D.6.a - 1806 Travis Heights Blvd - citizen comment — original pdf

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Gaudette, Angela From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Paula Kothmann Sunday, October 25, 2020 11:42 AM PAZ Preservation Paula Kothmann Item D6 1806 Travis Heights Boulevard *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Dear Commissioners: I respectfully ask for your consideration to postpone your decision on the proposed alterations to this home, especially since Travis Heights Boulevard is such an important street for our newly designated Historic District, thus for the City. Part of the benefit of a Historic Neighborhood is that it's a tourist attraction, like Monument Drive in Richmond (w/o the sticky Civil War controversy). If Travis Heights Boulevard becomes lined with a lot of modern homes that vary greatly in design and scale from those around it, the street will lose its appeal as a tourist attraction. Compare this historic neighborhood in San Diego: https://www.sandiegorealestatehunter.com/blog/5-reasons-burlingame-san- diego-great-place-live/ . Many of you may be more familiar with Monte Vista in San Antonio.   What can be done to deter the deterioration of these homes that still have many decades of shelter to give? Doesn't preservation align with the City's Austin Resource Recovery's goal to prevent waste while keeping our community clean?  Maintenance grants I believe that we need some kind of grant program to help homeowners maintain their homes. I will be attending a conference next week of the National Trust on Historic Preservation. I'm especially interested in topics that will be discussed related to:  Preservation and Equity,  Preservation and Affordable Housing, and  Preservation and Diversity. The Travis Heights/Fairview Park Historic District was not always a neighborhood for people who could pay over $1M for their homes. As a realtor I know that only a very small percentage of home buyers can qualify at this price point. New builds are quickly eroding the economic diversity we currently cherish. Yet many of the lower, moderate, and fixed-income residents who bought their homes in our neighborhood when prices were more affordable struggle to stay in their homes. The very high property taxes ($12,000+ annually) deplete their housing budgets so that they have little money left over to care for their aging homes as they may wish. Perhaps the City could give people a break on their property taxes commensurate with the money that they spend to preserve their homes. I have contacted the City about possible maintenance grants as well as incentives to convert an old garage into an income-producing unit. 1  Awareness of tax incentives By providing landlords with good info about tax benefits, we may discourage some sales. The good news is that we have a lot of older, less updated single-family homes, condos, and duplexes that are relatively affordable rentals for families. The bad news is that with property taxes rising, landlords won't want to keep $750,000 worth of their capital making little income if they have to pay $15K in tax. Thus it really makes sense for them to sell to a developer, who will want to demolish the home, which displaces yet another tenant. If landlords get tax incentives to renovate, they will be able to sell to people who want to live here rather than to a developer because the house would be "move-in ready." The house would be less likely to be sold as a demo, I believe. Our Historic Designation is new. Please postpone your decisions on this property until our committee has had a chance to gather relevant information and speak to the owner. Thank you for your consideration, Paula Kothmann   ‐‐     Paula Kothmann, CMM   Investment Real Estate Consultant  Certified Minerals Manager Associate  1317 Kenwood Ave/Austin, TX 78704  512.470.2405  Texas Real Estate Commission License #664403  Brigham Real Estate (Austin)  Mayfair International Realty (London)    Chair, Land Development Code Revision ad-hoc Committee, SRCC  Chair, Preservation Committee, SRCC (South River City Citizens: Riverside to 71, Congress to Parker)    Director, Texas Chapter, District One  National Association of Royalty Owners     Member, Board of Directors  Texas Energy Council                       CAUTION: This email was received at the City of Austin, from an EXTERNAL source. Please use caution when clicking links  or opening attachments. If you believe this to be a malicious and/or phishing email, please forward this email to  cybersecurity@austintexas.gov.   2 Gaudette, Angela From: Sent: To: Subject: Melanie Martinez Friday, October 23, 2020 4:55 PM Heimsath, Ben - BC; Papavasiliou, Alexander - BC; Myers, Terri - BC; Valenzuela, Sarah - BC; Jacob, Mathew - BC; McWhorter, Trey - BC; Featherston, Witt; Koch, Kevin - BC; Tollett, Blake - BC; Little, Kelly - BC; Bertron, Cara; Sadowsky, Steve; PAZ Preservation; Gaudette, Angela Item D-6 Case No. GF-2020-140147 ; 1806 Travis Heights Blvd. *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Dear Commissioners,   I am a long‐time resident of Fairview Park‐Travis Heights and am a volunteer with the neighborhood's Preservation  Committee. However, I am writing as an individual and not as a representative of any group. I am writing to oppose the  current plans to remodel the home at 1806 Travis Heights Boulevard and hope the owners and designer could re‐ consider some of their updates.    It is a truly unique house and is contributing to our National Register District on our main boulevard, which means high  visibility.  