BEFORE THE JACKSONVILLE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION IN RE: Request for Demolition - 2730 Cherokee Avenue ORDER GRANTING REOUEST FOR DEMOLITION At the August 24, 2016 meeting, the JACKSONVILLE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION, ("Commission") pursuant to 320A07(b)(2), Ord. Code, considered the application of owners, James S. and Carol C. Rountree (the "Owners"), for permission to demolish the structure located at 2730 Cherokee Avenue, a contributing property in the Ortega Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Owners provided a statement in support of demolition (dated August 8, 2016) and stated their support for the demolition of the structure at the August 24, 2016 meeting. After full consideration and review, the Commission adopted and incorporated the Planning and Development Department's Memorandum attached hereto as Exhibit "A". Specifically, the Commission determined that the structure fails to meet a minimum of four (4) of the criteria required in Chapter 307, Ord. Code to be designated as a landmark or landmark site. Therefore, permission to demolish the structure is GRANTED. DONE AND ORDERED by the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission at the August 24, 2016 public meeting.,chairman ORM APPROVED: ~ NDRA R. FETNER ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL Dated: FINAL ORDER Page 1 of 6
NOTICE OF RIGHT TO APPEAL Persons listed in 320.407, Ord. Code, may appeal this decision to the City Council within fourteen (14) days of the date of the Commission meeting by filing a Notice of Appeal with the Legislative Services Division of the Council as required by 320.407(b)(3), Ord. Code. Failure to file a Notice with the Legislative Services Division within the time prescribed waives the right to appeal this Order. Copy to: James and Carol Rountree 1372 Avondale Avenue Jacksonville, Florida 32205 City Building Inspection Division G:\l..1nd Usc\Historic Prcscrv.alion (2400)\2016 (1600000)\Ordcrs\08 24.J6\Dcmo Approval 2730 Chcroh'C A,,'c 320.407.doc 2 FINAL ORDER Page 2 of 6
Exhibit A Jacksonville Planning and Development Department Community Planning Division MEMORANDUM To: From: RE: Chairman and Members Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission Joel McEachin City Planner Supervisor- Historic Preservation Request for Demolition-2730 Cherokee Avenue Date: August 24, 2016 The property owner is seeking a building permit to demolish the residential structure located at 2730 Cherokee Avenue in the Ortega Historic District. Reflecting the Frame Vernacular style, this twostory residence, which was constructed in c.1928 according to the Property Appraiser Record Card, has been listed as a contributing property in the Ortega Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Being a contributing property, the demolition of the subject building will require a review by the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission pursuant to 320.407, Jacksonville Ordinance Code as amended in November, 2005. Within sixty calendar days after the complete demolition application was received by the Historic Preservation Section of the Jacksonville Planning and Development Department (August 8, 2016), the Commission must review and take action on the request for demolition. If the Commission fails to act within the sixty-day period, the demolition request is considered to have been granted. If the Commission approves the permit application, the demolition may proceed. If the Commission denies the application, the property owner can appeal the decision to the City Council. The appeal must be filed within 14 calendar days from the date of the Commission meeting. The case file, including the demolition application and the Commission's recommendation regarding the property's potential landmark status, will be forwarded to the City Council which will vote to approve the demolition request, or to proceed with landmark designation. Based on a preliminary evaluation, it is the opinion of the Planning and Development Department that the residence at 2730 Cherokee Avenue may meet two criteria for local landmark designation. A. Its value as a significant reminder ouhe cui/ural. historical. architectural. or archaeological heritage ouhe City. state or nation. According to the Historic Building Survey, Ortega Neighborhood, Jacksonville, Florida (1999), the two-story residence was built in c.1928 per the Property Appraiser Record Card, which places its construction more in the second period of development of the Ortega Subdivision (1907-1918). The first period of development during the first two decades of the twentieth JHPC Meeting Book - August 24, 2016 Page 740 of 804 FINAL ORDER Page 3 of 6
2730 Cherokee A venue August 24, 2016 Page 2 century was initiated by the Ortega Company under J.N.C. Stockton. Involved in numerous banking, phosphate, lumber and naval store enterprises, John Noble Cumming Stockton, the brother of prominent Jacksonville real estate developer, Thomas Telfair Stockton, organized the Ortega Company in 1906.1 The company purchased a 5,000-acre tract from the old Jacksonville Ortega Town Company, directed by U.S. Senator Wilkinson Call, who had in turn acquired the property in 1902 from the heirs of John P. Sanderson.2 During the Florida Land Boom of the I 920s, a second, more substantial period of development started. The design of residences from this period, several being large elaborate river front estates, mainly reflected popular revival styles, particularly the Spanish Eclectic, Italian Renaissance, Colonial and Tudor Revivals, as well as the more modernistic influences of the Craftsman style. The original design of the subject property at 2730 Cherokee Avenue reflects no particular style and is commonly referred to as frame vernacular because of its construction. However, frame vernacular buildings are