2353 Saint Thomas St.

Staff & ARC Recommendations: 

At the December ARC meeting, the ARC stated that they could not approve the camelback as proposed, as it does not meet the Guidelines.  The ARC stated that the camelback addition should be pushed at least 2 rooms back from the front façade and should be changed to have a hipped roof at the front.  The applicant is requesting to maintain the 1 room setback as proposed due to the limited size of the house and lot. The proposal has been updated to reflect the ARC recommendation that the camelback has a hipped roof. Staff leaves the decision for the setback of the camelback at the discretion of the Commission.

The applicant is also requesting for more than 50% replacement of the exterior wall structure. On January 9, staff did an interior and exterior inspection at the property after interior exploratory demolition had been done. At the inspection, the exterior walls were found to be in poor condition due to unsympathetic and inappropriate renovations including the addition of stucco on several elevations. The framing also showed signs of water and termite damage. It is likely that a large portion of the walls will be required to be reframed and sistered to carry the load of the new camelback addition. Staff recommends approval of replacement of wall framing where needed with the proviso that the replacement goes wall by wall, that the footprint remains the same, and that all caution to properly brace the building is done.

ARC Recommendation:

12/17/24: The ARC recommended conceptual approval with the details to be worked out at the staff level.  The ARC stated that they could not approve the camelback as proposed, as it does not meet the Guidelines.  The ARC stated that the camelback addition should be pushed at least 2 rooms back from the front façade and should be changed to have a hipped roof at the front.  The ARC also stated that the roof pitch of the camelback addition should match the pitch of the existing house.  The ARC recommended approval of porch proposal Alternative 2 with 8”x6” box columns.  The ARC also recommended that interior exploratory demolition be completed to verify the window sizes at the side elevation and to see the condition of the existing framing.