Board approves new house at 911 Old Santa Fe Trail with window and garage-door conditions

The Historic District Review Board approved a new residence at 911 Old Santa Fe Trail but imposed conditions on window assemblies and the garage door to ensure compatibility with Santa Fe design standards.

Senior Planner Romero told the board the single-family design is in new Santa Fe style, would be set to a maximum allowed height of 15 feet 6 inches, and includes multiple skylights that will not be publicly visible. The property is within an archaeological district and requires Arc clearance; staff also noted a code enforcement red tag on the lot that applicant representatives are addressing.

The applicant said they were willing to revise window specifications. Board members expressed concern about vinyl windows with snap-in muntins; the applicant agreed to use true divided lights or simulated divided lights with wood muntins and spacer systems (not removable snap-in muntins), and to work with staff on an acceptable exterior window color instead of a taupe vinyl finish. The board also asked that the garage door read as a wood door (either actual wood or a wood-clad appearance) and that the upper-light pattern on the door use rectangular panes rather than the curved top that appeared in the submittal.

After the applicant agreed to those conditions, the board approved the project by roll-call vote. Staff will confirm the final window and garage-door solutions in the permit review and will require the applicant to obtain archeological clearance before ground-disturbing work.