HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-01-15
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HISTORIC DISTRICTS COMMISSION
January 15, 1986
A meeting of the Historic Districts Commission was held on Wednesday,
January 15, 1986 in Estabrook Hall, Cary Memorial Building, Lexington.
Present were Commissioners John L. Davies, Chairman; Linda J. hlcAUlay, Sec-
retary; Stephen M. Politi; John E. Ryan; and Associate Commissioners Mary
Harding Nye and Stephen B. Cripps. Except as noted below, the five voting
were the four Commissioners present and Associate Commissioner Cripps.
At 8:00 P.M. Robert E. Welt, Lauren C. Welt, and George W. Cullington
appeared to request a Certificate for architectural changes to the dwelling
at 7 Maple Street. The changes involve demolition of a metal garage build-
ing and a rear porch, the replacement of one window with an Andersen case-
ment window, and the re-roofing of the house with black asphalt shingles.
The applicants submitted photographs of the building, and there was discu-
ssion of the proposed changes. Several abuttors were present, but none of
them voiced opposition to the proposal. The proposal was then VOTED.
At 8:20 P.M. hir. Robert Hilton appeared on behalf of the Cary Memorial
Library to request approval for a handrail at the entrance to the East Lex-
ington Branch Library. Mrs. Linda McAulay was elected Chair Pro Tem for
this hearing and Mr. Davies, as designer of the proposed handrail, abstained
from voting. There was discussion of whether two handrails would be prefer-
able to one, and hlr. Davies (as designer) expressed the opinion that a hand-
rail at the hinge side of the door would be confusing to people entering the
door and might even be dangerous. There was also discussion of whether the
upper end of the handrail should be curved. It was concluded that a second
handrail could always be added at a later date if it proved desirable. With
hir. Cripps voting for Mr. Davies, the proposal was VOTED_
At 8:40 P.M. Mr. Davies resumed the Chair. John R. Holt appeared to
request approval for an addition at the rear of the dwelling at 736 Massa-
chusetts Avenue. The existing free standing garage would be demolished and
a two car garage with an apartment over it would be attached to the house
at the location of the existing rear porch. There was discussion of the
style of the windows, the storm windows, the garage doors, and the relation-
ship to the existing house. 69ith respect to the rear perch with sliding
glass doors, there was consensus that it should be left alone and not modi-
fied with "colonial" grillwork or other trim. hir. Roland Gubish spoke in
favor of the proposal.
In the course of discussion, hir. Ryan asked whether or not there would
be two egresses from the second floor apartment. It was agreed that, since
this was a building code requirement, the likelihood was extremely high
that the design would have to be modified and that modifications would affect
the exterior appearance of the building. hlr. Holt agreed that he would
seek a redesign and clarification of the egress issue and requested that the
hearing be continued to March 12th for that purpose.
In the meantime, Mr. Davies suggested that the Commission summarize the
tentative agreements that had been arrived at during this presentation so
that hir. Holt would have the opportunity to incorporate them into his
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January 15, 1986 - page 2
revised design. These were for the most part derived from oral statements
made by Mr. Holt in his presentation and in response to questions and were
either changes from the drawings or not mentioned therein. They were listed
as follows:
1. The windows shall be single glazed with individual
lights in real wood muntins, and they may be equip-
ped with white aluminum combination storm windows
to match existing ones on the house.
2. The blinds shall be wood, hung on functioning pintle
hinges.
3. The garage window shown in elevation but not in plan
shall be included, and the garage doors will be
without glass lights.
4. The existing sliding glass door shall be unchanged,
and there shall be no wood arch constructed in front
of it.
Then David G. Williams appeared to request approval of a color change
to the dwelling at 1433 Massachusetts Avenue. The proposal was VOTED.
Amalia G. Samoylenko then appeared on behalf of Lexington news Trust
for an informal preliminary presentation of the plan under development for
the rear elevation of the Lexington Mews building. The plan involves the
replacement of the "Cinema 3" occupancy with additional retail space and
the addition of second floor office space. There was agreement with the
general design, but it was understood details were not yet final.
Bills were VOTED in the amounts of $31.50 for Beacon Communications
and $49.30 for Barbara Gilson.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 P.M.
Linda J. McAulay
Secretary