►
From YouTube: Aiken This Week - October 11, 2015 : McDonald Law
Description
Meet McDonald Law, chair of the Design Review Board. Mr. Law introduces himself and the function of DRB in the City of Aiken.
A
Hi
I'm
Glen
Parker
welcome
to
aching
this
week.
Our
guest
today
is
McDonald
law.
Mcdonald
is
a
local
architect,
most
you,
you
will
know
I
think
McDonald.
You
spent
most
of
your
adult
career
here
in
aiken,
but
today
we're
interviewing
McDonald
as
chairman
of
the
design
and
review
board
for
the
city
of
Aiken,
so
McDonald
first
welcome
to
taking
this
week.
Thank
you.
It's
good
to
be
here.
I'm
glad
to
have
you
tell
us
how
long
you've
been
on
the
design
review
board.
Well,.
B
B
A
A
B
A
B
I
think
the
original
ordinance
referenced
that
you
should,
if
available,
you
should
have
a
licensed
architect
on
the
board,
as
well
as
a
person
with
some
knowledge
of
architectural
history.
Now
you
mentioned
a
couple
of
the
others,
have
experience
in
engineering
and
then
one
of
our
guys
has
construction
experience
and
also
we
have
an
attorney.
So
those
are
all
helpful
in
terms
of
reviewing
applications.
Okay,
how.
B
Well
it
it
actually
began
as
the
Historic
Preservation
Commission.
You
may
be
aware,
I
think
that
was
in
1990
and
then
in
2005
the
downtown
was
was
added
in
as
an
overlay
district,
the
downtown
old
a
can
overlay
district
is
what
it's
called
okay
and
that
would
be
the
business
district.
The
historic
district
is
is
all
residential,
and
so
the
name
of
our
board
was
changed
at
that
point,
to
design
view
board.
Okay,
a
lot.
B
B
You
know
there
may
have
been
a
related
instance
that
happened
about
the
same
time
that
the
design
review
board,
our
Historic,
Preservation,
Commission
and
districts
came
into
being.
I.
Remember
that,
in
about
nineteen,
ninety,
the
the
chamber
was
needing
to
find
a
new
location
that
would
have
been
on
a
major
thoroughfare.
You
know
visible
and
accessible,
and
there
were
two
older
homes
on
richmond
avenue
that
were
in
disrepair
and
unoccupied,
obviously,
and
so
that
seemed
to
be
maybe
an
ideal
site,
it's
actually
one
block
up
from.
B
What's
now
an
auto
parts
store
I
think
that
had
been
a
grocery
store.
Maybe
so
this
looked
like
a
possibility
for
chamber,
but
at
the
time
a
lot
of
the
downtown
residents
had
concerns
about.
You
know
more
and
more
a
demolition
of
older
properties,
and
so
the
chamber
backed
away
I'm,
not
sure
it
was
a
planning.
Maybe
it
was
a
Planning
Commission.
B
Or
something
that
would
have
been
required
and
it
turned
out,
it
was
a
win-win
situation
that
the
Aiken
corporation
actually
located
several
parcels
that
included
two
abandoned
service
stations,
which
we
really
didn't
need
downtown,
and
so
that's
the
current
side
of
the
chamber.
In
the
meantime,
the
this
generated
enough
publicity
regarding
the
old
houses
that
to
new
owners
came
forward,
purchased
those
properties
and
then
renovated
them,
and
now
they're.
You
know
they're
occupied,
attractive,
older
homes,
mm-hmm
interesting.
A
That's
interesting:
I
had
Leah
Stewart
own
just
a
couple
of
weeks
ago,
and
she
spoke
of
obviously
with
her
role
in
the
Planning
Commission,
the
zoning
ordinance
and
that's
that's,
guides
the
Planning
Commission
I
see
you
have
a
manual
here
with
you.
What's
what's
the
design
review
board
use
as
their.
B
Guidance
when
they
make
decisions
yeah
good,
that's
that's
a
very
good
question.
We
we
actually
have
to
design
guideline
manuals.
One
would
be
the
for
the
historic
district.
That's
the
design
view
manual,
that's
the
name
of
it!
It's
this!
A
blue
book
we've
had
since
about
nineteen.
