Manager: HDC palette based on lab samples; appeal won't automatically add colors

Borough manager and building official Monique Deetsch explained to the Board that the Skagway Historic District paint palette is largely based on laboratory analysis of historic paint samples and manufacturer color offerings from the 1897–1910 period. "The paint palette created by the HDC is generally based on laboratory analysis of historical building's paint and paint offered by paint manufacturers from 1897 to 1910," Deetsch said when asked how the palette was identified.

Deetsch cautioned that an appeal of an HDC decision—overturn, modify or uphold—addresses that commission's determination and is not the same administrative action as formally adding a color to the historic palette. She said adding a color to the palette would require proof it existed during the period of significance; the Board's decision to allow repainting of a single building does not by itself alter the palette's code-based list.