Historic Review Board Postpones Decision on Old School

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

June 24, 2013

Petersburg developer J. David McCormack came to town last Tuesday with hopes of receiving approval by the Historic District Review Board of his plans to convert the Old School at Central Park into an apartment complex.

But after two and a half hours of questioning, the Board told McCormack they needed more information and tabled his request until August.

Newly appointed town planner Rob Testerman had advised the Board to consider only exterior features of the building. “The interior modifications are not in the purview of the Cape Charles Historic District Review Board,” Testerman wrote in a memo to the Board.

But newly appointed Board Chairman David Gay said he got a different impression after talking to Julie Langan of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in Richmond. Gay said that according to Langan, while features that can be seen from the outside should be the focus of the Board, the whole building and its site are considered in the Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines.

“When you take a public building of this magnitude, the Historic District Review Board has a role in considering all the aspects of the building,” Gay stressed.

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Gay said he did not feel that the Old School project had been handled well so far, and he wanted the Board to be sure it performed its job. The Old School was one of the most emotional issues in Cape Charles, and the Board needed to remember that when reviewing the developer’s application, Gay urged.

Board members questioned McCormack about the school’s permastone façade, fire escapes, stairways, windows, doors, roof, heating/air conditioning, and skylights, as well as his plans for parking at the site.

The apartment complex plans call for two private parking lots – one using the Park’s basketball court, and the other using the Park playground parking lot.

The president of the Old School Cape Charles group, Wayne Creed, wrote in a June 21 letter to the National Park Service that “Central Park is the only park in the Town of Cape Charles. The Central Park basketball court is the only exterior basketball court in Cape Charles and the school gym/auditorium is the only interior basketball court.”

Board member Ted Warner said that apartment house parking lots should not be allowed to detract from the historic character of the neighborhood.

Board member Joe Fehrer worried, however, that from his experience on a zoning board in Maryland, a parking issue could stop a project “dead in the water.” Fehrer urged the Board not to focus on site aspects.

Developer McCormack appeared upset that the Board was discussing details such as parking, and said he did not want to spend a lot of time answering questions about the building if the site was going to be an issue.

The Town of Cape Charles Zoning Ordinance (Section 8.14) empowers the Historic District Review Board to issue or deny Certificates of Appropriateness for construction, reconstruction, substantial exterior alteration, razing, or relocation within the historic district.

The ordinance further tasks the Historic District Board to assist and advise the Town Council, the Planning Commission, and other Town departments, agencies, and property owners in matters involving historically significant sites at buildings or other properties in historic districts such as, but not limited to, appropriate land usage, parking facilities, and signs.

McCormack also pushed back when the Board discussed seeking public comment on the proposed apartment building. The Board had no need to seek local residents’ opinions, McCormack argued, because the decision to rezone the property had already been made.

Nevertheless, the Board asked Town Planner Testerman to draft a proposed change to Board by-laws to provide for public comment.

No Board member has ever seen the inside of the Old School, and member Terry Strub requested McCormack to give them a tour. McCormack readily agreed to the request.

Chairman Gay added that the Board should research historic pictures of the school to get a better sense of changes that have been made.

After McCormack took title to the Old School last December 20, Assistant Town Manager Bob Panek instructed Town employees to remove the basketball backboards and hoops to prevent use of the court. The court now has gone unused for six months.

After the Board meeting, the Wave asked McCormack if he would consider allowing children to use the court until he begins construction. McCormack replied, “No comment.”

The Town has also fenced off the entrance from the playground parking lot into the playground.  Although McCormack now owns the parking lot, parents continue to park there.

The fence is low, and almost everyone parking in the lot simply steps or climbs over the fence to access the playground.