Staff recommends approval of the demolition as proposed, with the clarification that this approval is after-the-fact and future proposed demolitions must be reviewed on the front end for physical condition, architectural integrity, and their effect on the National Register Historic District.
After-the-fact review of demolition of the house. All historic elements of the house have been removed, including foundation, structural sheathing (likely original or historic wood siding), interior flooring and framing systems, exterior siding, and window and door fenestrations.
House demolished from property was a one-story residence, resting on a brick foundation, with a hipped-roof clad in asphalt shingles, with smaller gable-roof massings projecting towards the front, west, and south. House was clad in flush wood siding, with a hipped-roof porch supported by turned wood columns on the northeast corner of the house. Windows were one-over-one, double-hung sash.
1. Review of this demolition is after-the-fact. At the November 2019 HZC meeting, the applicant stated the reason for the house's demolition was the discovery of various structural elements that were so deteriorated as to warrant removal and subsequent replacement.
2. The appropriate process to document substantial deterioration of a house would be to pull an interior demolition permit, remove interior finishes to uncover relevant structural elements, document their level of deterioration, and present this information to HZC and staff when applying for a COA. When situations arise where rehabilitation of the structure requires work that is outside of the scope of the existing COA, the applicant should stop work immediately and present the new information to staff to define a path forward. Both staff and the Commission require a clear and complete depiction of the full scope of work to be completed at a property to provide an adequate review.
3. Guidelines note that demolitions may be approved by the HZC if the original design is so compromised that historic architectural integrity is lost and cannot be reasonably re-established. As established in the November HZC meeting, the house has now lost integrity of design, materials, and workmanship.
4. Under the Secretary of the Interior's Standards, the demolition of the house and construction of a new house to match the old creates a resource that is no longer contributing to the National Register Historic District.
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