Laserfiche WebLink
One of the homes in the group of photos, 815 Ashland, clearly had freshly -installed <br />windows. In fact, Appellant and his wife had a conversation with the owner of that <br />property, who happened to be in his front yard. He said that, yes, he was currently <br />changing his windows for vinly-clad, energy efficient ones. He had not yet finished the <br />trim, and therefore the nails were still visible in the nailing fin, clearly visible in the <br />photo. <br />On Page 2 of his September 23rd letter, Mr. Adam Toering referenced the Chapin Park <br />Local Historic District Standards and Guidelines.- <br />"About <br />uidelines: <br />"About half the structures in the district have aluminum storm windows; the other half <br />have wood storm windows. " <br />These words were written in 2005, sixteen years ago. So, sixteen years ago, according <br />to the Standards and Guidelines, there were no vinyl windows, since half of the storm <br />windows were wood and half were aluminum, There is no mention of any vinyl -clad <br />windows in the document. <br />Despite this, Ms. Downs-Krostenko claimed that the stack of photos of vinyl windows <br />Appellant introduced to the Commission were all grandfathered in many years ago. <br />Since the Appellant's sample of the district demonstrated that the majority of homes <br />presented vinyl windows, there is a strong Constitutional question under the Equal <br />Protection Clause. Why are so many homeowners in Chapin Park allowed to replace <br />their windows with energy-efficient modern vinyl ones, and yet the HPC refused to <br />grant Appellant's COA because it was "outside the standards and guidelines?" <br />Mr. Toering's letter quotes the required window and door parameters: <br />"When deteriorated beyond repair, they shall be replaced with units and trim <br />resembling the original". <br />In quoting the Guidelines, Mr. Toering reiterated the very case made by the Appellant <br />before the commission, namely, that the installed Pella windows clearly resembled the <br />original. Appellant provided a photo of the installed windows at 768 Portage, <br />reinforcing the fact that the new vinyl windows were almost a perfect match to the old. <br />Thus, Appellant's actions were within the spirit and letter of the Guidelines. <br />Moreover, nowhere in the Guidelines are vinyl -clad windows proscribed. There is no <br />prohibition on vinyl windows in Chapin Park. Many homes have them, and neither <br />