1518-1520 Pauger St.

District: Faubourg Marigny - Full Control 

Owner: Vito Petretti

HDLC Staff: Dennis Murphy

Rating: Contributing

Applicant: Abigail Thompson

Permit #: 25-30599-HDLC 

HDLC Design Guidelines: 

Section 10, Pages 1-6 of the Guidelines for Site Elements state that fences, walls and gates are important elements of the overall character of a neighborhood. They identify boundaries, provide privacy and security and are often related to a building’s design and specific to their neighborhood. In the Faubourg Marigny where most buildings are built at the front property line and very close together, fencing was traditoinally capped solid board, vertical wood fencing or horizontally laid heavy boards secured to heavy wood posts at side and rear yards, with an entrance gate of verical wood boards ofen located between the houses on the street to provide access to side and rear yards. The Guidelines also require that fences, walls and gates must be historically consistent in style with the type and style of the primary building. Additionally, the the Guidelines do not permit the installation of solid wood fencing that is closer to the front property line than the main building street facade. 

Staff Recommendations: 

Due to security concerns, the applicant is requesting to install a new 7'-0" tall wood gate at the left side of the building, aligned with the face of the existing front porch. The gate includes a custom decorative interlocking chevron pattern and would be painted to match the building.

The HDLC Design Guidelines include specific requirements for the height, location, and style of fencing based on historic precedent, site placement, and maintaining visual consistency throughout the district. Taller opaque privacy/security fencing up to 7'-0" in height is permitted in side and rear yard areas but is specifically prohibited from being installed closer to the front property line than the main building street façade.

In this case, the proposed gate location at the front face of the porch is considered inappropriate because it places a tall, opaque fence within the front yard where only low, visually transparent fencing is permitted. Additionally, it would partially obscure the openness of the front porch and is not inconsistent with the HDLC Design Guidelines and the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. Based on this, Staff recommends denial of the gate at the proposed location and recommends that it be shifted back to align with the front building wall instead.

Regarding the decorative gate design, while it shares some similarities with standard vertical and horizontal board fence details and would be only minimally visible from the street once shifted back, the custom pattern is not Staff-approvable. The HDLC Design Guidelines require wood fencing to be simple, traditional, and based on historic local precedent. Staff therefore leaves the decision on the custom design to the discretion of the Commission.

• Staff Recommendation: Denial of the 7'-0" tall wood gate aligned with the front porch edge with the proviso it can be shifted back to align with the front building wall, and with the custom wood gate design at the discretion of the Commission