Thanks to Mount Vernon’s City Council for allowing Shane Amundson to convey concerns about an action of the Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission (MVHPC) at the Council’s Jan. 4 meeting. I also appreciate that I, as chair of the MVHPC, was given an opportunity to respond and that City Council members listened to both speakers and took concerns seriously.
Questions were raised at that meeting about why Mount Vernon has a Historic Preservation Commission and why it made a specific decision. I’d like to respond in more length than I could in a few minutes at a Council meeting.
Architectural styles and building materials in the older portions of Mount Vernon reflect the city’s historical periods. Representative structures are concentrated in a few neighborhoods and these areas were made into our three historic districts (Cornell, Ash Park, and Commercial) in the 1980s and 1990s.
State code requires that each community with a historic district have a Historic Preservation Commission. There are HPCs in more than 90 cities and counties in Iowa, including in small towns in eastern Iowa such as Lisbon, Maquoketa, Fort Madison, LaPorte City and Grundy Center. Anyone driving across the state can see many “Historic Downtown” signs along the highway. Each of those towns has an HPC.
One main role of an HPC is to protect the historic district. At the time a historic district is created, many buildings within it reflect a historic period. Big changes or an accumulation of smaller changes over time can make a district no longer historic.
To protect our historic districts the MVHPC reviews any changes made to the exterior of structures in them, additions to those structures, and proposals for new construction before a permit for work is issued. MVHPC decisions are based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Preservation Standards and on Design Guidelines that are specific to Mount Vernon. Commission decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and a number of factors go into Commission decisions, including whether a structure was a contributor when the district was formed, the age of the structure, and the type of materials already on the structure. A visitor to a Mount Vernon historic district will see differences based on these factors. This is not an indication that Commission decisions have been inconsistent.
Most relevant here is that new construction cannot stand out as markedly different from other structures in the district or detract from the historic appearance of the neighborhood. New construction does not have to exactly mimic historic architecture nor use historic materials but it should echo in some way the styles and materials apparent in surrounding structures.
On Dec. 3, 2022 the MVHPC received an application from Cedar Rapids developer Eric Gutschmidt for a rental duplex to be built on an empty lot at 724 Fifth Ave NW in the Ash Park Historic District. Gutschmidt gave a great description of his previous work in Cedar Rapids developing housing for low-to-moderate income families. He said the construction in Ash Park was dependent on funding of a grant application that was due at the end of the month. He provided elevation views of the proposed duplex and answered questions.
Unfortunately, the MVHPC was unable to support the proposed construction. The elevation drawings showed the duplex to be a relatively featureless boxy structure. The design lacked elements commonly seen in Mount Vernon homes such as trim around windows, any kind of structure around the doorway or even a front stoop. In addition, the siding and the windows on the duplex were to be vinyl, which has a reflectance, sheen, and shape that makes it very apparent as a synthetic material and not appropriate in a historic district. Commissioners offered ideas for a few changes in the duplex plans that might have made them more appropriate in a historic district. Mr. Gutschmidt indicated he understood the concerns and sympathized with them, but that the budget for the project was so tight that no modifications could be made.
The HPC had very little time to consider the construction proposed for 724 Fifth Ave NW — we received the application and elevation drawings the day before our Dec. 3 meeting and needed to render a decision before Dec. 19. Even if there were time for us to negotiate changes in the building design and materials, budget considerations made it impossible to make any changes at all.
After the Commission issued its decision, I got an e-mail from Mr. Amundson asking why the Commission denied a Certificate for the construction on “his” lot. From his e-mail I gathered that sale of the lot at 724 Fifth Ave. NW to Gutschmidt was contingent on a building permit. I sent him a copy of the Commission’s minutes and referred him to the relevant article in the Sun to explain the Commission’s decision.
There has been only one denial (this one) during my more than seven years on the HPC, and only two others that I know about in more than 30 years of the HPC’s existence. We do our best to work with property owners in coming up with a solution when there are differences or concerns. I believe I speak for the whole Commission in expressing regret that we were unable to approve an application that could have provided additional affordable rental housing in Mount Vernon. As we noted in our denial, “We are open to coming back to this property and project in the future if and when funds might be available.”