Council plans to downsize historic review panel
Web Posted: 05/02/2007 10:17 PM CDT
Scott Huddleston
Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...C.33e76bc.html
City leaders plan to create a new River Walk advisory panel and downsize the Historic and Design Review Commission, which one councilman said has become "obstructionist."
By the end of the month, the City Council may vote to form a new seven-member river panel, and reduce the review commission, or HDRC, from 15 to seven members. To lower the number of cases going to the commission, city planning staff would approve or deny small-scale projects such as fences, swimming pools and rear additions without sending them to the panel.
That would streamline the process, allowing up to 95 percent of cases to move forward, Assistant City Manager T.C. Broadnax told the council at a work session Wednesday.
The commission then could focus on more complex projects, he said.
Of the 1,136 applications received last year, 54 percent were reviewed by the commission.
But commission chairman Xavier Gonzalez said the proposed changes eliminate options for appeals. Commission members who are trained in architecture, historic preservation and community relations no longer would be able to mediate cases that aren't cut-and-dried, where potential conflicts between developers and surrounding neighbors exist, he said.
"There won't be a public review process," Gonzalez said. "One example is Sandra Cisneros and her purple house."
Cisneros, a local author, clashed with the commission after she repainted her house purple in the King William Historic District in 1996. She later got a shade of pink approved.
The ire of citizens, however, was on the minds of council members Wednesday.
Councilman Richard Perez said he was tempted to "whack" the panel out of existence, after hearing complaints "about how long it takes to get to the HDRC."
"I heard a lot of anger, a lot of issues with the work of this committee," Perez said.
Legally, the city could eliminate the panel. It then would have to hand historic oversight to the state on projects such as Main Plaza renovation, or assign the state's five required disciplines — history, architecture, design, business finance and archeology — to another city body, such as the Zoning Commission.
Perez and Councilman Chip Haass said they want to downsize the commission, which they said has lost sight of its objective. Haas said developers and others have said the panel has been "slowing down projects to the point where you almost called it obstructionist."
But council members Patti Radle and Roland Gutierrez said they'd prefer an 11-member commission, appointed by the mayor and each council member, minus the four current at-large seats.
Although the review process has a 60-day timeline from application to review, many cases get approval in two weeks, Gutierrez said.
"We need to give folks the ability to ask questions," rather than relying on staff to decide cases, he said.
Afterward, Gonzalez said the council is making decisions based on complaints from lobbyists who've become weary of the review process. Now, the integrity of the process is at stake, he said.
Under the proposal, routine applications denied by staff could be appealed to commissioners. But there would be little means for the panel to mediate other cases that draw neighborhood concerns, Gonzalez said. While city officials have blamed the commission for delays in the Main Plaza project, the delays were a result of design changes by planners, he said.
"And now, it's a much better project," he said.
The commission still would have historic-review oversight in the city's river overlay districts. The proposed new River Commission would be the first city body monitoring all aspects of the river since 1992.
Several council members raised concerns about creating a new layer of bureaucracy, since 13 advisory panels now already have some dealings with the River Walk. But most agreed with Mayor Phil Hardberger that "one dedicated group" assigned to the river is needed.
haha, I wish! Tallest in Texas in SA is almost to near impossible.
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