Disneyfication Deferred

At its last meeting, the Historic Preservation Commission tabled the "train-themed" proposal for 22 North Seventh Street. They asked to see the plans for the rear of the building, visible from Union Street, which will be the entrance to the Iron Horse Cigar Depot to be located on the first floor of the building.

On Friday, the applicant appeared before the HPC with a new plan. Gone is the roof across the width of the building that extends along the vacant lot to mimic a train station. Gone is the iron gate reworked to evoke a locomotive. Gone is the plan to replace the vinyl siding with wood textured Hardiplank. 

The front of the building will remain exactly as it is--aluminum awning over the doorway and all. The only changes to the building are those at the rear, most of which have already been made without a certificate of appropriateness.

Yesterday the discussion was all about the rear of the building--the entrance to the cigar shop. Because the entrance was not on the Seventh Street facade of the building, code enforcement officer Craig Haigh assumed that historic preservation laws did not apply and issued a building permit to remove the two first floor windows and install a new double door. Because the back of the building is clearly visible from Union Street, however, it is within the purview of the Historic Preservation Commission, and yesterday the HPC deliberated about what to do with a door already installed and a proposed portico that will project four feet out over the door. It was clear that the members of the HPC considered both the door and the portico incompatible with the historic architecture of the surrounding neighborhood.

HPC member Chris Perry observed that the finish of the door made it "stand out as a separate and distinct element." He suggested that the door could be painted to make it more compatible. The applicant, former Germantown supervisor Roy Brown, objected to this suggestion, saying that he had gotten a lot of compliments on the door and had paid a lot of money for it.

In the end, it was agreed that a mistake had been made by the City--a "timing error," as HPC member Miranda Barry put it--but since "the applicant has made every effort to mitigate the mistake" and there are plans to erect a five-foot high fence around the backyard, effectively screening the door and the portico from the street, the HPC would grant a certificate of appropriateness. HPC chair Rick Rector noted that the written statement of the commission's decision should explain the HPC's rationale for approving the project.
COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK