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. -t South Bend and St. Joseph County HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION 227 WEST JEFFERSON BLVD SOUTH BEND, IN 46601-1830 www.stjosephcountyindiana.com/departinents/SJCBP/index.htm Phone: 574-235-9798 Fax: 574-235-9578 e-mail: SBSJCHPC@co.st-joseph.in.us Timothy S. Klusczinski, President November 21, 2016 Historic Preservation Commission A Certified Local Government Elicia Feasel, Executive Director RE: Dave Matthews Proposed Mixed -Use Project 401 East Colfax Avenue At the October 17 meeting, the HPC moved to authorize staff to investigate the impact of Dave Matthews' pro- posed mixed-use development on historic sites and structures and architectural examples in the vicinity, and to generate a letter to Common Council reflecting that opinion, with a courtesy copy to the Area Plan Commis- sion. aff has determined the area of potential effect to be the National Register of Historic Places East Bank Multi- ple Property Listing. Within that area, specific areas of impact would be Howard Park Historic District, as well as Local Landmarks located at 504 East LaSalle and 520 Colfax. It is staff s opinion that the impact to these historic properties would be limited to visual effects (height and scale) by the proposed structure. Research of height restrictions in various cities for new construction in close proximity to historic properties revealed a consistent policy of limiting height to be consistent with surround- ing historic structures. The Delaware State Historic Preservation Office (DE SHPO) has published informative guidelines for assessing visual impacts on historic properties. DE SHPO's guidelines state in part that "simply being visible from the historic property may not cause an adverse effect" therefore it is necessary to evaluate the impact of the proposed project, physically and visually. In the case of Dave Matthews project, adverse aes- thetic effects could be determined based on the incompatibility of the proposed project to existing buildings in the surrounding area. DE SHPO defines compatibility in part as "the size and proportion of the project to the surrounding structures and features ... the height does not cause the line of sight to move so far up that the surrounding features are out of view, thereby detracting from the original view ..." Following these guide- lines, staff would be of the opinion that this project would have an adverse visual impact on historic properties in the determined area of impact. COMMISSIONERS Thomas Gordon (Vice President) Mike Voll (Treasurer) Jennifer Parker (Architectural Historian) Elizabeth Hertel (Secretary) Kevin Buccellato Brandon Anderson Michele Gelfman Joseph Molnar STAFF Deb Parcell, Deputy Director Brett Hummer, Legal Counsel Steve Szaday, Preservation Specialist HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION OF SOUTH BEND & ST. JOSEPH COUNTY EST. 1973