1138 Saint Anthony St.

Staff Recommendations: 

The owner of this property recently installed a new wood access stair and second-floor door opening at the front elevation of the building without a Certificate of Appropriateness or building permit issued. The stair does not appear to meet the HDLC Guidelines because it is visually prominent at the primary elevation and because the design, detailing, and materials do not appear to be compatible with the existing commercial building. The applicant is now requesting retention approval for the stairs to remain as currently installed. However, this will also require separate additional BBSA waiver approval due to the building code deficiencies.

While the existing building is considered Non-Contributing rated and utilizes non-historic building materials, it is prominently visible along the historic Joseph Guillaume Place corridor. Additionally, the HDLC Guidelines note that access/circulation stairs are strongly discouraged where visible from the public right of way, and should instead be integrated into the building's interior envelope. Where visible access stairs have been required in the past, the ARC and HDLC Staff have worked closely with applicants to integrate them as much as possible into the existing building and surrounding historic streetscape.

Based on these factors, Staff recommends denial of the request for retention of the new exterior access stair and second-floor door opening and encourages the applicant to further explore the feasibility of relocating this vertical circulation at the interior of the building envelope. Alternatively, if an exterior stair is necessary, the applicant can submit a new application and can work with HDLC Staff on a code-compliant and building-compatible stair at this location or at the right-side elevation.