3201-3205 Chartres St.

Staff Recommendations: 

The applicant received a CofA to renovate the existing c. 1830 Creole cottage building and to construct a new contemporary rear addition and side covered porch in 2022. As part of the review, the applicant submitted a wall-mounted gas lantern fixture specification and noted it was for installation along the Johnny Jackson Blvd and Chartres Street sides. Staff pulled the previously approved elevations to annotate them so the approved fixture locations were clearly indicated (as two of the proposed locations were not approvable). Unfortunately, there was a minor oversight and the proposed fixture was not considered or reviewed for yoke-mounting at the front overhang, likely because it was not shown on the previously approved drawings. The wall-mounted fixture was then noted as approved at the side and rear elevations at the area of the new contemporary addition and behind proposed new site fencing, and the documents were forwarded to the applicant for reference. Unfortunately, the fixture at the front overhang was not approved and is not considered appropriate because it is proportionally too large and too contemporary in design for the age/style of the historic building. A more appropriate decorative fixture would have been a smaller, more traditional hanging lantern or simple recess-mounted can lights installed into the overhang depth. Based on this, Staff recommends denial of the request for retention of the fixture and recommends the applicant consider removing it, relocating it to be wall-mounted next to the entry door (or somewhere less prominent on the building), or to replace it with a more appropriate hanging light fixture.