prepare chapter 31 text amendments on window removal and infill after HPC briefing
Summary
After a presentation by the Historic Preservation Commission, council approved the commission's 2025 accomplishments and 2026 work plan, requested date corrections, and directed staff to prepare text amendments clarifying replacement-window and infill rules for Old Town.
The Ames Historic Preservation Commission presented its 2025 accomplishments and 2026 work plan to the city council on Feb. 24; council approved the report with edits and discussed proposed text changes to municipal code chapter 31 governing historic-district materials and window treatments.
Melissa, a member of the commission, described the subcommittee work that focused on whether chapter 31 explicitly allows double-pane (double-glazed) wood-frame windows and on clarifying rules for filling or infilling existing window openings. "We identified the windows as kind of the biggest opportunity for that," Melissa said, explaining the subcommittee's intent to allow double-pane sash while maintaining facade appearance and design review.
Council members asked for corrections to typographical date errors in the CLG annual report and pressed for more measurable language in the work plan (for example, "supply information to Old Town for distribution" and "bring in a speaker"). On the chapter 31 items, council debated whether to treat replacement windows and infill as part of a larger materials discussion or as narrower, actionable text amendments. After discussion, the council voted to direct staff to prepare a text amendment focused on removal and infill of windows, to send mailed notice to property owners in the historic district and to proceed through the regular public hearing process with HPC and council review.
The council did not instruct staff to change the broader material standards at this time; commissioners said that broader material changes would require more research, outreach and possibly a workshop with Old Town residents.
Next steps: staff will draft text-amendment language, circulate mailed notices to property owners in the district, and schedule hearings with HPC and city council as part of the standard text-amendment process.
