 All right. Welcome to DDRC members, staff and guests. Multiple staff members are present to make sure that the meeting runs smoothly and all applicants and citizens are able to communicate with the Commission at the appropriate times. Will staff please call the roll? Here. Yes. Here. Here. Thank you. In order to avoid ex parte communications, DDRC members are under strict instructions not to discuss cases under consideration with the public or with each other outside of the public forum. The meeting typically starts with staff calling the case, giving a summary of the project and then calling on the applicant to present if they wish. Decisions are typically made in one evening. Decisions may be appealed within 30 days to a court of competent jurisdiction. Oaths will be administered individually as we hear either from the applicants or live speakers. Applicants with a request before the DDRC are allowed into presentation time of 10 minutes. This time should include but is not limited to an overview of the project, case history, and any pertinent meetings held regarding the request. This time also includes all persons presenting information on behalf of the applicant, such as attorneys, engineers, and architects. This time limit does not include any questions asked by the DDRC or staff regarding the requests. Members of the general public are given the opportunity to address their concerns in intervals of two minutes. Applicants may have five minutes to respond. Staff has a timer and will make presenters aware of when their time has expired. Staff, are there any changes to the agenda? Thank you very much. The DDRC uses the consent agenda to approve noncontroversial or routine matters by a single motion in vote. If a member of the DDRC or the general public wants to discuss an item on the consent agenda, that item is removed from the consent agenda and considered during the meeting. The DDRC then approves the remaining consent agenda items. Will staff please read the consent agenda? Okay. I thought it was just with a mask. Sorry about that. We were having trouble with the mic, so. So, I believe I'm on 2222 Main Street, a request for a Certificate of Design Approval for New Construction, North Main Corridor Design Overlight District, 1400 Anthony Avenue, a request for a Certificate of Design Approval for Exterior Changes and an Accessory Structure in the Cotton Town Bellevue Architectural Conservation District. 2227 Lincoln Street, request for a preliminary certification for the Bailey Bill and a Certificate of Design Approval for Exterior Changes and an addition in the Elmwood Park Architectural Conservation District. Is there anyone from the DDRC that would like any item removed from the consent agenda? Is there anyone from the public who would like to have an item removed from the consent agenda? A quick question to staff regarding consent agenda items. When consent agenda items include conditions, those have been agreed to by the applicant? Yeah, those have been reviewed. Okay. Great. Thank you very much. All right. Do I have a motion and second to remove an item from the consent agenda or, sorry, do I have a motion and second to accept the consent agenda subject to all conditions contained in the case summaries as well as the December minutes? I move to accept the consent agenda subject to all the conditions listed by staff and approval of the December minutes. Do I have a second? Second. Any discussion? Will staff please take a vote? Oh, sorry. Bob did you? Mr. Broom? Yes. Oh, I just asked if any any DDRC members had questions about the motion. Okay, great. And so the motion has been seconded. All right. Staff please call the vote. Mr. Broom? Aye. Ms. Sims-Branham? Yes. Mr. Greenberg? Yes. Mr. Lee Decker? Approve. And Mr. Salibi? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you very much. That concludes the consent agenda with no items on the regular agenda. We'll move right on to other business. I think we've got some elections to take care of. That's correct. We have our January elections and as y'all know, Ms. Jacob and Mr. Salibi have graciously agreed to serve in their current positions as chair and vice chair. I did not receive any other nominations or or intent to nominate. So we just need a nomination from y'all for those positions if everyone's in agreement and emotion on that. I move to approve the slate of officers for our 2024 session. And could you just specify? Oh, yeah. And as Ms. Chloe Jacob is our chair and Mr. Andrew Salibi is our vice chair. Thank you. And I think a show of hands would work fine if we have a show of hands for that. Duly elected and thank you once again for serving. And I believe we've got a presentation. All right. So y'all just bear with me a little bit longer. It won't be too long. So we are trying to put together quarterly presentations either on preservation topics or urban design topics either as like a refresher or just to let y'all know a little bit more about what we do when we're not in DDRC. So today's presentation started with an idea and looking into how and why trends and preservation don't really mix. But thinking about why we can't just embrace trends, modern trends in our historic district. I also was thinking about what it is that we're trying to protect and why it is that these houses, these neighborhoods, these buildings continue to attract homeowners and investors throughout the years. Some people are attracted to old buildings and they think of it as a feeling. It's an emotional connection to a building. And I agree that part of that is. But there are elements to historic architecture that make it timeless. Even