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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSTONER SUBDIVISION - PDP - PDP130005 - REPORTS - CITIZEN COMMUNICATION (14)City City of Fort Collins CITY ffraWmL.. GEaowwcwURNOnorsrs®i WPODIU s 1lrs� rrawrrrwG�4 Mft W w� a a�rrrr� br�wr� rrrra �� 1YGlww� wl�r rt������a��b���rw�w.���w�rbw�ry����wr�wb�w►rr�5 b�w.��r�r��wi�� C2YYMtl10�11' QI�OW�LIIV� WMi'IY+011l�r�1�Y/�OR010A YVUILtIAIIM���OM�'r•M�f.'f nnrrr+r�a�ss a ea uoe<rwml®�wa/aw��wa��rrbr�a�w�rr u. s�w iu aLLs. r�wr�r4rrrawrr �rrs.�r�war a tw r+r aswrrwr` �vrbrrwb.wrrrrra�SaiW.Yri��..�0 rr�rr. ii`a wY�r.na�i•rrr rrr rrwbw.a s, ar�r.a arrrr r+wrr lby�riw�wrrr r rrrb+ww+ar r w4.rr�•rc rrrr�t .rear ✓•.r arrw�m.srrrar r � rr rrr► — wr O rrrh� O� arwa.wwwr p �.� COt.cvf rt� Collins IAM win ' � "' `��ii,« ^. fir• ' 1:'t. �. �� � ~ -a H.or Ot Here, you can also see that the porch and its jutting staircase bring the footprint of the house well forward, making it even more dominant in this neighborhood of modest, low slung, and mostly well kept houses. Assuming that its siting so far forward had to be varianced, why was it? This house was long delayed in building, and sat through an entire winter partially open to the weather. One has to wonder about the whole thing. Here it is from the other direction: 27 In this view along the street, it is also apparent that the house is will forward of its neighbors, something that presumably required a variance. Why was such a variance granted? Here is a second example, this one on Oak Street between Mack and Washington. As is clear, it is much larger than the adjacent houses, most of which are one or one and a half stories. It entirely blocks morning sunlight from its neighbor to the right. It has both a deep first floor porch above raised foundations, and a second floor porch over that porch. 26 Addendum: 29 May 2013 The matter of permitting and the granting of variances has made for some genuine oddities in the two years since a set of proposed new regulations was withdrawn after a petition effort. Here are two of them. First, a house built on 1121 Akin near Shields that incorporated the original cottage near the back of the property. As you can see from this photograph, it is considerably higher than the adjacent houses, and uncompromisingly in the style known as Rural Industrial, making no concession to a neighborhood that was built up largely during the 1920s. In this example, with its high, small windows, the effect is more Urban Fortress, rather convenient for pouring boiling oil on armed invaders. On the left side, what is not apparent is night time lighting, extremely bright, and seldom dimmed or turned off, that shines directly in the windows of the house on the left. Okay, no one can legislate consideration. But really, the total effect is more aggressive than assertive, and distinctly unneighborly and standoffish, a notion reinforced by the fencing, visible at the right of the house, that seems to be higher than the usual six feet. 25 Here, a former rental with a basement apartment, has had, over 12 years, a full renovation, and two years ago a demolition of the old garage, and new construction of a garage/workshop and mudroom, plus a remodelled kitchen, and is home to a couple and their two girls. In the 600 block of West Oak, in a row of Craftsmen houses, this new house fits right in as a replacement for a smaller one that couldn't be saved. At the corner of West Mountain, a dilapidated old boarding house that had blighted that corner didn't get knocked down. It got a peak -to -sill renovation and interior modernation, and its generous porch replaced, and has just sold to a family. 23 And on a corner of Magnolia, a small cottage has been remodelled into this —again more fortress than home, and lacking a suggestion of a porch or generous door shelter so characteristic of most Old Town houses. It also lacks the overhangs and porch that would serve to protect its foundations from damp. But let's end with successes. On the corner of W. Oak and Mack, Lynn Davies's house, at right, replacing a dilapidated rental, is suitable for her work at home and teaching, with ample studio space and light. To its left, and older replacement of a house that had been in the family for three generations. 22 Here, on the corner of Magnolia and Jackson, is a much more overbearing example of Craftsman ideas shorn of their simplicity, and built to dominate its corner, with another just behind it, at left. And here, an unsuccessful stab, on Olive west of Shields, more fortress than home —a form that has evolved more successfully in the homes from North Grant and from West Magnolia: 21 On Lyons Street, a tiny, shabby cottage was renovated and remodelling into this handsome home. And below left, at 407 Wood, a cottage, obviously much beloved and well maintained, at 407 Wood. At right, on W. Mountain at Lyons, this renovation and remodelling should be good for another hundred years, preserves the original fa4ade, and keeps a reasonable scale. It is not surprising that some new building or extensive remodelling is successful, in harmony with its neighborhood, and adapted from a variety of classic residential forms. Here, on Oak Street, is a blend of Craftsman and Prairie influences, scaled to its neighbors and neighborhood: 20 The good news is the number of wonderful, consonant, respectful, and above all modest renovations around town. Let me show you what modest money and lots of hard work and owner fatigue can produce. This is 407 Wood Steet—neat, modest, and seemingly beloved. The reconstruction of a rotting porch, new roofing, fresh paint, much interior work, and landscaping turned this one-time Akin Street eyesore into a small showpiece. 