After hearing public comment--some erudite, some impassioned, some taking a bit of dramatic license with history, but all in support of the designation--Phil Forman, who chairs the HPC, announced the hearing would remain open and he would accept written comments until the next meeting. The next meeting was to take place on Friday, March 13, but concern about the coronavirus caused the meeting to be canceled.
The HPC was able to meet in a "non-public, virtual/electronic session" on March 27, for the purpose of taking a formal vote on five certificates of appropriateness for projects that had previously been reviewed. During that meeting, Forman said he was being pressured by advocates for the designation of the church building. Victoria Polidoro, counsel to the HPC, noted that, because of the COVID-19 state of emergency, there was a moratorium on demolition, "so there is no risk to the building." At the public hearing on February 28, Victoria Milne, the owner of the building, made it clear she planned to restore the building and had no intention of demolishing it.
Mayor Kamal Johnson's original State of Emergency Proclamation, issued on March 16, ordered that all nonessential city meetings be canceled or postponed. HPC meetings, as well as Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, are considered nonessential. Forman expressed the desire to hold another electronic meeting on April 10, to act on the matter of the designation and to "clear the HPC docket." There are, according to Forman, six certificate of appropriateness applications "in the queue." He said he would continue to accept written comments up until the meeting, and the comments would be read into the record at that time.
COPYRIGHT 2020 CAROLE OSTERINK
To late..Rev Cross should have done that when he was in there. Now he was the burden to be an the innocent new owner.
ReplyDelete