State Theatre renovation and expansion advocate appeals planning commission approval of Chase Bank
This site plan for the Chase Bank building was withheld from the planning staff report made available on the City of Woodland's Web site. Most attendees at the November 18 Planning Commission meeting only learned of the disproportionate parking and driveway features that evening. The plan is 87% parking lot and driveway, 13% building - contrary to Downtown Specific Plan guidelines according to local preservationist David Wilkinson.
From the Woodland Record:
David Wilkinson - the organizer of the thousand-strong Friends of the State Theatre group - has appealed to the Woodland City Council the Woodland Planning Commission's decision to approve the design for a Chase Bank building at 304 Main Street. The approved building design is at the corner of Main and Walnut Streets, described in the Downtown Specific Plan (DSP) as the "western gateway" to the historic downtown. The commission approved the design, 4 to 1, on November 18 leaving State Theatre Renovation and Expansion supporters "dumbfounded" and "let down" as stated in a letter by member Bill Brewster.
Wilkinson - the local architectural historian, preservationist and author - laid out in a November 11 letter to the Planning Commission several reasons why the Chase Bank design should not be approved but only dissenting commissioner Seth Wurzel apparently understood. Wurzel tried in vain to convince his fellow commissioners to spend more time deliberating the design, the location and the holistic qualities of land use in the historic downtown - particularly in relation to the very real circumstance that the proposed bank could eventually serve as the "western gateway." He said the commission took the City Loft architect "through the ringer." That defunct project was proposed for across the street and would have also been a gateway feature.
Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.
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3 comments:
Dino,
It is good to see additional action being taken to address the Chase Bank proposal. I hope the City Council hears the appeal in an open meeting so the citizens can show their true feelings on both the design AND location of the Chase bank. Who writes the agenda for the city council? Hopefully they won't have the same 'limits' put on them as to what they can address.
CHAPTER 2. ADMINISTRATION.
Article I. City Council.
Sec. 2-1-5. Agenda.
All reports, communications, ordinances, resolutions, contract documents or other matters to be submitted to the council at a regular meeting shall be delivered to the city clerk not later than 5:00 P.M. on the Tuesday two weeks preceding the meeting; however, for good cause the city manager may extend this deadline. The city manager or the city clerk, under the direction of the city manager, shall prepare the agenda. The agenda shall be delivered to councilmembers no later than the Friday preceding the regular Tuesday council meeting to which it pertains and shall be made available to the public no later than 10:00 A.M. on the day of the meeting. Agenda items submitted later than the agenda deadline shall not be placed on the agenda except in the manner authorized by the Brown Act. (Ord. No. 935, § 2 (part); Ord. No. 1317, § 2 (part); Ord. No. 1496, § 2.)
I would also like to see the Historical Preservation Commission take this up as a matter of CEQA. The staff report explanation of why this was not being considered by the commission was bogus.
CHAPTER 12A. HISTORICAL LANDMARKS AND DISTRICTS.*
Article II. Historical Preservation Commission.
Sec. 12A-2-5. Powers and duties.
The historical preservation commission shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) To undertake a comprehensive historic resources inventory and maintain a historic register;
(b) To establish various criteria, guidelines and standards to carry out the intent of this ordinance;
(c) To recommend to the city council the designation of historical landmarks and historical districts;
(d) To participate in administrating regulations pertaining to historical landmarks and historical districts;
(e) To recommend to the city council ways to fund and to otherwise make financially feasible the protection of historical landmarks and historical districts in the city;
(f) To recommend to the council the means to implement the historic preservation element of the General Plan and this chapter by developing information and programs to increase awareness of, preservation of, and use of historical landmarks and historical districts in the city;
(g) To perform such other duties as the city council may direct. (Ord. No. 1004, § 2 (part).)
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