if you can't put it into words, there are fundamental characteristics that timeless architecture shares. And so when I talk about timeless architecture, of course I'm talking about architecture that has some type of enduring quality and aesthetic appeal. It brings people back over and over again. It remains relevant throughout the years. Time is architecture doesn't have to be historic buildings. Of course I'm looking at it through the lens of historic buildings. But I think most architects I know wouldn't be happy if their buildings were demolished within their lifetime. We want to build buildings that last. And sometimes we can help that and sometimes we can't. But looking at historic buildings through the lens of timeless architecture, we kind of have a scientific approach to it. And looking at this topic, I found Christopher Alexander's book, The Timeless Way of Building. And in it he has certain checkpoints that timeless architecture meets. And he was a modern architect, so he was talking about buildings we build today. But again, of course I'm looking at historic buildings and preservation and how they check the marks of timeless architecture. What we do here, we have to kind of put parameters around and be able to define what makes the building good, what makes it worth preserving. And we are able to do that. I'm also of the belief that true good architecture is an art. And sometimes the buildings do speak for themselves, which Julia Morgan said. So what we do, we have to put parameters around it, we have to be able to define it. And that's what we'll look at today, kind of the definition of timeless architecture. So Rinzo Piano said that architecture is a language and it very much is. Not everybody can speak the language, not everybody's fluent. Most people probably don't understand it at all. But there are things and patterns that our eyes are naturally drawn to. And that is the architectural language, the principles of architecture that have been around, the ancient Greeks had certain principles of architecture that they followed. This can be harmonious proportions, sense of balance. And that's why when we talk about infill, we're looking at massing, we're looking at rhythm openings, we're looking at the patterns on the street that draws people's eyes that we see naturally, maybe we aren't able to define, but we know it's there. Older buildings also tend to be more simple in their design than some of what we see today. There's clarity in their form and their layout. I think one thing that we sometimes struggle with with modern infill projects is, I know one thing that comes up a lot with my projects, you know, the houses have maybe five different roof pitches and five different roof shapes. And we always ask people to simplify, just simplify, bring that down a bit. And, you know, historic architecture just has, is more simple. Taking away the materialistic, the aesthetic qualities, the form itself tends to be fairly simple with these older buildings that have stood the test of time. We also stress building proportions a lot. These two buildings I show in this example happen to be symmetrical. Buildings don't have to be symmetrical to be well balanced, to be a, you know, good composition to have a good rhythm. But they, they tend to have some type of connection with, with the way the windows are proportioned, the doors, the way the roof fits. And it's not, it's not overly complicated. So flexibility and adaptability, we think about this a lot in preservation in terms of adaptive reuse. I mean, that's the most obvious connection. A lot of times where those are buildings we're thinking about big warehouse buildings or talking about institutional buildings, things that are no longer serving their original purpose, because maybe that purpose is no longer something people need. Again, going back to the simple forms, because the buildings were built simply and well, they're able to be adapted. They're able to change the layout of the building into something that works. People do that too with homes. We do see additions, people adapting, not even modern day. Looking back at buildings, you know, where the kitchen building was originally a separate building, people would eventually incorporate that into the homes they'd built on, they'd adapt, but the floor plan would still work, they'd still be able to make it a functional home. And I think, you know, short buildings have that inherently. Material and craftsmanship is one that I think preservationists are very fond of. The use of durable, high quality materials and attention to craftsmanship are essential in creating timeless architecture. Unfortunately, the materials that make up older buildings are things that may be not even available today. When we talk about old wood a lot, obviously, you can't get old wood as easily as you could back even into the 1940s. The quality of the materials that we have today, unfortunately, is just not the same as what we have historically. They're honest, they're robust materials, and they're durable, and the durability of those materials help the buildings physically last over time instead of just falling apart. Craftsmanship is also a quality that's being lost. Average new home today is not being built by craftsmen. Most people can't afford that. Whereas in historic buildings, that was commonplace. You know, I think about the home I grew up in, it was not a fancy building, but this the quality and the attention to detail, the moldings, the plasterwork, the fireplace surrounds. They're considered special today, even though you could buy them from a catalog in the 1800s, but there was