Kingston HLPC denies DAR’s request to replace windows at 106–122 Green Street

The City of Kingston’s Historic Landmark Preservation Commission denied a Certificate of Appropriateness on April 3 for the Daughters of the American Revolution’s (DAR) application to replace all windows at 106–122 Green Street with new “exact replica” windows. The commission said the evidentiary record and a professional condition assessment support restoring the existing historic windows rather than wholesale replacement.

Commissioners focused on how proposed replacement windows differ dimensionally and materially from the existing historic sashes. The commission retained a professional historic wood-window preservationist, Stacy Caputo, who prepared a condition assessment and compared the ordered replacements with the in-place windows. The commission concluded the proposed units were significantly different in dimensional profile, muntin thickness and material qualities, and that removing the existing windows would harm the structure’s integrity under the Secretary of the Interior’s rehabilitation standards and the city’s form-based zoning code.

The commission’s written findings cite the form-based code review criteria (section 405.26.l.10.b) — including effects on exterior features, relationship to neighboring improvements, aesthetic/historical values, special character added to the area, and the difficulty of reproducing original features — and applied the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards (36 CFR 67). The HLPC found replacement would “negatively affect the historic quality and integrity” of the house and that the windows are historic fabric that should be repaired rather than replaced when feasible. The commission concluded matching the original materials and irregular dimensional qualities would be “more difficult than impossible,” and required the owner to engage a qualified preservation professional to prepare a staged restoration plan in accordance with technical briefs from the National Park Service.

The DAR’s attorney, James Bacon, submitted a letter asking the commission to approve immediate replacement and, in the event of denial, to grant an immediate hardship exemption under the code. The applicant, represented at the meeting by Karen Davis, declined to provide additional dimensional surveys the commission had requested and instead allowed a ground‑level exterior site visit. Commissioners repeatedly said the absence of a dimensional survey made direct comparison harder and noted the commission had specifically requested such documentation in earlier meetings.

The HLPC’s resolution records the designation history of 106–122 Green Street, the property’s status as a contributing structure in the Kingston Stockade Historic District on the state and national registers, the documentary and photographic sources considered, and the commissioned window assessment. The commission resolved to deny the certificate of appropriateness for the work as submitted and to require restoration work consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and the city code. The commission noted that denial does not preclude separate building-permit requirements or other agency approvals.

The record shows the commission also informed the applicant about the process to apply for a hardship exemption under the code and that such an application cannot be granted at the same meeting without the procedure set out in the city code.

Notes: The commission’s written motion and findings are recorded in the meeting minutes and denial resolution read into the record on April 3. The transcript and staff packet supply the documentary sources the HLPC listed and refer to a March 26, 2025 condition assessment by Stacy Caputo that concluded the existing windows are historic and should be preserved.