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Jacksonville HARC re-elects officers and approves new house with reduced setbacks at 215 N. Oregon St.
Summary
The Historic & Architectural Review Commission re-elected Penni Viets as chair and Ray Wedel as vice chair, and conditionally approved a Certificate of Appropriateness and relief from setback standards for a proposed 1,440 sq ft single-family dwelling at 215 North Oregon Street (File 2026-034).
The Historic & Architectural Review Commission (HARC) re-elected Penni Viets as chair and Ray Wedel as vice chair and approved a Certificate of Appropriateness for a new single-family dwelling at 215 North Oregon Street, the commission recorded in minutes from its April 22, 2026 meeting.
The re-elections took place by unanimous consent at the start of the 5:00 p.m. meeting; Commissioner Leslee Parr moved to re-elect Penni Viets and Commissioner Trish Murdoch seconded. The commission then re-elected Ray Wedel as vice chair with no objections.
The meeting’s principal land-use action was approval of File 2026-034. Chair Viets opened a public hearing at 5:03 p.m. on the applicant’s request for a Certificate of Appropriateness for a new 1,440-square-foot single-family dwelling at 215 North Oregon Street and concurrent relief from development standards. The applicant (Grants Pass Development Co / H3 Homes, represented by agent Sean Hodgkins) sought to reduce the front setback from 15 feet to 7 feet, the rear setback from 12 feet to 7 feet, and to reduce the solar setback to 12.5 feet. A signed solar waiver was added to the record as Exhibit J.
Planning Director Ian J. Foster presented the staff report and answered commissioners’ questions. After the applicant described the proposal and responded to questions, Commissioner Trish Murdoch moved to approve the Certificate of Appropriateness and the requested Relief from Standards, adopting the applicant’s Findings of Fact as supplemented by the staff report and subject to staff-recommended conditions 1–10; Commissioner Leslee Parr seconded. A roll-call vote recorded aye votes from Commissioners Murdoch, Parr, Vice Chair Wedel, Commissioner Akin and Chair Viets; the motion carried and the approval was made subject to the listed conditions.
There was no public testimony on the application. The commission received a brief planning report noting Director Foster and Planner Kimberly Clark will attend a planning conference in Detroit later in the week. The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. The minutes show signatures for Chair Penni Viets and Planning/Building Tech Heather Burkhart and list a date of approval, May 27, 2026.
What the commission approved does not itself authorize construction; the approval was conditioned on the staff-recommended conditions and compliance with Chapters 17 and 18 of the Jacksonville Unified Development Code.
