1437 St Andrew St

Description: Retention of tile cladding on front stairs on a Contributing rated, raised basement, multi-family residential building without a Certificate of Appropriateness.

HDLC Guidelines:

CCNO 84-106 - Working without a CofA (NO)

-No private building, structure, or edifice, including fences, boundary walls, signs, steps or seven rises, and paving shall be erected, altered, restored, moved, or demolished within any district until after an application for a certificate of appropriateness as to exterior architectural features has been submitted to and approved by the commission.

SECTION 1, Page 7 of the Guidelines Introduction

SECTION 9, Page 4 of the Guidelines for Porches, Galleries and Balconies.

Staff Recommendations: Two CofAs were issued for this 1437 St. Andrew, one in 2017 and one in 2020. Both expired due to inactivity. A follow up inspection for the potential continuation of Demolition by Neglect was conducted in September of 2022. At that time, it was noted that inappropriate pocked stone tile had been installed on top of the risers and treads at the building’s front staircase. Buildings of this style and age would originally have unclad masonry or concrete stairs, decorative tile would never historically been part of the porch finish.

Staff also does not feel it is appropriate to embellish the concrete deck, which in itself is not a historically-appropriate material. As there are many existing concrete porches in the historic districts, Staff is concerned about setting a precedent of installing decorative tiles on porches where there is no evidence that they previously existed. Staff recommends denial of the retention application.

History:

6/12/2017 - Property cited by HDLC for Demolition by Neglect

2/5/2018 - Certificate of Appropriateness was issued by HDLC to address Demolition by Neglect violations.

4/17/2020 -Inspection completed and staff observed no active work at the building.

4/20/2020 - Certificate of Appropriateness closed as expired due to inactivity.

12/18/2020 - A 2nd Certificate of Appropriateness was issued by HDLC to address Demolition by Neglect violations for 6/12/2017 and also included additional exterior work.

6/18/2021 - Approximate expiration of Certificate of Appropriateness due to no active work at site and no extension requested.

9/23/2022 - HDLC Inspector Daniel Syal completed a site inspection and observed that inappropriate tile had been installed in deviation of approved drawings.

10/20/2022 - Application for Retention submitted by applicant.

Context Photos:

DBNNO 2017:

VIONO 2022:

Approved Drawings:

Street View:

HDLC Guidelines: