The next SFNA meeting will be on Wednesday, April 30 at the South Frankfort Presbyterian Church’s Fellowship Hall, please enter through the West Third Street doors. Doors will open at 6 p.m. for a social hour with donations for dinner accepted to benefit our Randy Bacon Memorial Scholarship fund. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. We have invited the five candidates for the 1st District Magistrate position to come introduce themselves and answer questions from the audience. We will also provide updates regarding a tentative social event for May, information about the annual 4th of July Parade and picnic, the July quarterly meeting, and a survey we will be creating to gauge your thoughts about our neighborhood association. The survey will focus on our communication options, social events, quarterly meetings, membership participation, and your thoughts/suggestions for the association. The purpose of the survey is to reflect on the past to help prepare us better for the future. So we encourage your participation, we plan on having paper copies available at the April meeting and it will be online (a link will be sent when it is created). We ask that all surveys be completed by the end of May so we can compile the results and discuss any changes needed prior to the July quarterly meeting.
Some other notes of interest to our neighborhood include a meeting of the Zoning Update Committee of the Frankfort/Franklin County Planning Commission on Tuesday, April 15 at 5:30 in the Public Safety Community Room at 308 West Second Street. The agenda will consist of a review of proposed revisions to the City of Frankfort’s Zoning Regulations, which might include revising the historic district guidelines as outlined in Articles 4 and 17 in relation to the Citizen Survey comments and City Commission comments. Discussion and possible revisions to the General Commercial and Professional Office zone districts located on West Second Street. The last item is discussion of possible revisions to the conditions relating to the specific conditions of approval for daycare use requests.
Gary Muller with the City of Frankfort sent the following information that might be of interest to tomorrow’s meeting.
Hello all, the link below will provide you a PDF file that is the latest draft of the zoning regulations that are in draft form written to amend the 3 local historic zoning district regulations and Article 17 based on the public survey we completed last year. Also, the PO and CG were amended to reflect some of the form code language that seemed to have the most support in encouraging redevelopment of Second Street.
One of the goals for this draft is to identify specific requirements (former parts from Article 17) placed in each district and that if an applicant meets – they will obtain administrative approval. Second goal is for the draft to incorporate comments from public and City Commission in a way that will encourage maintenance, investment, and stability within our historic districts.
Please note: The general guidelines that have been viewed as arbitrary, unclear, or too restrictive – are being moved out of the zoning regulations, incorporated specifically for each zoning district and are nearly complete.
( this is being done for example that properties on Broadway does not have the same historic elements as to properties on Conway Street – yet we only have one set of rules/guidelines/requirements. ) Furthermore, we are hoping that the staff’s version of the guidelines will be further updated with graphics and illustrations, pending funding/grant review.
Again, Article 17 guidelines – requirements are now shown in each zoning district (SC, SH, & CB) and when a development does not meet these or is seeking local, state, or federal tax credits – a different set of guidelines will be provided (final touches are being done to that draft and will be sent out when completed).
I am going to begin discussions of the draft with the Planning Commission’s Zoning update Committee to get them familiar with the concepts, directions, and likely changes that will then be discussed at a public meeting to obtain public input as well as the same purpose of getting the public familiar with the proposed concepts, directions and changes suggested. Then a ARB/Zoning update meeting will likely be scheduled, followed by formal public hearing by the Planning Commission, then final review by the City Commission.
If you have any questions, comments or needs, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your continued interest in Historic Preservation within our great City. Gary
Also some additional updates on things that SFNA has been tracking:
GAC: We are interviewing top three engineering firms to do the design of Second and Bridge Streets. We will take the recommendation to the City Commission in May and hopefully have a kickoff meeting soon after. There will be a public forum planned during the design phase to get additional community input .
Bob Yapp Preservation How To Event: April 24th-26th, Grand Theater. Hurry!! Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to benefit from rehab tips and how to’s from this Old House Expert and nationally known author!! One day event registrations are available at only $15, and includes a keynote lunch. Go to www.frankfort.ky.gov to register.
Call Maya DeRosa for details (502) 352-2097. There are some attached documents that might be of interest.
Coming Soon! Historic Preservation Grant and Loan Fund! City is kicking off a pilot program May 1st to allow owners in the historic district to apply for financial assistance for exterior repairs. Grant window will be open 60 days. Minimum project cost is $10,000 and grants require a 50% match by applicant. The project must be complete within one year and exterior changes must pass a final inspection to receive grant funds. As this is a pilot program with limited funds, this year there will be one qualified residential project and one qualified commercial project selected randomly from the grant lottery pool. For the low interest loan program, the maximum loan amount is $20,000 and projects that meet the City’s screening requirement will be referred to a third party bank to be pre-qualified.Check City website at www.frankfort.ky.gov for details on May 1st or call Rebecca Hall, Grants Manager (502) 352-2076.
Attached is the agenda for the City Commission’s meeting on April 21.
We will send out another reminder e-mail closer to the quarterly meeting date – until then, please feel free to reply to this e-mail. FYI – any SFNA membership applications received from April on will be applied towards membership in fiscal year 2014-2015.