Montgomery Capital City Connection (CCC) Architectural Review Board, 17 Nov 2021

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From YouTube: Montgomery Architectural Review Board (11/17/21)

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The Montgomery Architectural Review Board's November 17th meeting

A

That's correct good evening, madam chair and members, I I am steve murray. I chair the alabama governor's mansion authority. We are a state entity with responsibility for administering the mansion complex and the project. We're bringing to you this evening entails repair work to the perimeter wall along court street to the existing uh a wall that will be rebuilt at the top of that hill right there on along court street.

A

The addition will be a new low wall that extends along that stretch of the mansion property along court street it'll be about fewer than 30 inches high, along that it will actually improve current conditions there. Significantly. We have a significant erosion problem with soil washing down onto the sidewalk and into the street there causing drainage problems and creating some inconveniences for pedestrians. So we think that's going to be a real benefit to the neighborhood with the addition of that low wall and there will be new lighting that replaces some quite outdated lighting systems. There.

B

Okay, this wall would be then very similar to the one on the front of the property. A low, the low brick wall wouldn't have the wouldn't have posts and fins.

A

B

But a low wall lights.

A

B

Okay, a very standard sort of wall in the garden district, yes, ma'am all right.

C

The wall on the front may actually be a little taller than what's proposed because they're they are under three feet. um It's like two feet. Four inches, I think was the so I think it'll be even a little lower than that front wall.

B

Is there anyone in the audience to speak to this project.

B

Laura, how are you fine? I don't. I don't think your microphone is on.

B

You think it's.

C

um Okay, apparently.

D

I'm laura callaway with the garden district preservation association. We have no objections. We only ask that, as the work is done, uh the hex block sidewalks along that stretch, be protected.

B

Any comments from the board.

B

Then may I have a motion.

D

Madam chair, I move to approve, as presented a second second.

B

A

Thank you very much.

B

Go into good work, all.

A

Right. Thank you.

B

Right, our second project is jose escobar, capitol height, st charles 2323, st charles avenue,.

B

Good afternoon.

B

Tell us about your project.

E

Okay, um I was uh you know we had the problem with the roof, um it was uh leaking everywhere, but the uh we tried to repair but the um you know it was all when we tried to repair it was all damaged, you know, and then um we did it was uh to rain that week. So we decided to throw away and have a friend that have a metal, because you know the the um all the uh the structure for the deck.

E

If I do uh the the decking for the play, who was, it was expensive at that time for the final for the pandemic. So I it was about fifty dollars a cheat and I don't know how many children supposed to do for osb.

E

So we decided to the chip was to do the uh the metal, because the stripe for the uh for all the wool was holding the the old roof. It was all horizontal so that the for the for the metal was easy to fasten good in there without making the deck. That way, we decided to do the uh that way.

B

Is there anyone from the audience to speak to this project.

B

Comments from the board.

F

Mr escobar, I understand you live next door to this property.

E

F

How long have you lived in your home.

E

In the in the next, where I live.

F

Where you, yes,.

E

I have about 16 years how many uh 60 16 years, 15.

F

When did you purchase this this product um last year, sir.

E

Yeah last year, actually my song is the owner of the of the house because he living in orlando and he planned to move this way. So I I prepared to have leave him and my daughter so um yeah. um The reason I bought the house vehicle was uh was like you know.

E

It was next to my house, so the uh the the my house, my house, was losing my you know the uh the price you know because it was a they don't clean. They don't do nothing. So I decided I told him you know if I can buy. I can do something for for the price of my my other property.

F

So this house, you you bought it in kindling for your your son, your daughter-in-law. This is not going to be a rental property. Is that right.

E

No, but it was my daughter and my son, even my song, is who got the dialogue, but he have my same name.

D

So you've lived in this area for at least 15 16 years.

E

D

Have you ever done any repairs to your house.

E

uh In my house.

D

To to the outside of your existing house, have you had to come here before? Were you aware of the architectural review board.

E

I I used to I live in in new york. I used to live in new york, so I moved right here to 2005 and then you know this. uh I was yeah after that. I live in the in the house.

B

I'm sure this started out as a really nice house, but, as you said about the people who had owned it before they didn't take terribly good care of it.

