702 North St. Joseph Street_COA 2019-1108

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STAFF REPORT CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Date: December 12, 2019 Application Number: 2019-1108 Property Location: 702 N St Joseph Architectural Style/Date/Architect or Builder: American Foursquare / 1907 Property Owner: Fengrong Ma Landmark or District Designation: River Bend Local Historic District (#8308-92) Rating: Contributing DESCRIPTION OF STRUCTURE/SITE: This is a two-story square house on a field stone foundation. Walls are asphalt shingles; the second story has a slight overhang. The roof is hipped with asphalt shingles. Hipped dormers are at the north and south sides, with the southern being slightly larger. A gable dormer is on the west roof face. A first story hipped roof porch is on the west face with concrete steps and decking. Windows are 1/1 double hung, some wood and some aluminum storms. The chimney is centrally mounted. ALTERATIONS: The irregular sized dormers appear to indicate some later modification to the roofline of the house. COA 1998-0818 allowed for the in-kind replacement of the roof and gutters. COA 1998-0827 added further clarification for the in-kind roof replacement. RME 2018-0829 allowed for the reconstruction of the centrally mounted chimney. COA 2018-1113A conditionally approved the removal and replacement of the south and west dormer windows pending staff approval of proposed aluminum-clad windows (this was not completed). Two attic dormer windows were replaced with vinyl slider windows without Certificate of Approval in August of 2019. APPLICATION ITEMS: “Replace two windows aluminum clad window in attic, gables on south and west roof. Pella Lifestyle Series windows. South gable will not be side-by-side smaller windows, rather 1 single double- hung.” DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED PROJECT: Applicant seeks a retroactive Certificate of Appropriateness for improvements on the structure including: 1. Removal of two (2) vinyl ‘slider’ windows from the west and southern attic dormers. a. Vinyl windows were installed without Certificate of Appropriateness. b. Vinyl windows do not match the previous windows in size, configuration, material, or style. c. Vinyl windows replaced four windows: two ‘narrow’ double-hung windows in the southern and western dormers. 2. Replace with two (2) Pella Lifestyle brand aluminum-clad (wood core) windows in white. Following the conditional approval of COA 2018-1113A for the replacement of the deteriorated original windows with aluminum clad wood double-hung windows matching the original configuration, Staff corresponded with the applicant and monitored the site. On August 6th, 2019, Staff discovered that the two west and two southern dormer windows had been replaced with vinyl slider windows. Staff documented the replaced windows, drafted and mailed a notification letter to the property owner, and informed the Building Department of work having been executed without an approved Certificate of Appropriateness/Building Permit. The Building Department ‘Red Tagged’ the property. The applicant contacted Staff on August 13, 2019 upon receipt of the notification letter. Applicant attempted to find an aluminum-clad product that would replicate the original southern window size but was unable to do so after contacting multiple vendors. The original ‘narrow’ (approximately 10” wide) configuration of the sashes in each dormer resulted in no known appropriate replacement windows. Commission deliberation for COA 2018-1113A included considering replacing the two smaller double-hung sashes with a single larger double-hung aluminum-clad sash. The Commission decided that the applicant should