Title
Northeast Residential Historic District. Request to replace garage door (B)
Petition HP-19-108. Richard Kurtz & Sandra Matasick, owners. Certificate of Appropriateness for the replacement of a garage door. Located at 214 NE 9th Avenue. This building is a non-contributing structure to the Northeast Residential Historic District.
Explanation
The existing house is a two-story, wood frame, weatherboard covered Colonial Revival house that represents a typical Gainesville house of the 1920’s. It has a brick wall foundation, gable roof with flat porches as secondary roof structures, brick chimneys, composition shingle roof, and an entry portico. The house is a contributing structure to the Northeast Residential Historic District. It appears on the Sanborn Map of 1928. The subject building is a detached garage that also appears on the Sanborn Map of 1928. The garage is considered a non-conforming building to the Northeast Residential Historic District. The garage matches the principal structure with the siding and trim details.
This project involves the alteration of the existing garage. The building is to be converted into an artist studio. The applicant is proposing to remove the existing garage door and replace it with matching shiplap and trim to match the house trim. A door would be provided for access into the building and two small windows would be added to add natural light into the newly converted space. The proposed door is a Therma-Tru Smooth-Star fiberglass pre-hung single entry door; the proposed windows are ThermaStar by Pella fixed frame windows. The siding would be the shiplap material to match the existing material on the garage. The garage would be painted the same color as the existing structure except for the white trim.
The garage is located at the rear of the principal structure and is visible from the street. The project will remove the existing overhead door and infill the wall with wood studs and horizontal siding to match the existing siding on the garage. Prior to the application for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for replacing the garage door, work began on the conversion of the inside of the garage into the artist studio. Eventually this led to the installation of a door on the west side of the structure and 2 small fixed frame windows. However, the applicants were made aware of the need for a COA and determined that the layout of the added door and windows was not the best layout for the circumstances. The view of the garage from NE 9th Avenue is enough to see the added door. The new plans would move the door to the eastern side of the garage and away from a highly visible view. The windows would be switched over to the west side and the siding below the windows would be inset to look like typical panels on a garage door. From the street this part of the garage front will look more like an existing garage door, maintaining the general view that people have of this property.
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of the application with the following conditions:
§ The converted garage cannot be used as an accessory dwelling unit, which is not an allowed use in the RSF-2 zoning district.
§ No range, stove, or oven shall be installed in the converted garage.
§ Notify staff of any changes during construction.