19 You've already seen the By Design House, above, that is aggressively taller than and different from others in that neighborhood. Here's another view of that, with eye -blinking colors. And here's a take on the long tradition of prosperous elegance on West Mountain Avenue, unsold for 630 days, and reduced in price to $919,900, plunked down in the 1600 block. It has a generous porch, and a handsome entry. And is that an assembly of quite elegant Boy Scout huts on its roof? Well, you can't legislate taste. It is set amidst more modest neighbors, so oddly that the realtor's photo of it is taken at night to conceal that it seems like a swan, or perhaps a flamingo, amidst the ducklings. 18 boarding-house rule, this is a situation that strains the local housing market, and gives bad landlords the opportunity to make money from deteriorating properties, patched occasionally to wring another year's rental from them., especially in neighborhoods that are walking or biking distance from CSU. Two of those are the neighborhoods that were covered by the ill-fated ordinance 20. By a combination of public funding and private enterprise, the goal at CSU should be to have adequate housing for at least 30% of its students under its own supervision, including married student housing. That could be dorm housing, or apartment housing, on campus or on land that CSU owns or can lease, possibly in partnership with developers. 21. We all need to get a grip on reality: Neighborhoods are not static. Marcelline, Missouri, not Fort Collins, inspired Disney's Main Street USA --a place where there are no neighborhoods and no citizens —only staff and visitors. It is run by a corporation, not by respresentative democracy. Fort Collins is not a theme park, and not a fantasy, and it is a democracy, at least in theory. Fort Collins is a city with a diverse population, and diverse problems. David Roy's plea that we are destroying history every time one building comes down and another goes up is nonsense. This is a living, breathing community, and no one bulldozes a sound house in good condition. We are losing some of our history to neglect, and to deterioration that could be stemmed by enforcement of ordinances on condition and the rental housing codes, Let's beef up enforcement and outreach to save some of what we've got against the day when someone can look at and say, "I bet we could renovate that, and add a master bedroom and bath ... don't you think?" What is consonance? Consonance requires that the scale of a house, and the materials used for its exterior, whether it's new or remodelled, harmonize with its neighborhood and its streetscape. If remodelled, the remodelling should accommodate contemporary needs for space without violating the original streetscape and disfiguring an historic fagade. In the Old Town neighbors, the sine qua non of a house was once its porch —generous, unenclosed, shady, cool on hot day, hospitable. For instance, this house, on West Magnolia, takes its inspiration from a traditional Craftman form, like many of its neighbors, and a mix of traditional and modern materials such as corrugated metal, for a new take —and a green one, including solar panels —that includes a vegetable garden in low beds on either side of the front path. The welcoming porch and entry opens it to the street and to passersby, and the traditional wide overhangs and porch provide shade. It would blend better with its block with less reflective metal, and with a color other than orange for its trim, but those are matters of taste. 17 the city could help. Both are now rented, to people who probably don't know that they may be unsafe. 12. To incentivize renovation, programs such as on -bill payment for energy improvements should be encouraged. We might also consider providing incentives to owners who renovate rather than demolish and rebuild, a tax holiday period being perhaps the most effective, especially combined with energy programs and incentives. 13. The city, and its realtors, should consider developing a marketing program, in cooperation with our local realtors, for attracting interested private renovators to these neighborhoods and to sell the Old Town neighborhoods through such media as The Old House Journal, Period Homes, Traditional Building, and similar special -interest media. If Fort Collins wants renovation, it has to become renovation -friendly. Despite rising costs here, older homes here are significantly less expensive than in other areas of the same vintage on the coasts, where many people, even in this recession, have been priced out of the market. 