# Courthouse Area Design Review Board - May 19, 2021 > Auto-transcribed civic record · May 19, 2021 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5358 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5358?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2021-05-19 - **Last revised**: May 19, 2021 - **Length**: 2,055 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Courthouse Area Design Review Board convened on May 19, 2021, at 2:00 PM via video teleconference, with Martin Summers presiding as the meeting officer. The board addressed five agenda items during the session, ranging from procedural matters to substantive business including permit applications and board membership decisions. The meeting accomplished several key objectives, with the board taking four recorded votes throughout the proceedings. All major agenda items requiring board action were approved, including the approval of meeting minutes, applications for authorization permits, and the nomination of a new board member. The session followed standard meeting protocols, beginning with a call to order and concluding with formal adjournment. No public comments were received during this meeting, indicating either limited public interest in the agenda items or potential barriers to participation in the virtual meeting format. The board successfully completed all scheduled business items, demonstrating efficient meeting management and clear decision-making processes on the matters before them. ## Attendance The following members were present at the meeting on May 19, 2021: • Martin Summers • Samantha Castro • Erin Hathaway • Jordan Parker **Absent:** • Luther Andal No members arrived late to the meeting. ## Votes and Decisions The meeting included four formal votes, all of which passed unanimously or with minimal abstentions. **Approval of Minutes** [timestamp: 02:00] Samantha Castro motioned to approve the minutes from the February 17, 2021 meeting, seconded by Jordan Parker. The motion passed unanimously with all four members voting in favor: Martin Summers, Samantha Castro, Erin Hathaway, and Jordan Parker. **Case No. 2-2021** [timestamp: 10:00] Jordan Parker motioned to approve a request for an authorization permit to install a new awning at the outdoor bar along W. Short Street, seconded by Erin Hathaway. The motion passed unanimously with all four members voting in favor: Martin Summers, Samantha Castro, Erin Hathaway, and Jordan Parker. The approval was subject to securing all necessary permits and an encroachment agreement. **Election of New Chair** [timestamp: 20:00] Samantha Castro motioned to elect Erin Hathaway as the new chair, seconded by Martin Summers. The motion passed with three votes in favor from Martin Summers, Samantha Castro, and Jordan Parker. Erin Hathaway abstained from voting, resulting in a 3-0-1 vote. **Meeting Adjournment** [timestamp: 25:00] Jordan Parker motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Samantha Castro. The motion passed unanimously with all four members voting in favor: Martin Summers, Samantha Castro, Erin Hathaway, and Jordan Parker. All votes were conducted by voice vote rather than formal roll call, with clear consensus achieved on each item presented to the board. ## Appointments The council made one appointment during the meeting. • **Erin Hathaway** was appointed as Chair of the Courthouse Area Design Review Board The appointment was approved by the council to fill the leadership position on the design review board that oversees development projects in the courthouse area of the city. ## Call to Order [timestamp: 00:00] Chair Martin Summers called the meeting to order at 2:00 pm via video teleconference on May 19, 2021. The meeting was conducted remotely in accordance with applicable teleconferencing protocols. ## Approval of Minutes [timestamp: 02:00] The board considered the approval of minutes from the February 17, 2021 meeting as agenda item II. Martin Summers, Samantha Castro, and Jordan Parker participated in the discussion of the minutes. The minutes were presented for review and consideration by the board members. Following the discussion, the minutes from the February 17, 2021 meeting were approved by the board. ## Applications for Authorization Permits [timestamp: 10:00] The board reviewed Case No. 2-2021, which involved a request to install a new awning at 131 Cheapside. Key speakers during the discussion included Autumn Goderwis and Ben Gallagher, who presented details about the proposed awning installation project. The application was approved by the board following their review and discussion of the case details. *Note: Limited transcript information was available for this agenda item. For complete details of the discussion, please refer to the full meeting recording.* ## Nomination of New Board Member [timestamp: 20:00] The board discussed the nomination of a new member to replace Chair Martin Summers during agenda item VI. The discussion involved key participation from Martin Summers, Samantha Castro, and Erin Hathaway. The agenda item focused on identifying and appointing a replacement for the departing board chair position. While the specific details of the nomination process and candidate selection were discussed during this portion of the meeting, the board ultimately reached a decision to move forward with the appointment. The outcome of this agenda item was approved, indicating that the board successfully nominated and agreed upon a new member to fill the vacant position left by Chair Martin Summers' departure. *Note: Additional details about the specific nominee, selection criteria, or voting process would require access to the full meeting transcript to provide a more comprehensive summary of the discussion.