Ninety
I
guess
that
covers
the
historic
district
and-
and
it
is
tied
back
into
the
Secretary
of
interiors
guidelines
for
historic
preservation.
B
Now
for
the
for
the
overlay
district,
the
commercial
district
and
the
residential
districts,
we
use
the
oh,
they
can
design
guidelines,
booklet
and,
and
that's
not
quite
as
stringent.
It
doesn't
tie
back
in
historic
preservation,
necessarily,
although
some
of
the
same
principles
play
of
using
compatible
materials-
and
you
know
generally
maintaining
the
same
scale
of
the
existing
buildings
already
there.
If.
B
A
B
In
front
of
the
board,
okay,
well,
the
first
thing
would
be
to
get
an
application
which
you
can
also
download
from
the
city
of
aiken
planning
department
website.
You
could
download
that
or
you
can
pick
one
up
from
the
planning
department
in
the
Municipal
Building
and
essentially
that
that
just
has
a
place
for
you
to
describe
what
the
changes
would
be
and
and
then
it
does
have
a
requirement
that
you
provide
some
drawings.
B
You
don't
need
complete
architectural
drawings,
but
scale
drawings
are
pretty
critical,
the
better
the
drawing,
probably
the
the
more
success
you
may
have
certain
in
getting
approval.
Now
the
other
thing
to
check
would
be
the
dates
for
our
meetings.
There's
a
deadline
that
you
would
need
to
meet.
It
would
be
three
weeks
before
the
actual
meeting
can.
A
B
Meet
the
first
Tuesday
of
every
month
at
six-thirty.
Now
we
have
a
work
session
at
five
thirty.
The
public
is
welcome
to
come
to
that.
That's
informal
and
probably
I
would
advise
someone
if
they
had
an
addition
or
new
construction
in
either
the
historic
district
or
overlay
district
to
come
to
a
work
session,
and
then
then
they
can
discuss
informally
what
what
their
plans
are
and
maybe
get
some
input
from
the
board
before
it
gets
voted
up
or
down.
Then
course
you
would
come
a
month
later
to
the
actual
meeting
at
six
thirty
I.
A
B
Kind
of
information
you
guys
are
looking
at
or
great
thing,
but
he'll
come
to
the
work
session
and
stay
on
and
see
how
others
you
know
come
to
the
meeting,
and
you
know
you
come
forward
in
to
the
lectern
and
and
give
your
name
and
then
are
available
for
questions.
And
then
course
we
have
an
opportunity
for
the
public
to
comment
either.
You
know
pro
or
con
on
the
the
application
as
well
and.
B
A
B
B
That's
a
I
guess:
that's,
maybe
where
we
should
have
started.
Yeah
I,
think
you
you,
you
probably
need
to
define
what
what
it
is,
first
and
and
what
a
historic
district
would
be,
would
be
a
neighborhood
that
in
which
most
of
the
of
the
residences
are
75
or
100
years
old,
and
when
you
have
a
number
of
properties
you
know
predominantly
from
a
particular
era.
B
Then
it
does
change
the
character
and
usually
to
the
good
most
people
enjoy,
driving
or
walking
down
the
street
in
an
older
neighborhood,
the
the
some
of
that
has
to
do
with
the
architecture
with
the
buildings,
the
residences
have
different
architectural
detailing
the
most
of
them
have
porches.
They
relate
to
the
street,
probably
better
than
in
our
newer
subdivisions.
So
that
gives
you
an
overall
kind
of
character
that
that
that
kind
of
defines
what
our
downtown
is
so
I
think.
B
B
Do
you
do
probably
they
began
in
Charleston,
and
that
was
maybe
one
of
the
first
in
the
country
with
with
the
design,
review
and
guidelines,
and
but
now
most
most
cities
that
have
you
know,
neighborhoods
that
are
in
that
range
of
7,500
years
old
would
realize
that
they
need
to
protect
that
are
they
are
they
disappear
and
then
the
character
changes?
That's.
A
B
There
was
some
enough
interest
in
from
from
our
residents
and
having
the
same
kind
of
review
process
for
commercial
buildings
as
we
had
for
residential,
and
at
that
time
you
could
pretty
much
do
anything.
You
want
it
downtown
and
there
were
probably
some
merchants
who
were
wary
of
this,
but
I
think
now
that
it's
been
in
place
for
10
years
or
so
it's
it's
a
it's
a
very
smooth
process.