14. To answer the problems of liability, let's get expert outside legal advice on this question. The Homeowner's Association that spoke on 19 April to the Council, and the woman who spoke about a resubdivision and construction and paving that resulted in her house being flooded, need the city to consider them. They may have recourse against both the developers of such projects and against the city for the unforeseen consequences of permitting projects that result in damage to existing nearby properties. As a condition of permitting new development, the city could require adequate liability insurance coverage for five years from the completion of construction and a compulsory arbitration clause should anyone bring a complaint in that time. 15. The city needs to cooperate with CSU to make sure that their housing office does not list rental properties that are in sub -code or otherwise poor or dangerous condition. That won't keep the kids from considering properties for rent in want ads or on Craigslist, but the city and the college housing office should cooperate to make sure they verify that their listing are code -compliant, and that violations are corrected before they can be rented or leased, or advertised for rental or lease, if necessary by revoking certificates of occupany until violations are corrected. 16. Historic Preservation should become a stronger resource for renovators, and somewhat less of an impediment to reasonable alteration of existing properties. Our building code tends to the notion that if you alter something in any way you must bring it up to code; it's a nice theory, but can add thousands of dollars to even a modest job of updating. On houses built before WWII, some grandfathering should be allowed or readily varianced. 17. The city needs to develop remodelling or new building recommendations applicable for the many smaller properties on lots of less than 3000 or 4000 square feet. Example: 104 Shields (1657 sq. ft. lot, 608 sq. ft. house), 118 Jackson, (2101 sq. ft. lot, 601 sq. ft. house), 1120 Woodford (2929 sq. ft., 720 sq. ft. house). Clearly, this is a group of houses and lots on which the percentage rules for larger properties simply don't work. The resubdivisions that created them grow more questionable with time. 18. To help incentivize renovation, I'd suggest that Historic Preservation present modest annual awards for consonant new construction, for renovation, for remodelling and for adaptive reuse. 19. Affordable housing is a problem here in large part because CSU houses such a tiny percentage of its ever -enlarging student body. Even with the three -unrelated rule, now replaced by a contrary 16 significant buildings should be mandated to remain intact, i.e., more like 945 W. Mountain than 730 W. Mountain. No variances should be permitted on such things on buildings dated before 1941. 6. Resubdivision of existing lots in single family neighborhoods should be limited to lots of 12,000 sq. ft. subdivided to 6000 square feet. If the original house remains, it must meet the current code. Single family zoning should be respected , with no more two-family or multi -family structures permitted in those zones. What has happened with the approval of the subdivision in Laurel School Historic District should not have happened. And my area of Old Town West has many too many approved two -families. 7. Condition rules should be actively enforced by Code Enforcement, which should be able to and willing to act with or without a citizen complaint. Many of us are reluctant to complain, even of our neighboring landlords. Code enforcement should also identify any and all non -code basement apartments, something that would be much assisted by asking one person there routinely to checks the ads in the Coloradoan, the student newspaper at CSU, and Craiglist, and ask the inspectors to check them during routine code patrols in each area. B. When new construction is completed, all inspections are signed off, the permits have been signed off, and the building receives its certificate of occupany, the assessor should be notified, an inspection scheduled within 20 business days, and the valuation should be noticed to the owner to give him a chance to object or correct the information within 15 business days, after which the valuation should appear promptly and accurately on the assessor's records. Delay to the next revaluation cycle is uacceptable. Example: By Design's Steve Whittall's adaptive reuse of the old Seventh Day Adventist Church at 400 Whedbee is still listed at $300,000, and it's been complete for more than two years; it's currently for sale at $895,000, though it likely won't sell for anything near that. 9. Since the assessor's office is, we believe, currently working with the Colorado Board of Tax Equalization to correct anomalies in valuation (whimsically inaccurate listings of improvements, the block system of land valuation), changes in code and variances practices may reasonably be postponed until that whole tangle is straightened out so that property taxes will, in the future, be fairly and equitably assessed. 10. The purview of the Historic Preservation office should be extended to significant buildings of whatever date of construction; the fifty year rules, bringing in a new cohort every year, should be dropped. 