A belated application led to a long discussion at the Historic District Commission meeting last week. Jim House bought a property at 3 College St. and made some exterior changes without knowing that he needed HDC approval.
Those changes included a partial enclosure of a carport, changes to some windows, and replacing a section of brick facade with lap siding. City Historic Preservation Officer Kylee Hevrdejs introduced the application and noted that all the houses on that street were constructed in 1965 or later. She also noted that the house had been previously altered from its original state. She recommended approval for the application, and said the work performed would be considered appropriate.
Commissioner Randy Maddox said commission guidelines call for protecting properties more than 50 years old. “Although a building may not be historic at this time, someday it will be,” he said. Reading further, Maddox said the guidelines repeatedly say a property “must” be protected. Hevrdejs explained that the most recent historical survey was completed in 2005. Since then, any house built between 1955 and 1971 has become historical, but those properties have not been evaluated for their contributions.
Hevrdejs agreed with Maddox about the “fuzzy” distinctions between contributing and non-contributing properties. However, she reminded commissioners that their guidelines leave a great deal of room for judgment. “The Secretary of the Interior standards are goals in a perfect world,” she said.
Chair Dee Bright said the commission should be guided by the 2005 survey until another one becomes available. “Just because something turns fifty does not make it historic,” she said. Maddox continued to object to any changes, and Bright said, “We’re not the pretty police. You need to tone it down.”
House, attending by Zoom, said real estate agents did not tell him about the historic district when he bought the property. He applied for and received a building permit online. He said he did not originally plan to make any exterior changes, but some siding had delaminated, and a section of brick facade fell away from the house because it lacked brick ties.
The commission has struggled with issues of insuring that anyone buying a property understands the role of the HDC. They also wondered how Mike Klecha at 29 S. Main could have received a permit without a certificate of appropriateness from the commission. Commissioner Marty Cogan said she could agree with everything Maddox said, but “in this instance, there were definitely extenuating circumstances.” The work is already substantially complete, she noted, and Klecha should not be blamed for the problems in city procedures, nor for the problems with notifying owners about city regulations. “We as commissioners have to educate not only contractors and real estate agents, but everyone else,” she said.
By a 3-2 margin, the commissioners voted not to approve the application, although in a separate vote they approved repairs to a deck and railing.
Hevrdejs asked the commissioners what design changes they would approve. Maddox demanded “a replacement in kind,” suggesting that the brick half-wall along the front of the house should be replaced with a similar material. House responded that the house had already gone through some changes, included a glass block window. Cogan again stated her position. “I think he exercised good faith when he made his changes,” she said, and added that House should not be penalized for the procedural failures.
Bright said, “I’ve always been taught in classes that we have to look at each neighborhood.” She asked for a re-vote on the issue, calling it “the right thing to do.” With Maddox still opposed, the others voted in favor.
Conceptual review
Mike Klecha, owner of a property at 29 S. Main St., asked the HDC for an opinion on a proposed change to his building. The property has a deck over the sidewalk, and Klecha would like to upgrade that deck to make it usable for the business. He also asked to add a roof over that deck, either a fixed roof or a continuous awning.
The building dates to 1900, and when Hevrdejs introduced this agenda item, she noted that the roof would “significantly alter the original design and conceal architectural features.” Klecha said he asked for the conceptual review so that he would not waste time and money in design if the roof would not be approved.
Klecha explained that a door already leads to the deck, which he said is currently in an “atrocious” state. He plans to add a 42-inch railing and showed old pictures with a similar railing in place.
No vote was taken, but commissioners voiced little objection to the deck and railing. The roof over the deck met with more opposition. Hevrdejs repeated her assessment that “adding a roof would significantly alter the façade of that building.” She had informed Klecha during a site visit that she would “not say yes to a roof.”
Klecha had asked to install an awning-type roof over the deck if the commission would not allow a fixed roof. Hevrdejs said Klecha might receive approval for individual awnings over windows, but not a continuous awning.
He responded, “I walk down Spring Street and see all these awnings that look pretty non-conforming.” Hevrdejs answered, “Then you probably don’t want to put one on your building.”
Klecha said he would return with a more detailed proposal, including additional information about materials for the deck.
In other business:
- The commissioners approved an application to build a guest cabin at 4 Drennon Ln. Owner Jake Achor also received approval for a deck and a greenhouse. The house was built in 2016. Plans call for a cabin 22 by 13 feet and a circular deck roughly 12 by 20 feet. The half-circle greenhouse will measure 8 by 16 feet. The commissioners noted that that the deck and greenhouse were on the back of the house.
- Klecha had another item on the agenda, after an application at 1 First St. was pulled from the consent agenda and placed on the table for discussion. Klecha was asking to install three exterior lights over a small parking area. Maddox said he did not know what regulations the commission had on lighting, but he asked about the impact of the lights on neighbors. The lights will face downward, Klecha said, and will only light that small area and provide some additional security in a currently dark area. All approved the application.
- Cogan had asked for a discussion of what items should accompany an application. “If someone puts forth an application, it should be something everyone can understand,” she said. “We need elevations, accurate dimensions, and specific examples of the work to be completed,” she said. Bright noted that the application already lists those requirements, but applicants “need to do their part.”
- A Level II application to replace aluminum windows at 245 Spring St. was deferred.
The HDC will next meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1. Level III applications were due by Nov 18, and other levels were due by Nov. 24.