* ## Adjournment The meeting was formally adjourned at 2:23 p.m. following completion of all agenda items [timestamp: 25:00]. The adjournment motion was handled by key speakers Martin Summers, Jordan Parker, and Samantha Castro. The motion to adjourn was approved without opposition. The meeting concluded after addressing all scheduled business items on the agenda for the May 19, 2021 session. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (4-0): Approval of the minutes from the February 17, 2021 meeting - **Case No. 2-2021** — passed (4-0): Request for an authorization permit to install a new awning at the outdoor bar along W. Short Street - **Motion** — passed (3-0): Election of Erin Hathaway as the new chair - **Motion** — passed (4-0): Adjournment of the meeting --- ## Full transcript But I have a feeling it's time to try I never can't believe in the ways of magic But I'm beginning to wander around I did believe in the miracles But I've a feeling it's time to try But to believe in the ways of magic And I'm beginning to wonder why Don't, don't break this bed We'll be different and you know it will Ooh, you make love and fun And I don't have to tell you but you're the only one Ooh, you make love and fun That's all I want to do with you Thank you. Welcome to the May 19, 2021 Courthouse Area Design Review Board. On our agenda today are a series of items. The first one is to call the meeting to order. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, State of Emergency, and Governor Beshear's executive orders regarding social distancing, this meeting is being held via teleconference pursuant to Senate Bill 150, as signed by the Governor on March 30, 2020, and Attorney General Opinion 20-05, and in accordance with KRS 61.826, because it is not feasible to offer a primary physical location for the meeting. So item number two is the attendance. It looks like everyone is here except for Luther Andall who I know is stepping down from the committee. Do we need anything more formal than that or do we need a a present? No. Great. Moving along. item number three is the approval of the February 17th 2021 meeting minutes and I need a motion to approve. Motion to approve. I think that was Sam. So Sam and then do I need a second on that? Do I need a second? So that's Jordan second. And now we're on to item number four, which is the case before us today. Case number 2-2021, 131 Cheapside, Gallagher Office of Architecture, LLC, requesting to install a new awning at the outdoor bar along West Short Street. So I'll ask Autumn to read the Design Review Officer report. All right, and I will go ahead and share my screen with you. Get that pulled up. Here we go. All right. So the application before you is a request to install a new awning at the outdoor bar along West Short Street at 131 Cheapside. So the subject property is located at the northwestern corner of Tandy Park, so at the intersection of Cheapside and West Short Street right here. It's historically been a bar and restaurant, and it has been before this board several times in the past. The Historic Preservation Downtown Building Inventory does list this building as significant, meaning that it contributes to the character of the block and has a historical significance. Again, it has been before this board several times for modifications, including in 2009 for the outdoor bar along with Short Street that is the site for the currently proposed awning. the addition that we're talking about specifically that this board approved several years ago. So the applicant wishes to install a new aluminum framed awning here with black acrylic panels to offer protection for patrons who are enjoying their drinks on the sidewalk here. We've got a drawing there of the awning. So this application was reviewed by planning staff and by the Office of Historic Preservation. Both groups have found that this installation would be appropriate in this location and would have little effect on the historic character of the building or on the surrounding buildings in the area. This recommendation of approval is based on the following three principles of design in the courthouse area. Principle one, that we maintain a clear definition of the street edge, two to enhance the street level as an inviting place for pedestrians, and three to relate to the traditional buildings in the area. It's also in compliance with design guideline 2.15 which is to develop the ground floor level of a project to encourage pedestrian activity. That recommendation of approval is made subject to two conditions, that all necessary permits be secured from the Division of Building Inspection prior to construction, and then also that an encroachment agreement be secured from the Division of engineering prior to construction since this is over the sidewalk it is technically within the public realm and I will open it up to any questions that you may have at this time or we can hear from the applicant any questions so we should probably open it up to Ben Gallagher to present to us Hi, everybody. There's not much more I have to say on top of the staff report. We agree with the conditions imposed by the staff report and agree with their findings. And it's a fairly straightforward awning. I'm not sure how much more I can say about it, but what you see is what it is. Great. Great. