Oread Neighborhood Association
Sunday, December 28, 2008 @ 6:30 PM
Meeting Location:  947 Louisiana
Minutes

Approved as Submitted:  January 22, 2009

Board Members Attending:  Ann Blackhurst, Candy Davis, James Dunn, Marci Francisco, Beth Reiber, Jerry Stubbs, Kyle Thompson, and Carol von Tersch

Absent Board Members:  Rene Diaz, Charity Grace, Christy Kennedy and Ellie Lecompte

Guest:  Nancy Dunn, Melinda Henderson

Coordinator’s Report

Review Neighborhood Meeting Minutes
•	October 23rd Meeting Minutes:  Approved with the following changes (bold text denotes change)
o	CDBG Blight Survey – Other Neighborhood Discussion  
•	The first bulleted item will be changed to read, “For some time now, the neighborhood has been unaffordable for anyone other than landlords.”  
•	Under the second bulleted item the following sentence will be changed to read, “… With occupancy increased from two to five, it is hopeful that the property owners have adequate resources to repair the foundation problems.”
o	Board of Zoning Appeals – Neighborhood Discussion
•	The second bulleted item will be changed to read, “Because the city has determined that the reconstruction cost is not more than 50% of the property’s value, a variance does not need to be approved for no off-street parking.”

•	November 20th Meeting Minutes:  Approved with the following change
o	Over Occupancy Violation:  The final sentence in this paragraph will be deleted.  

•	ONA Nominating Committee:  Attendance was not specifically identified on these minutes.  Everyone present at the November 20th neighborhood meeting agreed to stay after the monthly meeting had adjourned to discuss board member nominations.  

Blight Follow-Up

1043 Indiana (KU Property)  
Public sale of this property is pending.  A note from Barry Swanson, KU Associate Comptroller, read, “There has been some progress but it is not yet ready to proceed.  The next activity I see on my calendar is an internal meeting scheduled for the afternoon of 1/9.”

1232 Louisiana (Approved for Demolition in August 2008)  
The applicant has indicated that they will not be providing the information requested by the city.  Documentation of the structure is believed to be excessive and they plan to ask the City Commission for relief from this requirement.  

In the resolution approved by the City Commission August 2008, it is stated that documentation of the structure to be demolished shall be conducted by a professional that meets the national parks services professional qualifications standards and if documentation is not submitted to the Historic Resources Administrator within 30 days from the adoption of the resolution the city may produce the documentation with any cost associated with the documentation assessed to the property.  

A note from Lynne Zollner dated 12/24/08 read, “The applicant has not officially requested relief from this condition.  Staff is currently completing information to take back to the Commission to see what they want to do as a next step.  We will keep you posted and let you know when this is placed on a City Commission agenda.”  

Board of Zoning Appeals – December 4th Agenda

903 & 903 ½ Alabama Street 
Two requests for variance were considered for this Oread property; a variance to exceed the maximum 12 dwelling units per acre standard in a RM12D district and a reduction in the 10 feet minimum exterior side yard setback for residential structures.  The plan is to move the existing duplex structure north so it is situated on its own lot (Lot 1).  This will open the second lot for development of a new duplex. 
•	The zoning variances were granted by the BZA.  There were adjustments made to the request for reducing the side setback allowance.  The side setback variance was changed to the north side of the property.  The existing property will be moved one foot further to the north.  This will meet the requirements of the fire department and also allow preservation of the bay window as required by the Historic Resources Commission.  The existing structure will be one foot closer to the street than what the street setback is.  The entire house will be moved to the north to set it on one lot.  
•	There was an Oread neighbor who spoke at the BZA meeting.  Concern was expressed about the lack of available parking.  
•	This property is located in Oread’s District 1 which is zoned for duplexes.  The solution for the growing problem with increased density is to seek down-zoning in this district.  In the Oread Neighborhood Plan, adopted in 1979, District 1 is identified as a low-density area.  Without a change in zoning, the potential for increased density in District 1 will continue to be an issue.  It is the neighborhood’s intent to try to address this in the revised neighborhood plan.  

Historic Resources Commission – December 18th Agenda 
There were no questions or comments in reference to the following item that falls within the Oread neighborhood boundaries: 
•	930 Ohio Street:  Garage Rehabilitation

New Business

Neighborhood Plan Meeting
Michelle Leininger, planner assigned to work on updating the Oread Neighborhood Plan, would like to meet with ONA board members to go over a draft timeline and draft outline for the plan.  She would like to meet for approximately 30 minutes to an hour sometime during the first week of January.  The proposed date will be Tuesday, January 6th.  

An original town site ordinance was discussed at one time for the Oread neighborhood.  It would be good to ensure that priorities identified at that time are included in the neighborhood plan being revised at this time.

Winter Newsletter
The newsletter will go to the printer on Sunday, January 11th, and begin arriving in mailboxes on Monday, January 19th.  Front page items will include:
•	January 22nd Neighborhood Meeting - Blight Project / Rental Registration Expansion:  These items will be addressed at the January 22nd neighborhood meeting.  Brian Jimenez, code enforcement manager with the City of Lawrence, will be present to discuss expansion of the rental registration program and gather public comment from the neighborhood.  
•	February 26th Neighborhood Meeting - Westar Energy Presentation / Board Member Elections:  The Westar presentation and board member elections will occur at the February 26th neighborhood meeting.  The location of this meeting is still tentative.

There was a suggestion to use the University Daily Kansas or Lawrence Journal World to announce meetings.  This would be in addition to the neighborhood newsletters.  These sources will be contacted approximately one week prior to the February meeting to see if a reminder notice can be included in the papers about the meeting that will include the Westar Energy presentation and board member elections.

Cheers and Chides suggestions… sanding of the streets has been good this year, some of the Oread neighbors have done a great job of shoveling sidewalks, remember to support local businesses, the Oread Inn building site has been the recipient of vandalism (tampering with the water) and trash has been thrown into the construction site, property owners should be familiar with city code and occupancy requirements.

Old Business

Development Trends / Historic Designation – District 1
Lynne Zollner, Historic Resources Administrator, has initiated the Historic Resources Survey Proposal.  If the request for funding from the Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review is approved, a survey of District 1 will be completed in order to proceed with efforts for historic designation of this area.

Board Member Nominations
Linda Haskins has been asked about serving on the ONA board.  She lives in District 1 which is currently represented by Ann Blackhurst.  Ann was wondering if a new member could be recruited to serve as the District 1 representative.  

There are a few architecture students who live in District 4 who might be interested in serving on the ONA board.  Carol von Tersch, District 4 representative, will contact them about this opportunity.  

The board member elections will be held at the February neighborhood meeting.  Nominations will be solidified at the January meeting.  Everyone is encouraged to continue to think about others who might be interested in serving on the board.  

FYI and Reminders

Treasurer’s and District Reports:  Deferred to the January 2009 Meeting.
  
Demolition Permit Applications:  None received since the November neighborhood meeting.

Campus Heritage Plan:  http://www.dcm.ku.edu/planning/heritage.shtml

1232 Louisiana:  Demolition approved by the City Commission on 08/12/08 with conditions that included: 
•	Neighborhood Plan:  This will need to be updated prior to building a replacement structure.
•	Parking:  Following demolition, the property cannot be used as a parking lot.
•	Salvage:  A request has been sent to Price Banks concerning this.  Response pending.

Over-Occupancy Violations (RM District – Code Amendment):  Currently on hold because the city is considering expanding the rental registration program to include structures that are 50+ years old.

Graffiti Removal:  Check out http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief38.htm