11. Outreach to owners of buildings at risk should be not only permitted but also encouraged. I can think of two houses I'm familiar —one on Akin, one on LaPorte —that clearly need engineering inspections and correction, if possible, of sills that have rotted away. The one on Akin, insulated with brick behind a two-story clapboard exterior, is sagging on one side and twisting the plaster off the interior walls and ceilings. The other, a classic butter brick on LaPorte, when I looked at it for a friend, was down a full four or five inches at its southeast corner, and its east brick wall was buckling; none of the windows on that side could be budged. When I called Historic Preservation, Ms. McWilliams said she could do nothing, not even make a visit to it in company with a real estate broker or call the owner and discuss it, in'terms of how 15 be adapted for a new one. Budgets are figured. Financing is sought, and may well limit the planned project. Permits are sought, and, if needed, so are variances. Ground is broken. Then there are excavators and foundations are poured --these days, preferably, with insulation forms. They're inspected. Sills are set down and bolted. New water, sewer, electric, and gas connections are made. Framing is done, sheathing is installed, and the roofing is applied, windows and doors and installed so the house is tight to the weather when finishing begins —insulation, sheetrock, finish plumbing and electric, appliances. From inception to permitting can take months, and from breaking ground to completion, as much as a year. In building, art and taste meet engineering and the building trades, and it also meets the neighbors. During all this time, there can be, as there has been since late 2007, shifts in the economy, and nothing can throw a project off like shifts in the building regs, which is why they are usually passed with a date of effect two to three years from the date of passage, to accommodate jobs already planned and in the bidding or permitting processes —something the overeager city council did not know or did not care about when it passed the ordinance subsequently repealed. Here's what we need to begin to figure out new building regs: 1. An inventory. What in each area has historic or architectural value, whether individually or in rows? Year of construction and/or remodelling is on the assessor's records for each property, though those records do not accurately describe either style (a one -floor Victorian or Craftsman becomes a "ranch"), and the description of condition is seldom accurate. What individual properties may need some outreach, because they're on the the edge between deterioration and being classifiable of probable candidates for demolition? 2. A list of variances granted in the last five years. There seems to be a general concern about new and remodelling construction that has been varianced or otherwise permitted to the detriment of both streetscapes and neighborhoods. There seems to me to be some suggestion that the process has been corrupted or has become so slovenly that it might as well be. 3. Anyone seeking a variance should be required to provide, with his application, plans and elevations showing the proposed construction in its context, with perspective drawings; the proposed construction schedule; and the names and addresses of all property holders adjacent to or on the same block as the proposed construction. The drawings and applications should be furnished by mail to neighboring property holders to the tax address of that property, seeking comment, whether affirmative or negative. For corner lots, this would include the block of each street. A 15 day period should be allowed for comment, and comments should be considered, in writing to the Buildings and Historic Preservation departments, or in person at hearings. 4. The solar access suggestion put forth at the Council meeting is one way to approach it. Another is simply to say, in plain English, that no construction will be approved with a roof peak higher than the highest one either side of that particular block. Let's put a moratorium on further variancing until this is worked out. 5. The square footage rules should otherwise stay where they are. The setbacks should be greater for taller houses than for shorter ones; no house remodelled with a second story should receive a permit for that on the setback lines appropriate for the single story original. The facades of 14 How do we distinguish what can and must be saved, from what can and should be saved, from what cannot be saved at any cost that would justify saving it? How do we preserve the long tradition of affordable housing that made these neighborhoods remarkably diverse —with a mansion on this corner, and a workingman's house down the street? One way is by insisting that our many rentals be maintained and updated. Now, it takes a complaint to get Code Enforcement to move on violations, something we are mostly reluctant to do of even the worst of the landlord -owned properties How do we avoid the errors of the past —two family and multifamily housing plunked down in single- family neighborhoods, the excess of deteriorating rental housing in others? Illegal basement apartments were all over these neighborhoods, with a nod and a wink from the Buildings Department, but the regulation of these resulted in many sales to young couples who are working their hearts out on them, at least in my neighborhood. That's a hugely encouraging development. And how do we avoid the excesses of the present: the McMansions that overwhelm their neighbors and, as family