B
A
B
B
B
Fins
in
well,
it's
going
to
be
obviously
that
the
business
district
are
downtown,
but
it
also
continues
because
it's
the
old
Aiken
overlay
district.
It
continues
on
eastward
to
to
encompass
some
of
the
residential
neighborhoods
that
aren't
in
historic
districts,
mostly
eastward
down
richmond
avenue,
east
okay,.
A
B
Then
what
do
they
have
to
bring
to
you,
the
committee?
Well,
they
they
need
to
apply
for
a
certificate
of
appropriateness
for
demolition.
They
also
need
to
bring
some
rendition
of
what
they're
proposing
and
then
lastly,
they
need
to
show
evidence
of
the
of
the
condition
of
the
structure
and
the
reason
other
than
economic
reasons.
The
reason
that
they're
proposing
demolition
and-
and
we
don't
encourage,
obviously
demolition
of
structures,
particularly
in
historic
district,
but
a
lot
would
depend
on
whether
this
is
a
key
or
landscape.
B
B
Now
then,
there
are
contributing
properties
that
that
are
still
there
still
older
properties,
mostly
single
family.
That
would
be
important
would
be
you
know
we
would.
We
would
not
be
encouraging
demolition
of
those
unless
there
were
some
real
extreme
circumstances
to
do
with
the
structure
and
the
ability
to
renovate
and
restore-
and
we
do
require
a
letter
from
an
engineer.
Structural
engineer,
on
on
the
condition
of
the
building.
B
B
A
B
A
B
B
B
B
Often
during
meetings
or
you
know
in
work
sessions,
we
can
arrive
at
a
compromise
where,
where
that
modified,
a
motion,
it
is
approved.
You
know
by
majority
vote.
So
so
you
still
are
able
to
move
forward.
You
could,
if
it's
very
important,
that
you
do
exactly
like
you
propose
it.
You
can
wait
a
year
and
you
can
resubmit
and
see
what
happens.
Okay,
okay,.
A
B
A
And
we're
not
here
to
obviously
talk
about
specific
projects
that
have
come
before
the
group
at
all
mm-hmm.
If
I'm
moving
into
the
community
and
I'm
thinking,
okay,
I
may
want
to
purchase
a
home
in
the
historic
district.
What
are
some
of
the
advantages
to
living,
maybe
in
the
historian
or
maybe
disadvantages
to.
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
regular
basis,
and
so
I
think,
just
in
terms
of
the
stability
of
the
neighborhood,
there
would
be
some
obvious
advantages
and,
of
course,
there's
the
character
that
you
that
you,
that
you
have
that
that
you
is
difficult
to
to
replace
in
in
new
subdivisions
some
neo-traditional
neighborhoods
that
people
are
becoming
more
and
more
aware
of
are
able
to
duplicate
that.
But
but
you
know,
if,
if
you've
already
got
that
character,
you
know
why
not
take
advantage
of
that
and
of.
A
A
B
A
B
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
Yeah
and
even
perhaps
outside
the
historic
district,
if
the
building
can
be
established
as
a
historic
property
and
that
that
might
hold
true
for
some
downtown
he's.
Actually
most
of
these,
this
is
a
tax
incentive
program.
That's
actually
a
state
law.
This
city
has
adopted
that
allows
the
city
and
the
county
property
taxes
to
be
frozen
at
the
level
of
the
appraisal.
B
So
that's
one
area
that
the
designer
of
you
bored,
probably
the
only
area
where
we
we
actually
review
improvements
and
changes
on
the
interior
of
a
structure.
I'll
just
say
that
specifics.
If
I
can
remember
correctly,
I
believe
that
the
the
prior
original
appraisal
is
frozen
for
about
42
years.
Okay,.
A
B
A
B
B
A
B
B
I
think
you've
done
a
good
job
of
getting
you
know
covering
a
lot
of
our
of
territory.
Okay,
we
we
appreciate
the
interest
and
the
participation
that
we've
had
with
with
residents.
Most
people
that
come
to
our
board
I
think
come
away
with
a
positive
experience
and
and
realize
the
advantages
that
they
have
in
living
in
the
in
our
downtown
neighborhoods.
Okay,.