Controversial commission to resume meeting after year layoff

After a year of no meetings, the Historic Zoning Commission will be back in battle beginning July 7. The meeting could have the same fireworks seen in the past.
The last meeting of the commission was held one year ago in July 2007. During that meeting, the commission had its last toe-to-toe confrontation with a property owner in the historic district.
For three months prior to the last meeting, the commission fought monthly with Scott Garing, owner of New York Grill, over a wood rail he placed along the roof of an adjacent building he owns. The rail didn’t conform to historic guidelines and the commission wanted it removed.
The memorable duel ended with Garing keeping the safety rail. Because a deck existed on the roof, codes requires a rail. With codes overruling historic district guidelines, the rail stayed.
Given the contention between the Historic Zoning Commission and business owners, an Historic Ad Hoc Committee was organized. Members were instructed to look through historic guidelines and recommend changes to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. During several meetings, new guidelines were written and were within days of being submitted to the board this January.
Before the vote could happen, the Tennessee Historical Commission was asked to give a presentation. According to Historic Preservation Specialist Rob Crawford, the HZC must also be responsible for drafting and approving design review guidelines in order for commission members to rule on regulations consistently.
Crawford also stated, ‘The current McMinnville guidelines are entirely satisfactory to our office. If you do wish to revise them, I would strongly suggest that you take advantage of the opportunity to apply to our office for a CLG grant to have them professionally done.’
According to city planner David Baird, when the Ad Hoc Committee was formed, those who had changes they would like to make to buildings in the historic district held off applying for a certificate of appropriateness (COA) until the new guidelines were established.
With no change to the guidelines, several property owners are expected to attend the first meeting. With the same guidelines involved, some static is expected between property owners and the commission.
‘I’m expecting there will be a lot of people there,’ said Baird.
The Historic Zoning Commission will be meeting July 7 immediately following a McMinnville Regional Planning Commission meeting scheduled for 5 p.m.
These meetings are still being held at the Blue Building.