size drops, may become a glut on the market, and the shabby boarding houses blighting these neighborhoods in the next generation or two, as 901 West Mountain did, before a recent renovation? How do we discourage further resubdivision into small lots, as is happening with the lot in Laurel School Historic district? Could we allow resubdivision only for single family structures? To the landlords, we must send a clear message: keep it in good condition, and keep it to code, or we'll pull your certificates of occupany until you do. To the developers, we must send a clear message: No, you can't build behemoths, or subdivide into small lots on which you build two -families or condos. Single family zoning means single family zoning, not two-family or multi -family. The errors of the past with those will be with us for many years, and are prominent in my neighborhood, bounded by Washington, Mulberry, Shields, and West Mountain. Still less will we improve an alley for a builder at town expense, or let him construct something that puts neighbors at risk of being in perpetual shade, perpetually overlooked, or perpetually flooded by new construction. We will not allow to permits or variances for such construction. Say it in plain English, not bureaucratic language that obscures the meaning. The answer to these developers is "No." We need, almost immediately, to stop the newest fad: the house built with its lot sloped upwards to the foundations, on a private hill that drains onto streets and sidewalks, floods curb cuts and gutters and neighbors, and subjects the sidewalks to freeze -thaw cycles that endanger pedestrians. About building, renovating, and remodelling: Building, remodelling, and renovation have their own ecology. They bring together government, private enterprise, and private owners. From the time a project comes up for permitting, it's been in process for some time. An architect might be engaged, especially for an existing house, or standard plans might 13 the way back, with many renovated houses and, in place of a few that couldn't be saved, some newer ones. The iconic homes on Mountain Avenue were, many of them, the construction of the city's founders and entrepreneurs, large and luxurious, beginning with what are now Avery House and Edwards House, with more modest housing on the streets on either side. With a few exceptions, they stayed in good condition or have been renovated, as 901—formerly a dilapidated and unsightly boarding house —has been recently. Some of them have been, as the trades call it, "remuddled," with porches enclosed, ill- conceived and badly built additions, and the like. Two lovely old butter -bricks in the 800 and 900 blocks on Olive have had their old porches stripped, and replaced with concrete below and Art Moderne roofs over them, one with an addition that overweights it and ruins its proportions. For houses like that on the left, there might be incentives to restoring some of the remuddlings to something more appropriate to the period and style of the original building. No, no one can be urged to tear off an entire second story, but a porch isn't that big a deal, and neither are adequate overhangs. In the years after the founding of what was then A&M, East Old Town was built up with fine but less flamboyant homes for faculty, modest ones for staff, and the like. In the years between WWI and the Great Depression, in West Old Town, lots of modest family housing was built, usually two bedroom and one bath places, in transitional and Craftman styles. In the GI Bill years there was a substantial construction all around the area, of varying quality, often laid out with then fashionable winding streets and cul-de-sacs, where the parents of the postwar baby boom could let their children play in safety. There were and are also numerous trailer parks, including at least one on La Porte. How do we deal with the current sum total all these ups and downs, encourage renovation where it's called for, encourage consonant remodelling or new construction for modern family needs, and discourage the continuing deterioration of a great deal of our housing stock? How do we somehow draw a priority list for saving good areas and renovating or reviving deteriorating ones? 12 effective, and they will never forgive you for the hits their pocketbooks took. This kind of foolishness gives your jurisdiction a bad reputation as unfriendly to renovators and builders. Don't make anything immediately effective unless it can be easily incorporated into plans in the works. But, as soon as possible, we need to bar the "private hill" as a matter of public safety and neighborhood scale. On thinking through code changes And then we need to tackle questions of scale. One rule of thumb is that you don't build anything that will be taller than any other the other house on the block, or that will dwarf or shade even one of them. Another is that you don't change the fa4ade on an historic building. If one thing is characteristic of older homes in Fort Collins, it is a welcoming porch. Unfortunately, enclosing those has given many places a closed, inhospitable appearance, and it might be well to consider encouraging owners to open them up, where possible, and new builders to consider their importance to the streetscape and street life. Another is that, on an