work and attention to detail and good quality materials that went into those things. These durable, beautiful historic materials and the craftsmanship that goes into it gives the building authenticity and character and allows the buildings to age gracefully. Sustainability is one that I think is fairly obvious in preservation. We're working with existing buildings. We're not adding to the landfill with new construction. Preservation is inherently sustainable. These buildings were built in a time when materials and features weren't just disposable. Now when we break something, you replace it, you throw it in the landfill, you buy a new thing and you put it in your house. Materials were local. Features could be repaired. Buildings were also built with things like natural ventilation in mind. I'm not a proponent of getting rid of air conditioning, but you know, back in the day, those were things that that that was just part of the building. We didn't have the technology. So the sustainability and environmentally friendly, naturally, that was just something that was part of these buildings. Also have a little quote up there, constructing a building worth preserving for generations to come is the ultimate manifestation of sustainable architecture. These buildings can be preserved for years because of the quality of the material because of the way they were built. We also talk about in preservation embodied energy, you know, there's certain amount of energy that's used in creating a building and a new construction, you know, you have there's energy and environmental impact with the materials that use and making those materials, adding to the landfills when you're constructing something, the environmental impact when you're preserving a building is much, much less than what what what is when you're building new or especially when you're tearing down to then build new. And lastly, community and connection. Preservation is is about community. That's one of the main things I've learned and working in local preservation. It's about the community and the connection to the history. You know, it's why we stress so much to the context when we're talking about infill design, we're looking at preserving that sense of place. We're looking at to going back to following those patterns that have been established, making sure everything is just is part of a whole. It's not just standalone. When people feel emotionally connected to a space, it's more likely to stand the test of time. These buildings are a tangible connection to the past, and they foster a sense of community. Historic buildings are what give our our city character. You imagine taking away, you know, some of the iconic buildings on Main Street or the Vista and then historic neighborhoods, you know, what would people come downtown for? You know, we have the river, the river is nice, but they're not going to come down for the 37% parking area that we have in downtown Columbia. It's our historic buildings that give give our community meeting and connection and character. So what makes a building timeless? These buildings were designed with intention, and they were built to last. They were built in a thoughtful way and to serve as function, but they're also very adaptable to modern needs. Our historic homes are architectural time capsules that are really worth preserving for, you know, the craftsmanship and materials as well as for the history. And again, I went, I started this by thinking about trends, trends in architecture and why we have such a, you know, we're not able to just say, okay, yes, you can do that. Trends are fleeting. They're the opposite of timeless. They come and go. So when we're talking about buildings that have lasted a time that people still want to live in, we want to protect what is special about them and what makes people want to keep coming back. We don't want them to look at it and be and say, oh, I can tell they made that change in 2021. You know, it's a special trend that happened in that year, but it may not be popular in years to come. So just again, stressing the importance of protecting these buildings that have stood the test of time both physically and aesthetically because people still want to live in them. And we talk to those people every day. All right. So that's all I have. If you have any questions, otherwise. That was very informative. Thank you, Ms. Walling. I have a great, not a question, a comment, but I don't disagree with anything you said, but I think what is omitted is the need to preserve buildings that are associated with important events and persons that are not necessarily wonderful, great architecture. Those buildings can be homely, but they are worthy of preservation if they reflect an important life of an important person in our community or something that happened that's really important to our history. Yeah, definitely agree with that as well. Well, thank you. I, you know, fortunately, unfortunately, I'm exempted from the requirement for continuing education, at least as it relates to serving on city commissions. But is there a possibility of getting these quarterly presentations certified for credit? Yeah, I'm sorry. I meant to mention that I don't think these would count. It's a good thought. It's a good thought. But I'm not qualified. I think you have to be qualified in some way. It seemed like a very qualified presentation. I mean, I'm qualified in other ways. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for putting that together. It was informative. I enjoyed it. Is there anything else from any other commissioners? We're adjourned. Thank you, Bob. Thank you, everyone.