D

B

Got uh inappropriate windows, it's got several different kinds of siding, including a little bit probably of the original. It's got, aluminum siding and I think I see vinyl siding on the side um from our point of view for from the neighborhood point of view, to keep everything looking as original as possible, it's not in terribly good shape and unfortunately, this roof.

B

Hasn't improved the situation, it was it's a the sort of house that should have a roof that, where the the scale is broken down into small pieces, whether they're metal pieces or concrete tiles, like you had before or regular uh fiber cement, I mean fiber asbestos or no fiber.

B

What am I trying to fiberglass fiberglass shingles, something like that is what it should have and this um this metal roof is just it's it's not terribly attractive and continues the the sort of downhill slide that I see in the attractiveness of this building on st charles, which is a very nice street.

D

Mr escobar, do you understand why you're here tonight.

E

Yes, okay, so yeah! You know my english is not that you know, but no.

D

I'm just making sure ms anderson and you have talked about the.

C

We have we have spoken. um We have been to municipal court, where the judge where we discussed him bringing this to you all. We have a follow-up court date in february to review that decision.

B

If you had come to us before you put this roof on, I think that our recommendation would have been that you were going to need to put a deck on the roof and put some kind of this scale. You know a smaller scale, shingle type roof on the building, rather than the metal roof.

E

Yeah, I don't know you know I I don't know you know, and I see another I see about some houses, somebody in the area even right here in madison, and I assume you know the uh it was okay because I didn't know you know on the uh because it was almost um um during rain. You know the the that week was raining and all were gonna get in. So we did that you know because uh we don't.

E

According for the uh spend more money, you know for the uh in the kind of kind of world, but really if I, if I know that I should do the uh you know.

B

I know it would be more expensive and that was probably a guiding thing.

E

B

Putting decking on an old house and putting a new roof on it is very expensive.

E

C

I would say that, because this roof previously was the diamond as best as shingle tiles, any new roof was going to require review. That's correct.

C

Because the couple of companies that used to make those tiles don't seem to make them anymore.

D

So christy when people purchase housing uh in a in a district that goes through arb, is it not uh identified as such when they purchase it.

C

I I'm assuming did this, did not go through a realtor. Did it, it was. Was it from the owner's estate that you purchased? It.

E

C

You did not use a realtor, did you? No, you purchased it from the estate of the previous owner. um If it hits mls, the realtors are getting a postcard. If someone does a really good job on the title work, all of the deeds should be indexed saying that there is a restriction attached to this property.

C

And we have sent, we haven't done it in the last couple of years, but we were sending postcards to all of the property addresses and property owners, saying you own property in the historic district. If you want to do these sorts of things, you need to call us first.

F

And I remember receiving that.

C

And we we started that a couple of years after I started, so we probably did the first mailing in 2007-2008 and have done it every couple of years or so.

C

So the question is: if he had asked you first, would you have approved this roof.

B

I would not have what sort of motion do we need to make on this property.

D

So if I understand it correctly, if, if we.

D

Deny the use of the metal roof.

C

D

The heart hardship is the next step.

C

He can make application um for hardship um because our meeting deadlines are compressed. I would recommend that that be set for a january agenda, which would be before our february court date, and that would give him some time to put together the information and what we would do is in his follow-up letter from this meeting. We would list those pieces of information that you need to provide to, because the burden is on you to demonstrate that having to put a shingle roof on this house is a hardship and just to be clear.

C

That's a hardship for the property that the the property is not worth putting that roof on versus his ability to pay for it.

C

So if you deny it, I will work with him to get through that process.

B

I call for a motion, please.

F

uh Madam chair, I move that we deny the requests based on the fact that ruth is not in keeping with the style of the house.

D

Second, all in favor.

B

B

All right, thank you. No one likes to vote against you.

F

No, no, it's not nothing to do with you, mr escobar. It's just you know. Our job is to try to maintain the historic character of the homes in the historic districts and miss anderson will work with you considering the hardship. Then we can once you get the information together, we'll look at it and make a decision whether you qualify and we'll just go from there. Okay, okay, so.

C

I'll get that to you um and then when you get it, if you have questions call me and we can go over it, okay,.

B

We have minutes to the last meeting which were mailed to us by the ever efficient paula. Does anyone have any additions or corrections for the minutes? If not, they stand approved as male 1 or dismissed.

B