Title
Pleasant Street Historic District - Demolish a Single-family Dwelling at 414 NW 6th Avenue (B)
Petition HP-16-56. Robert Pratt, owner. Demolish a single-family dwelling located at 414 NW 6th Avenue. This home is contributing to the Pleasant Street Historic District.
Explanation
This project involves the demolition of the structure that is currently located at 414 NW 6th Avenue. The structure was built in 1929, according to the Alachua County Property Appraisers Office. However, the Florida master site file for this property indicates that a house has been on this site since 1909 according to the Sanborn maps. The property is zoned RC and is approximately 0.06 acres in size. The building is a contributing structure to the Pleasant Street Historic District. The proposal is to demolish the house to allow for the future construction of a new single-family dwelling.
The structure is a one story single-family house that is approximately 608 square feet in size. There is a Florida Master Site File available for the house. The house is a bungalow that has wood horizontal siding with cornerboards. There is a one-story screened porch on the front of the house with a gable roof. The roof is a 3-V Crimp metal roof. The Florida master site file describes the significance of the house, indicating that it contributes in scale and character to the Fifth Avenue Neighborhood which has been evolving since the mid-nineteenth century. A current survey of the property indicates that a part of the home sits in the 30 foot right-of-way of NW 6th Avenue. The front entrance into the building faces east towards the side property line. The side of the house is parallel with the street frontage. Approximately 5 feet of the side of the house lies within the right-of-way.
In April of 2016, there was a Notice of Violation given to the property at 414 NW 6th Avenue because the structure was found to be a Dangerous Building as set forth in Chapter 16 of the City of Gainesville Code of Ordinances (see Exhibit 5). The remedy for the violation was repair or demolition no later than May 17, 2016. The building was not repaired or demolished by that date, thus a hearing was requested with the Special Magistrate on May 18, 2016. The public hearing before the Special Magistrate was held on June 9, 2016, where it was determined that the violations were not corrected and the property owner was guilty of violating Sec. 16-19 of the City of Gainesville Code of Ordinances. If the property is not in compliance within 90-days from the date of the signing of the Order (June 21, 2016), a daily fine of $25.00 per day will accrue until compliance is met.
A summary report of a structural evaluation of the house by GSE Engineering & Consulting, Inc., was conducted in June of 2016. The house was unoccupied at the time of their visit to the property. They noted that the overall building envelope is in poor condition, and that most of the individual foundations were improperly designed and constructed. In order to bring the structural framing up to current Florida Building Code requirements to meet lateral wind load requirements and provide proper support for the roof and the floor, the report recommends the following:
1. Remove all roofing and siding to re-plumb all bearing walls, inspect the condition of the wall and roof framing, replace all damaged and rotted framing members, and re-install roof sheathing and siding.
2. Remove all first floor sheathing to inspect the floor framing, replace all damaged and rotted framing members, to replace a majority of the foundations pads, and replace a majority of the floor sheathing with new, undamaged sheathing.
The report concludes with the opinion that the cost of repairing and replacing structural elements within the home to meet the current Building Code requirements would exceed the cost of replacing the home.
Within the City of Gainesville Land Development Code, Section 30-112(d)(6)c., indicates that the Historic Preservation Board will consider certain factors related to the issue of demolition. Those criteria are listed below:
1. The historic or architectural significance of the building, structure, or object;
2. The importance of the building, structure, or object to the ambience of a district;
3. The difficulty or impossibility of reproducing such a building, structure or object because of its design, texture, material, detail, or unique location;
4. Whether the building, structure, or object is one of the last remaining examples;
5. Whether there are definite plans for reuse of the property if the proposed demolition is carried out, and what the effect for reuse of the property if the proposed demolition is carried out, and what the effect of those plans on the character of the surrounding area would be;
6. Whether reasonable measures can be taken to save the building, structure, or object from collapse;
7. Whether the building, structure, or object is capable of earning reasonable economic return on its value.
Additionally, the Land Development Code states that a demolition decision by the Historic Preservation Board approving or denying a Certificate of Appropriateness in the Pleasant Street Historic District shall be guided by the significance of the property, plans for redevelopment and the condition of the building.
1. The significance of the property.
2. Plans for redevelopment.
3. Condition of the building.
Recommendation
Staff’s recommendation of approval for the petition is based on the following condition:
1. The permit to demolish the structure shall not be issued until the finalization of the lot split associated with this property.