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 Minutes Sherwood Forest Neighborhood Association February 10, 2009 Approval of minutes of November 11 meeting Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Rhett Bailey reported that we currently have 1,033.86 in the bank account. Replacement of SFNA Secretary: It was decided to table this and get nominations for this position at the next general meeting. Interim Measures: LaToya Grate of the City of Columbia’s Planning Department spoke about the interim measures. Our interim measures expires August 6, 2010. If we simply do nothing they will go away or we can reup when that point comes. There are several options for Sherwood Forest in regards to what direction we can go. We can explore “Historic Designation,” which means we would have to have an architectural survey of the 293 recorded parcels in the neighborhood and the dates they were built. We know that 196 are at least 50 years or older, which means we could apply to become a “protection area” but not necessarily decide to become a historic district. “Protection area” means that architectures have been modified some, such as Earlewood, Waverly and Old Shandon. We can also explore becoming an ‘‘Architectural Conservation District” which means that the architecture has not been heavily altered such as Elmwood Park, Melrose Heights, University Hills and Wales Garden. The process to move forward on any of these would take at least a year and the neighborhood would have to be heavily involved in constructing the guidelines and standards. Once the standards are approved the city would take over. Any decision to move forward would have to be approved by majority of the SFNA who attend a called meeting. Another option would be to move forward on a design overlay (Five Points did this) which could deal with demolition, relocation, subdivided lots, etc. This is adding restrictions to what is already on zoning. Overlays would have to be standard throughout the neighborhood. Overlay would also take about a year to process. The city has not had an overlay candidate neighborhood yet. In the end, LaToya suggested that we look at other neighborhoods that had historic preservation guidelines so that we can see what it really entails. Absentee Landlord city ordinance update: Lewis Kirk reported that City Council tabled the ordinance. 2009 Executive Committee planning meeting results and discussion: The group, led by Ed Tilden, discussed the top issues identified in the Executive Committee planning session for 20009. These issues can be found on the SFNA website. Some of the specific comments that were brought up during the discussion were: • We will need a marketing person as part of the SFNA at some point • One question was do we want neighbors to send code infractions to the SFNA and then we forward this to the city? • Ed Tilden stated that the Columbia Council of Neighborhoods is looking to procure Director’s and Officers insurance to cover all of the neighborhoods in the council. • There seems to be a strong sense to create a SFNA welcome wagon. Arboretum endowment update: Larry Hembree reported that he has been in touch with Chris DeWolfe from the University of SC re: the Endowment. The goal is to raise $500,000 in order to create a 20-hour a week position in the arboretum. The Endowment is currently funded at $52,000 with a pending gift of $20,000 for the naming of the new outdoor classroom. Larry hopes to pull together a group from SFNA to explore how to raise funds from SFNA to grant to the endowment in addition to other potential funding sources. Garden Club: Valerie Marcil reported that she would like to create a neighborhood garden club and co-op. Specific information can be found on the SFNA website. The garden club will potentially be in charge of the CANDO gardens and then perhaps work on more formal gardens throughout the neighborhood. Valerie would like to have a first meeting within a month including a plant swap. At that meeting, the direction of the group would be created. Social: Ashley Norton reported that the adult party was successful and kudos were given to Regina Monteith, who hosted the party. She hopes to reschedule the party that was canceled last September due to potential hurricane. Respectfully submitted. Larry Hembree, SFNA Vice President
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