architecturally significant building, you try to conserve or renovate or replicate such characteristic fittings as windows and doors, trim, and hardware. There are specialty firms that do this work, and produce some of the requisite materials ready-made, and Historic Preservation may wish to develop a list of reliable ones. Especially for windows, there are firms that do a beautiful job of refitting old wood frames, preserving old leaded glass between two panes of modern gas, and fitting old windows with argon sealed double panes and modern sash. For my house, I used the excellent Phoenix Window Restoration out of Denver. There are specialists in old woodwork, too —more expensive for Victorians, not at all difficult in Craftsman houses —and lots of vendors of ready -to -ship materials that no longer needs to be custom made. Discarding mythology and thinking through what needs doing: To think this through requires that we get rid of some myths. One is that neighborhoods should be static, a kind of Fort Collins version of Disney's Main Street USA, which is not, of course, a real town, with real neighborhoods, but a fantasy, carefully built, carefully engineered, and perfectly maintained at the expense of a large and successful corporation. This isn't a theme park, and we have to get over trying to make it one. Homeowners are certainly not the town's employees; they're working with their own needs and finances and plans. But neighborhoods go in and out of fashion, in and out of boom times and busts. One of the booms was, in the 40s and 50s, GI Bill housing, lots of it of a quality meant only to last the life of the mortgage (no money down, 30 years to pay). It is all more than 60 years old now. Once -loved houses get shabby over time; they grow outdated, their systems wear, they fall out of fashion. The young families of one era age, retire or move away, and rent or sell. In time, the neighborhood gets shabby enough to provide relatively cheap opportunities for renovators. That attracts more renovators. Eventually the neighborhood begins to spruce up and revive. Take a look at once -shabby West Oak, which is well on 11 On timing new code provisions: The building business is in the tank not seen since the Depression, twice or three times the magnitude the slump in the 1980s that drove so many tradesmen out of the trades. Nothing has a more negative impact on building than continuing changes to the building codes, especially those like those of the City Council, which thoughtlessly enacted the newly rescinded ordinance to be immediately effective. Building and remodelling take planning, plans then go to bid, start dates are figured, subs are tentatively scheduled. Ground is broken, foundations are poured and given time to cure, construction begins. Inspections are required at each phase from footings to finished plumbing and electric. New building regs from a couple of years ago are just coming into full force and effect this year. Slap owners and builders with new regs when they're in mid-flight, and make those new regs immediately 10 Not cheap, either. The one at left is being advertised for sale at $669,000 . Here is a panorama taking in the 1000 block of West Magnolia It is on the edge of unacceptable to remodel in a neighborhood on this scale, by going up a full story in the blocky way shown, which impresses with size and bulk. It annoys with its overlook of other yards. Its height in relation to the neighborhood and its once similar neighbor to the west is unfortunate, though it is blending in better with several year's growth of landscaping.) This house was originally the twin of its neighbor. Only the generous porch has something like its original scale. Q It is unacceptable willfully to mess up a neighbor's drainage and shade his house with the self -assertively nonconsonant materials and colors of By Design's small development, shown here. Pea green, grey, brown, blood red, and squash yellow? What's that about? It's not consonant with itself, much less anything else. A retaining wall holds the By Design house on the right, with little room between the retaining wall and the house wall, high above its modest neighbor. Fill has covered several feet of the tree at the edge of the lot, which will soon enough fracture the retaining wall or have to be taken down. 8 The front view is unusual, especially the front house wall that extends to what seems to be the property line, to frame an arch that is gated, but the view from 305/307 is of a high, solid, sun -blocking roofline, dwarfing 305/307, and draining toward it, too. Toward considering building code changes: What needs to be reviewed to arrive at reasonable building regulations for the Old Town neighborhoods, looking to enactment at least a year from now? What can be done right away? Very quickly, we probably need solar access rules of some kind to keep smaller places from being shaded out by large ones. This will take considerable study and expertise to select what this city needs, from what other cities in like circumstances have done. But a good rule of thumb, applicable to any block, is that nothing be permitted than will be higher than the tallest house on that individual block. But we also need to bar the kind of grading that raises the entire house several feet higher than if it