CAPE MAY — The Historic Preservation Commission approved The Lokal Hotel’s resubmitted application regarding its porch and parking area, on two conditions.
One condition requires the withdrawal and dismissal of pending litigation between The Lokal Stockton LLC and the city of Cape May and HPC over issuance of a final Certificate of Occupancy.
The second is construction must be completed no later than the Friday before Memorial Day.
“The applicants and their council have confirmed that upon approval of a revised proposal, they’re going to withdraw and dismiss the pending litigation,” solicitor Chris Gillin-Schwartz said. “I would confirm for the record, and again, I’m going to reiterate that this should not be considered relevant to your analysis of whether this is OK by the streetscape standards.”
He added that completing the items is a roadmap to obtaining a final Certificate of Occupancy rather than operating under a temporary CO. The Lokal had been in ongoing litigation over the final CO.
During the meeting Jan. 12, both Lokal Hotel co-owner Chad Ludeman and PS&S architectural historian Kyle Toth addressed the HPC on the eight issues that were identified during the Dec. 15 meeting. Toth submitted a letter to the HPC on Dec. 31, outlining steps to move forward.
The issues included retaining the concrete block foundation; retaining the asphalt roof shingles; retaining the railings; retaining the horizontal fencing, except in the back, where the vertical fencing is proposed; the breeze block wall; HVAC lattice screen; and a new stair configuration.
“You may recall this applicant was here last month and there were eight outstanding issues that we asked them to address,” Chairman John Boecker said. “They have been addressed quite clearly in a letter by Mr. Toth as part of this application.”
Toth said he was happy to answer any questions on the points made in the letter he submitted.
Boecker said the only new piece of information submitted besides the response to the eight issues was the drawing of the revised fence on one side of the project. Toth said the requested rail detailing was also included.
“I just want to be clear as to what the applicants are proposing to do here for the board, so we understand visually what the outcome is going to be,” Gillin-Schwartz said. “You have vertical fencing installed right now and you can see it from the back, from the front, and on the Stockton side you’re going to see horizontal boards.”
Toth said that was correct, and the horizontal fencing will be made vertical with different widths and an elevation change. He added that the posts will be on the interior yard side rather than the street-facing side and that they will reuse the existing fence material.
“We do want it to be a privacy fence still, but want to have some ventilation come through it,” Ludeman said.
The resolution for the Lokal to move forward is expected to be on the HPC’s February agenda. Gillin-Schwartz said the approval, along with the resolution next month, could serve as the basis for a building permit.
Gillin-Schwartz also said he told Ludeman’s council that the first two issues to focus on were the pavers and stairs.
“I’ve already contacted my contractors and put them on notice,” Ludeman said, adding that landscaping might be the one item not finished before Memorial Day weekend, due to the timeline of plantings.
Toth added that the landscape plan needed to be designed in coordination with the landscape architect.
“It’s Cape Maybe, so it’s hard to lock down contractors as you know,” Ludeman said. “I think they’ll all be fine, but I don’t know if the building department is going to hold me up at all. These things are kind of out of my control, right?”
Vice Chairman Jim Testa said he would vote yes but wanted to express two things.
“I had a lot of trouble getting through the breeze blocks and you’ve convinced me that they’re appropriate enough given the timing of construction,” Testa said. “I don’t like to have applications that have had stuff done and then come for approvals, that’s not the way we do things. I’m really happy to get this behind us with full approval here and we settle all our differences.”
Testa added that, in the future, applicants should appear before the HPC before doing any work.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