I do appreciate the decision of the owners to keep this wonderful cottage and not demolish like so many  others in the neighborhood. The proposed changes, while obviously made with careful attention to detail and a love of  the charm of this house, remove it from contributing status and misinterpret the historic style of this stone Tudor  Revival cottage.     The facade of this home is truly unique, and while there are other stone Tudor Revival cottages in the neighborhood,  each profile is individual.  I have often wondered if our stone cottages might even qualify as a non‐contiguous historic  district of strictly Tudor Revival Stone Cottages. (But that's another conversation.) Essentially, they are very special to  our community and we value their original features.    The proposed changes, which includes white‐washing the natural, native stone, and replacing the stone facade's  fenestration, could surely be avoided, with the owners still being able to work in a lovely terrace in the back to avoid  detracting from the historic streetscape.     I hope you can offer some good suggestions on how to re‐orient the spaces so the owners can still have their terrace and  addition, but preserve our beautiful, historic streetscape. I know some members of our neighborhood's preservation  committee are very knowledge about solutions and would love to help find a way to compromise.     Sincerely,  Melanie Martinez  1214 Newning Ave.  Austin, TX 78704    CAUTION: This email was received at the City of Austin, from an EXTERNAL source. Please use caution when clicking links  or opening attachments. If you believe this to be a malicious and/or phishing email, please forward this email to  cybersecurity@austintexas.gov.   1 Gaudette, Angela From: Sent: To: Subject: Sunday, October 25, 2020 7:46 PM PAZ Preservation D 6 1806 Travis Heights Blvd *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Dear Commissioners,      As long time Travis Heights residents, my husband and I ask that you only approve remodeling of the above house on  condition that they keep the front facade so that it continues to be a contributing property in our area.   As you know, it  is a great example of a Tudor Revival stone cottage.     As you walk around our neighborhood, you see that it is more than a collection of houses.  We have a true community,  and beautiful old gems such as this house are a tremendous part of what makes this such a unique and valued area.       Now, more than ever, we need to work together to protect our heritage and communities.  For this reason, we ask that  you do what you can to save this house.  As I pass by it almost daily, I can attest that it is integral to maintaining the  fabric of our inner‐city jewel.     Thank you,  Susie Mauldin and Michael McKane  Alameda Drive  Austin, Texas     CAUTION: This email was received at the City of Austin, from an EXTERNAL source. Please use caution when clicking links  or opening attachments. If you believe this to be a malicious and/or phishing email, please forward this email to  cybersecurity@austintexas.gov.   1 Gaudette, Angela From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: > Angela Reed Friday, October 23, 2020 3:53 PM Valenzuela, Sarah - BC; Papavasiliou, Alexander - BC; Jacob, Mathew - BC; Myers, Terri - BC; McWhorter, Trey - BC; Reed, Emily - BC; Little, Kelly - BC; Tollett, Blake - BC; Heimsath, Ben - BC; Koch, Kevin - BC; Featherston, Witt; Wright, Caroline - BC Sadowsky, Steve; PAZ Preservation Item D.6.1, 1806 Travis Heights *** External Email - Exercise Caution ***  Re:   Item D.6.1  GF‐2020‐140147   1806 TRAVIS HEIGHTS BOULEVARD       Dear Commissioners:    I am a resident of Travis Heights and serve on the SRCC's Preservation Committee. I am writing to alert you to concerns  about the above‐referenced property's partial demolition.    While we on the committee have noted that this is a partial demolition in order to add a back addition to the property,  what I am unsure about is how it will affect the street‐facing facade of the building and therefore the home's  contributing status to the National Register District. As many of you know, Travis Heights‐Fairview Park has recently  submitted its completed and approved nomination to the National Parks Service, and the official district status is  imminent, if not already finalized. We hope that the Commission and the HPO are reminded of this fact when  considering demolitions of, and alterations to, contributing structures to our neighborhood, and we trust that you will  advise property owners accordingly.    You may have noticed that this is my third letter today, opposing a demolition for Travis Heights. There may be other  contributing structures in Travis Heights I have not written in reference to, but that does not render them any less  important. We as a committee simply cannot keep up with every demolition and alteration to our neighborhood's  contributing structures, but our hope is that once this NRHD is officially in place, there may be some measure of  deterrence and education for property owners.     We thank you for your support in this matter and for your dedication to Austin's preservation.    Regards,    Angela Reed  Travis Heights Resident  SRCC Preservation Committee  CAUTION: This email was received at the City of Austin, from an EXTERNAL source. Please use caution when clicking links  or opening attachments. If you believe this to be a malicious and/or phishing email, please forward this email to  cybersecurity@austintexas.gov.   1