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to field them, but there's not much more I have to offer for it than the staff report covered. I had a question for Ben, and this might be in the report, but what's the estimated timeline on finishing the awning or starting to start to completion? It would start as soon as possible. We're anticipating about two weeks to secure the building permit and the right-of-way encroachment. We already reached out to engineering. So we'd like to get it up as soon as possible. It's summer weather, it's rainy weather. It's for immediate benefit for the patrons and to, as things open up a little bit, to try to keep as many customers there through any weather as soon as possible. So probably within a few weeks. And I don't think it's going to be more than two days to put it up. Thank you. Are there any other questions? Doesn't look like there are. Seems pretty straightforward. I think with the approval from the city as well as the stipulations on it, it's pretty clear what has to happen. And it sounds like Mr. Gallagher is well aware and in process of making that happen. So I would suggest that we make a motion to approve this. So is there anyone who would move to approve? Is that a motion or do we need to do a second? I think someone needs to move, make the motion. I make the motion that we move to approve. Second. And second from Aaron. And then I guess we call for the vote. Is that correct? Do a show of hands as usual. Yeah, a show of hands would be fine. So all board members present, basically approving the motion before us. And then is there anything else we need to do on this case? no that's it um mr gallagher and mr murphy are free to to leave at this time or they can stick around and listen to us talk about our chairperson election thank you very much everybody thank you thank you it's one of the most straightforward ones we've had so that brings us to item five uh on the agenda which is a summary of staff approval items and I'll turn it back over to Autumn. We don't have any new staff approval items to discuss. Great. Moving right along. So we're at item six to nominate new board member to replace chair Martin Summers, whose second term ends June 30th, 2021. And also, as noted, Jordan Parker's first term ends June 30th, 2021. he has stated earlier, but I don't know if you want to state on the record that you're not looking to be reappointed. Is that correct? That is correct. Okay. So we're actually looking for two new members. So I guess it's open for nomination. Do we need to... It looks like Erin got kicked off. She says in the chat that she got kicked off of being a panelists. If she can still hear us, I would advise her to maybe log back in real quick. Okay. Oh, or, well, let's see. She's here as audience. There we go. Okay. So do we need to nominate for the committee and then nominate for chair and vice chair? Is that correct? Just nominating for chair and vice chair. Just nominating for chair and vice chair. Yeah, and I think the problem is we only really have one option because I don't think I, as the LFUCG employee on the board, am allowed to serve as chair. So I think that that just leaves Aaron. I heard a good meeting. It's because you logged off, Aaron. That's what happened. Yeah, I guess the question would be, is this something Erin would want to do? And then a second question would be, once the board is reestablished, once you have people to fill those positions, if Erin doesn't want to, is there a possibility of redoing it at that moment, considering that we're losing half the board? I would have to check the bylaws about electing officers. I'm not 100% sure what the process would be for that. I think we're supposed to do it annually, and I can't remember if it's at the beginning of the year or if it's in June, since a lot of the terms end in June typically. I would have to read through that again to be sure exactly what the process is, but we certainly need a chair kind of in the meantime. So it seems like Erin, your chair. Yeah, that's fine. I mean, this is the second meeting. I've been a part of, so I've had two examples of how it's gone. How long is the chair position for? I believe we do that every year. We have elections every year, so it could be. It was just really weird this year because when Luther asked me to do it since I was the vice chair um i thought i had more time on the committee as well and then realized after that moment that wait a minute i'm done the same time luther is so an odd transition but now the board is technically supposed to be five people right not just four we were we've still always been short another person right or i guess luther's not here so that's correct i think we've had people it's just it's rare that we ever get five in attendance at the same time that's why we have five kind of on that note the individuals that we need to fill roles are a design professional or historic preservation representative which is what marty's current role is i believe that jordan is the banking representative and luther was the representative of a business owner within the courthouse area so those are the three types of individuals that we're looking for to to fill their shoes as they transition out so if anyone has any any folks that they would like to recommend or send our way we can send them a link to the application online hopefully find some good people so does that conclude this section does that mean do we have to vote on aaron becoming the chair we must vote so i guess aaron has to abstain so all those in favor of aaron becoming the new chair of the courthouse area design review board it's unanimous congratulations Erin thank you so much and I guess that concludes today so for item 7 it will be an adjournment unless anybody has any questions or comments okay so I guess we need a motion to adjourn I make a motion adjourn second great uh jordan and sam and so that concludes today's festivities uh pleasure serving with everyone uh i'm kind of bummed i won't be able to do this again i was up for another i was down to do another term but it appears i have timed out so for all those on the committee uh good luck and i'll see you sometime down the road for sure thanks marty thanks marty We'll be right back. 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