Present:
Chair Bob Baughman
Vice Chair Daniel Zwiener
Commissioner Valerie Pullara
Commissioner Lois Nagy
Commissioner Sam McClung
Absent: Commissioner Spoerl
Also Present:
Salette Latas, Council Member
Paul Popelka, Assistant Planning and Zoning Director
Diane Chapman, Senior Office Specialist
Chair Baughman administratively ruled that given the nature of the Town’s budget situation, and the fact that it is possible there may be jobs involved, henceforth the Commission will meet without food. If anyone wishes differently it can go on the agenda at the next meeting.
David Williams, Willdan, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Environmentally Sensitive Land Ordinance (ESLO) process and schedule. A copy of the PowerPoint is available.
It was suggested that Oro Valley Historical Society and the Pima Trails Association be added to the list of stakeholders.
Mary Davis, Communications Specialist for the Town will be helping with outreach to the community, and will facilitate information to all stakeholders and to the public. Media outlets and other communications tools will be utilized to ensure complete information distribution.
Mr. Williams continued with the project schedule. A public workshop is planned for July 23, with a second one scheduled for August. The process may be done in nine months.
Mr. Williams needs HPC to define what cultural resources are and prioritize those so that it can be integrated with the ESLO.
Prioritization can be done by the following:
(1) Resources so valuable that they need to be totally preserved and left alone.
(2) Those resources that can co-exist with man.
(3) Those resources that may be able to be moved to another location (i.e. visitor’s centers).
There was extensive discussion on definitions of words such as significance, integrity, archaeological site, historic building, and others.
The inventory consultant will be under contract in a couple of weeks and will begin with the archive and records search. They will also be involved with the HPC in determining priorities.
Access to cultural resources adjacent to the Town, such as Tortolita Mountain Reserve and Catalina State Park, should be considered for trail access.
ESL will not focus on access to resources, but access may need to be considered. Interconnectivity will be looked at. Access may not be provided because of biological and cultural sensitivity.
Fossils and remains should be in ESL.
HPC’s charge is not to prepare and write the ESL ordinance, but to provide building blocks so Willdan can write the ordinance, which will come back to HPC for review and endorsement.
The following definition was decided upon for Cultural Resource:
1. Any prehistoric or historic site or object having historical, architectural, archaeological, or community importance, as defined below, including artifacts, records, and material remains related to such property or resource.
Definitions will be brought to the HPC at next Monday’s meeting for approval.
Mr. Williams and Mr. Popelka will work on preparing definitions for cultural, archaeological and historic site for next week’s meeting.
The Commissioners are to work on defining archaeological site, architectural site, and community site during the week and bring back to the June 15 meeting.