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Troy planning commissioners table COA request for window replacements at 12 West Main Street
Summary
The Troy Planning Commission voted to table a certificate of appropriateness request for storefront-style aluminum window replacements at 12 West Main Street, citing missing measurements and evidence about the condition and operability of existing windows.
The Troy Planning Commission on Aug. 13 voted to table a certificate of appropriateness (COA) application from the owners of 12 West Main Street so staff can obtain additional measurements and condition photos for the existing windows.
The application, filed by owners Rob and Heather Davy, requests replacement of the building’s current windows with storefront-style aluminum windows in the same sandstone color. Planning staff recommended tabling the application because the submission did not include the meeting-rail profile dimensions and sufficient evidence about whether existing windows can be repaired or must be fully replaced.
Austin Terry, planning staff, said the proposal “meets sections 2.8 a through c” of the city design manual but that section 2.8 d requires replacement windows to “match the appearance of the historical originals” in sash and meeting-rail profile. Terry told the commission he was unable to verify the meeting-rail and sash-member dimensions from the contractor’s standard shop drawings and asked for photos showing the existing profile with a tape measure and images showing existing deterioration and operability.
Heather Davy, a property owner at 1640 Surrey Road who spoke for the applicants, told the commission the current windows were installed as operational windows roughly 20 to 25 years ago and that many are now sealed or no longer reliably close. “We currently have water damage coming into the building due to the…problems with the windows over time,” Davy said, and she provided contractor cut sheets and supplemental drawings on the record.
Terry told Davy staff needs evidence that supports full replacement versus targeted repair. “Show me a picture with the tape measure of the existing profile, and then show me what you’re proposing on the cut sheet,” he said. He also asked for photos showing which windows are operational, which are not, and whether any could be made operational with repair.
Commission discussion emphasized consistency across all facades facing the public square, West Main Street and South Cherry Street; Terry said staff wants to avoid “multiple renditions of all different style windows” on a single building. Davy told the commission that the structure historically consisted of seven separate buildings and that many façades had been altered at different times, which complicates a single-frame approach to replacement.
With only four commissioners present whose votes would be required to approve a COA, a motion to table passed unanimously by roll call. The commission recorded four yes votes and tabled the COA; staff expects the applicant to return at the next meeting after providing the requested measurements and photos.
The commission’s tabling is procedural: no permit was approved or denied. Staff said it will reassess the COA once the applicant supplies dimensioned photos of the meeting rail/profile, documentation of which windows are sealed or otherwise nonfunctional, and evidence of any water infiltration tied to window condition.