were on a level lot. Not all lots are level, of course, and there's nothing wrong with a raised foundation and steps up to the front door. But this trend is being carried to an extreme, and can produce extreme runoff to streets and sidewalks, and toward other neighbors, especially when the neighbor is in a created depression between two or more of these hill houses. And shovelled snow, unless swaled to the street, and new sidewalks provided with at least a % inch slant to the curb, will be subject to meltwater refreezing and icing the sidewalk. This seems to be the newest fad, most visible as you drive north on Wood Street, where old lots have been cleared of what was admittedly modest housing in shabby condition, and replaced with very large homes on their private hills, out of scale with anything that preceded them. They are wider, taller, and extend farther to the rear of the lots, and the problem is less square footage than proportion. 7 Next door to 301 S. Sherwood is 305 or 307 S Sherwood, the little house that has the problem. 307 is still listed (both ways) with the Assessor as 1280 sq. ft. house on a 9500 sq. ft. lot now owned by the people who own 301. It is a low -slung early Craftsman, now entirely shaded, and, I would guess, flooded by its neighbors. It seems to lack its original roof form, which was shingles formed to emulate thatch. but with a 575 square foot garage, listed as of good quality and average condition,. The land is listed as valued at $53,000, the improvements at $686, 400.I Unacceptable example: But next door to 307 is 309, on the site of an original house, demolished in, I think, 2006, and now occupied by a very large place, extending back at along its lot line in a sort of architectural bouillioboise most charitably called "eclectic," —part English cottage, part hacienda --and painted in quite aggressive colors. The roofline of the large extension at the rear of the original house dwarfs its neighbors, and the front of it again slopes away from the residence, making it several feet taller than it would otherwise be, probably draining nicely right toward 305/307. Someone had a permit to be a bad neighbor. It is 3650 square feet with no basement listed, 0 Good example: An old butter brick on Akin, long a rental, and certainly a wreck from generations of college kids, renovated and remodelled with a new kitchen, master bedroom, and bath that preserved its fagade and appearance from the street. Half the porch has long been enclosed to make a mudroom. Acceptable example: 301 S. Sherwood is a neo- Craftsman-style house, two stories, perhaps a little large-2188 square feet on a 4750 square foot corner lot, not including the garage --but beginning to blend in, constructed on the site of the former residence, a raised single story Craftsman that was demolished after a disaffected son of the then - household pulled down the porch and a good deal of the house with it, using his pickup truck. It's reasonably consonant, but because it has been built with a high foundation, and then regraded so the land slopes away from the house, it is far higher at the peak that would be fully consonant with the neighborhood. 5 Left, Good example: 945 W. Mountain was expanded in back from the peak of its roof, allowing for what I take it is expaneded kitchen on the first floor, and a master bedroom and bath with a generous outdoor seating area and balcony on the second floor. It is not visible from West Mountain, and blends nicely from the Mack Street side; the front fagade is exactly as it was built, and has been restored to its fine original appearance. The side view shows the addition. n 3. Staff and city council could begin work on solar access provisions that would prevent the building of very tall houses that would shade their neighbors, reviewing those already passed in other jurisdictions for one that would best suit our circumstances —severe weather, many street trees. 4. Refuse permits for projects that would alter the facades of existing historic houses, and thus our streetscapes. You can see, below, good and bad examples of homes that have undergone recent expansion. 5. Begin to fund the Code Enforcement department and to enable them to cite without a complaint on matters of condition. Here are a few examples: Much complained of, on North Mack, left, and Magnolia, right: Preserving facades: Bad example: 730 Mountain, fully varianced, and permitted for a third level and for setbacks. That required a high roofline with a considerable and highly visible bump -up over that third storey that disfigures the earlier, plainer roofline, and allowed a couple of anomalous balconies. Front and side view, 730 West Mountain: We all want the same thing: Attractive and well -kept neighborhoods that are respectful of and consonant with the existing neighborhood in terms of scale, materials, and characteristic streetscape. That the city wants the same thing is unclear. The proposed ordinance focussed only on square footage —not on what's worth preserving, not on what needs outreach if we want to save it, not on what would incentivize renovation, consonant remodelling, and consonant new construction in these neighborhoods, not on how to incentivize renovation and discourage demolition of any sound house that can be saved. To be sure, size is a