City of Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission met Jan. 16

City of Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission met Jan. 16.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

Call to Order at 2: PM by David Bucek, Chair

Commissioners	Quorum – Present / Absent
David Bucek, Chair
Beth Wiedower Jackson, Vice Chair
Shantel Blakely	Absent
John Cosgrove
Steven Curry
Tanya Debose
Ashley Jones
Ben Koush
Stephen McNiel
Rhonda Sepulveda
Charles Stava
Dominic Yap
Vonn Tran, Secretary

Legal Department Kim Mickelson

Ex-Officio Members Marta Crinejo, Mayor’s Liaison to HAHC

Ginger Berni, Architectural Archivist, HHRC

Chair’s Report, David Bucek – None

Director’s Report, Vonn Tran, Secretary and Director of the Houston Planning and Development Department, announced City Council approvals for five new Historic Landmark Designations.

Mayor Liaison’s Report – None

APPROVAL OF MINUTES 

Commission approved the November 7, 2024, HAHC meeting minutes.

Motion: Wiedower Jackson Vote: Unanimous

Second: Jones Abstaining: None

A. CONSIDERATION OF AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS APPLICATIONS FOR CONSENT AGENDA: 

#	Address	Application Type	Historic District/PLM/LM	Staff Recommendation
1	1120 E 14th Street	Demolition – Single Family Residential	Norhill	Denial – does not satisfy criteria
2	1907 Decatur Street	Alteration – Siding	Old Sixth Ward	Denial – does not satisfy criteria and issuance of COR as applied for due to work starting without a COA
3	707 Arlington Street	Alteration – Addition, Siding, Front Porch	Houston Heights South	Defer
4	1026 Fugate Street	Alteration – Doors, Windows	Norhill	Approval
5	7954 Glenvista Street	Alteration – Doors, Windows, Roof	Glenbrook Valley	Denial of COA, Issuance of COR to reframe roof to original form and rebuild front elevation to match the original
6	1115 W Gardner Street	Alteration – Windows, Siding	Norhill	Approval
7	1819 Heights Blvd	Alteration – Siding or Trim, Doors	Houston Heights East	Approval
8	1314 Tulane Street	Alteration – Addition, Doors	Houston Heights West	Approval
9	1341 Allston Street	Alteration – Addition	Houston Heights West	Approval
10	1341 Allston Street	New Construction – Garage	Houston Heights West	Approval
11	610 Marshall Street	Alteration – Addition	Audubon Place	Defer
12	505 E 9th Street	Alteration – Addition	Houston Heights South	Approval with conditions that the second-floor roof of addition be hipped
13	1115 E 11th Street	Alteration – Doors, Windows, Awning or Canopy	Norhill	Approval with conditions: retain and repair wood frames of windows and transoms, finish with primer and paint. No windows transoms, or frames to be replaced without approval from the historic preservation staff
14	3115 Beauchamp Street	New Construction – Single Family Residential	Woodland Heights	Approval
15	2023 Arlington Street	New Construction – Garage	LM: Allbach House	Denial – does not satisfy criteria
16	609 Sabine aka 1802 State Street	Revision – SFR	Old Sixth Ward	Approval

Staff recommendation: Approve recommendations for Item(s) A. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 16.

Commission action: Accepted staff recommendations for all items listed above including changes, Certificates of Appropriateness (COA) and Certificates of Remediation (COR). Speaker(s): None

Motion: Cosgrove Vote: Unanimous

Second: Yap Abstaining: None

A. 5. 7954 GLENVISTA STREET 

Staff recommendation: Denial of COA, Issuance of COR to reframe roof to original form and rebuild front elevation to match the original.

Commission action: Deferred.

Speaker(s): Ana Sofia Gamez – applicant, Jana Garza, owner

Motion: Koush Vote: Carried

Second: Yap Opposed: Cosgrove, Wiedower Jackson

A.1. 1120 E 14TH STREET 

Staff recommendation: Denial – does not satisfy criteria.

Commission action: Deferred.

Speaker(s): Virginia Kelsey, Harp Singh, applicant

Motion: McNiel Vote: Carried

Second: Wiedower Jackson Abstaining: Yap

A.13. 1115 E 11th Street 

Staff recommendation: Approval with conditions: retain and repair wood frames of windows and transoms, finish with primer and paint. No windows transoms, or frames to be replaced without approval from the historic preservation staff.

Commission action: Accepted staff’s recommendation with the exception that the awning be brought back to the commission for review once a final proposed design has been determined, and that the walls be built back to the original floor plan with the same square footage which will not increase.

Speaker(s): Virginia Kelsey

Motion: Cosgrove Vote: Unanimous

Second: McNiel Abstaining: None

A.15. 2023 ARLINGTON STREET 

Staff recommendation: Denial – does not satisfy criteria.

Commission action: Accepts staff recommendation for denial, does not satisfy criteria. Speaker(s): None

Motion: Cosgrove Vote: Unanimous

Second: Yap Abstaining: None

B. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF GLENBROOK VALLEY WINDOW DATA, 2018-2024 

Staff member Samantha de Leon will conduct a site visit on several homes and report back to HAHC Commissioners on the status of the findings.

C. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC – 

Speaker(s): Amanda Reynolds, Norhill President Neighborhood Association, question on Deed restrictions and wanted to know if there were any ramifications for direct violations. Kim Mickelson, legal, COA’s do not override or alter Deed restrictions, if Deed restrictions are valid, they will need to get through with permitting with those deed restrictions. If the COA requires changes, it may comeback to HAHC, if structural changes need to be addressed. Commissioner Curry, commissions are not familiar with all deed neighborhoods restrictions, there is a relationship with all parties.

Virginia Kelsey, Norhill Neighborhood Association, would like to request the Historic Planning department inform the Norhill neighborhood association on application that come up in their neighborhood.

Kim Mickelson, City Legal, stated that the neighborhood services section does enforce several elements of Deed restrictions, but not aesthetic standards.

Roman McAllen, there is no real hard line enforced, legally it’s 45 days, however it is not complete until the Director of Planning deems it complete. Staff will reach out to neighborhood associations on new applications.

Yasmin Arslan, Staff checks emails from an inbox that would come from neighborhoods indicating what has been reviewed. Preservation Tracker has capability to search properties, staff encouraged applicants to check with their civic association to obtain approval from both. Commissioner Koush questioned the search of Preservation Tracker.

Commissioner Yap, how can we circumvent projects. Staff member Yasmin design guidelines help with this, and when staff know of clear deed restrictions, they do share this with the applicant. Legal, Kim Mickelson, the interesting fact about deed restriction with Zoning, is, you can’t enforce deed restriction.

Virginia Kelsey, Norhill Neighborhood Association, stressing on requesting notification on receiving a notification from the Historic Planning staff send notification.

D. COMMENTS FROM THE HAHC – 

Staff member Roman McAllen, believes staff can ask if HPT, Houston Preservation Tracker, can develop a took to automatically notify neighbor associations of an application.

E. HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER’S REPORT – 

The next Norhill neighborhood design guideline is December 18, go to Let’s Talk Houston. In January there will be a public meeting for the Old 6th Ward guidelines. Preservation Houston is working on a real-estate course.

ADJOURNMENT 

There being no further business brought before the Commission, Chair David Bucke adjourned the meeting at 5:47 PM.

https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Commissions/hahc20250116/01-16-2025_HAHC_%20AGENDA_FOR_POSTING_MERGED_WITH_MINUTES.pdf