important since they represent vanishing examples of how rural and lay builders utilized simple and time tested construction principles to construct solid and functional spaces that worked well in the southern environment. In Florida, most frame vernacular buildings were constructed of Southern Yellow Pine and cypress combined with manufactured products shipped by railroad such as sash windows, doors, and hardware. Surrounded by outlying sawmills at the time, Southern Yellow Pine that has been so heavily timbered as to be almost non-exist by the 1930's. Today, this quality pinewood is only available from re-milled timbers salvaged from demolitions or from original logs preserved in the muddy bottom of Florida creeks and rivers. Although part of the City of Jacksonville by 1925, no building permit record was located confirming the 1928 construction date for the subject property. The residence at 2730 Cherokee Avenue could have been constructed earlier than 1928 as reflected in its Frame Vernacular style, original metal shingle roof (recorded on the Florida Master Site File but since replaced), steep roof pitch and evidence of a chimney pipe that probably ventilated a wood burning stove in the former kitchen, as well as large turned newel posts on the stairs. Based on Sanborn Maps, the residence may have been on the site as early as 1924 which is consistent with property research. In 1922, the Ortega Company deeded Lot 6, Block 36 to Clarence A. Hopper (Deed Book 226, page 517, 1922). The National Register nomination for the Ortega Historic District was based on the Historic Bllilding SlIrvey-Ortega neighborhood, Jacksonville, Florida (1999, Historic Property Associates). This survey documented 633 buildings of which 162 or 26 % were constructed between 1919 and 1929 with only 35 or approximately 6 % constructed between 1907-1918. 135 residences were attributed to reflecting the Frame Vernacular style which is approximately 21 % of the total number surveyed. The National Register district includes 514 contributing properties and 259 non-contributing properties. The period of significance for the district is 1906, start of the Ortega development, to 1953, the end of the historic period (fifty years) at the time the nomination was considered. I Pleasant Daniel Gold, Hislory a/duval County. (St. Augustine, Florida, The Record Company, 1929), p. 670. 2 Wayne W. Wood, Jackso/7Vil/e ArchilecllIral Heritage. Landmarks/or Ihe Flllure. (Gainesville, University Presses of Florida, 1989), p. 349. JHPC Meeting Book - August 24. 2016 Page 741 of 804 FINAL ORDER Page 4 of 6
2730 Cherokee Avenue Augusl24. 20 16 Page 3 B. Its location is the site of a significant local. state or national event. C. It is identified with a person or persons who significantly contribllled to the development of the City. state or nation. D. It is identified as the work of a master builder. designer, or architect whose individual work has influenced the development of the City, state or nation. E. Its value as a building is recognized for the quality of its architecture and it retains slifjicient elements showing its architectural significance. F. It has distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style valuable for the study of a period, method of construction, or use of indigenous materials. G. Its suitabilitv (or preservation or restoration In utilizing the criterion of suitability for preservation and restoration, it has been the practice of the Planning and Development Department to evaluate proposed landmarks based on evidence of significant exterior alterations that have negatively impacted character-defining features, as well as represent alterations difficult, costly, or impossible to reverse. Further, the degree and nature of any exterior deterioration, as well as the evidence of long term and potentially on-going neglect, are also factors in evaluating potential landmarks for their suitability for preservation or restoration. According to a statement provided by the applicants, the previous owner's father, Nicholas H. Gieschen, who acquired the property in 1959, made numerous changes and updates to the residence over the years. These changes include enclosing a rear porch in order to accommodate a new kitchen; relocating a downstairs bathroom to a new side addition; and adding a second floor dormer bedroom. The original wooden double-hung sash windows have also been JHPC Meeting Book - August 24. 2016 Page 742 of 804 FINAL ORDER Page 5 of 6
2730 Cherokee Avenue August 24. 2016 Page 4 replaced. Whether the wood shingles are the original exterior sheathing has not been detennincd, but may represent a later alteration. The detached garage is sheathed with horizontal false bevel wood siding which is a common material for residential construction during the first quarter of the 20'h century. In their letter of August 8, 2016. the owners outlined some of the issues with the current structure which they described as having significant deterioration due to lack of proper maintenance. These issues include a low foundation with limited access, a crumbling fire box, as well as the stairs lacking proper ceiling height with trends and risers not meeting current code. Occupied until recently, the residence does not appear to have any major deterioration that would make rehabilitation infeasible. Since the owner is seeking demolition and thus not in support of landmark designation for the residence at 2730 Cherokee Avenue, the Commission must find the property to meet at least four of the seven criteria before forwarding a recommendation to the City Council. As previously noted, the Planning and Development Department found the subject property, 2730 Cherokee Avenue, to meet only two criterions. cc: - James S. & Carol C. Rountree 1372 Avondale Avenue Jacksonville, Florida 32205 JHPC Meeting Book - August 24, 2016 Page 743 of 804 FINAL ORDER Page 6 of 6