problem, but it's not the square footage; it's the scale and presentation of the construction, its consonance with its neighborhood, its use of materials, and much more. We like the trees that shade our streets, the welcoming porches set back from them to welcome friends on both grand and modest houses, characistics that make Fort Collins Fort Collins. It is up to the City of Fort Collins, the City Manager, and the City Council to get our Historic Preservation department, and the other Buildings departments, Planning and Zoning, and Long Range Planning on something like the same page instead of going in separate directions. It is up to the Tax Equalization Board and the Larimer County Assessor to straighten out the property taxation tangle. But right now, what is being permitted, and what is being varianced, has the look either of outright ineptitude or capriciousness. Why was the North Fort Collins development permitted, surrounded by retail and industrial zoning? It now seems to be moribund, interesting though it may be, including the use of energy -efficient materials and techniques including straw -builds of high quality (and, if I may say, considerable expense and awkward design). Who decided to let a lot of new building projects stand on artificial little hills, the better to dominate and shade their neighbors? We cannot dictate aesthetics or taste, but we can certainly stop some of these things by regulating, and jawboning, them before they get off the drawing boards. The new wave of home -as -fortress, of which I show examples, is startling. It would also be possible, within a brief time, to enact provisions that would not require those planning construction to upend everything and go back to the drawing boards and another round of the bidding processes, at considerable imposition of cost. 1. Drop the 50 year rule, which overstresses our small Historic Preservation department with a new cohort of houses coming under its purview each years. Direct the department to inventory, probably with volunteer help, of each block in the mapped area. If needed, I can develop a vocabulary and questions that would give you uniform descriptions. The current assessor's listing describe anything with one story as a "ranch" whatever its period, whether it is one of our engaging little Victorians; one of lovely old butter -bricks, from the late 191h and early 20`h centuries; or one of our many smaller Craftsman homes, or a GI bill ranch. This description is useless, as are the conditions descriptions, in which my house and Edwards house are both "average." 2. Bar the building of the private little hills that elevate the house from the street, causing icing problems on sidewalks in winter —with many of the photographs below, you can see them clearly --and drainage problems for neighbors. This fairly recent fad has contributed to some of the worst of excesses. K Defining the problems, considering the solutions: Toward new building regulations for Old Town East and Old Town West An illustrated exploration By Patricia Feeley Telephone: 970 493 0484 e-mail: pat@highcountryknitwear.com Jason Holland From: pat@highcountryknitwear.com Sent: Friday, May 17, 2013 1:15 PM To: Jason Holland Subject: Re Stoner subdivision PDP13005 Dear Mr. Holland, I have received notice of the hearing on 30 May on the modifications requested, and I deeply object to them. If we have regulations on subdivision under Section 3.6.2, it is for the good reason that allowing modification can set off a spate of requests for such divisions. Historically, too many subdivisions of existing lots have been permitted. In Old Town, some of those divisions took place after WWII, and the results are easily seen now, in small, lightly built houses wedged into previously subdivided lot abutting some of our more imposing historic houses along, for instance; West Mountain. Now, I know the lot in question has a house of no particular architectural distinction --what AIA has termed postwar eclectic in style. It sprawls over a good share of the existing lot; a new house on the alley side would impinge on its neighbor to the south. Paving the alley to accommodate a second lot would also set off a costly demand for paving alleys generally; as you know, many of them are in terrible shape, and the city has long since stopped maintaining them, the overburdened Town Forester can no longer do anything about the volunteer trees that have grown up in them, or anything else. This is a can of worms that no one but either the homeowner or a prospective buyer would want to see opened. The house and its entire unit can be sold as is; they should not be subdivided. We have just accepted new housing regs; many of us in Old Town, seeing what has been permitted and varianced at various Old Town locations, are frankly wondering if influence peddling and out and out bribery might have played a part in some of those variances. We are just not up for any more just as the new regulations come into effect. The existing residence on the property in question is, among other things, sorely in need of new roofing; the existing cedar shake is falling apart. Please do not grant the requested exceptions. Yours sincerely, Patricia Falk Feeley 1114 Woodford Avenue Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 Telephone 970 493 0484