Enid commissioners deny appeal over prefabricated carport in Kenwood Historic District

The Enid City Commission on May 20 denied an appeal of the Historic Preservation Commission’s decision to reject a certificate of appropriateness for a 20-by-18-foot prefabricated metal carport installed at 411 West Pine Avenue in the Kenwood Historic District.

The denial, which passed on a 5-1 vote, follows a timeline presented by Jacqueline Porter, community development director, showing the application was filed in February, tabled March 6 for revised specifications, withdrawn to staff in March, and then construction occurred without a permit. A citation for work without a permit was issued in April. The Historic Preservation Commission heard the item in May and denied the application; the property owner appealed May 2 and appeared before the City Commission May 20.

“The application was applied for in February and presented to the Historic Preservation on March 6,” Porter said in her staff presentation, and she described the property as a contributing structure to the Kenwood Historic District that was surveyed in 1985 with an update in 1992. City photos and applicant-provided images shown to the commission indicated the new structure sits roughly 6 feet east of an existing accessory structure and about 5 feet from the property line.

Dale Freire, who said he spoke for the property owner, described the work as a prefabricated shed the family purchased and started before fully understanding the permitting requirements. “We started it, not knowing that we would have needed a permit for a prefab,” Freire said. He told the commission the family has spent money to make the structure match the house and asked for permission to finish it.

Taylor Venus, speaking as an individual and not for the Historic Preservation Commission, urged the commission to maintain the district’s character. “We would like to continue to work with this specific homeowner to try to do what’s best,” she said, but she also called the completed structure “such an outlier” that the commission needed to enforce the district standards.

Commissioners debated enforcement and the message compliance sends to other homeowners in historic districts. A motion to deny the appeal was made and seconded; the commission recorded the motion as denied 5 to 1. The commission instructed staff to contact the applicant and to work with the city attorney on steps to bring the addition into compliance or otherwise resolve the matter.

Background provided at the hearing shows: the application proposed a prefabricated metal carport/shed sited behind the contributing historic house at 411 West Pine; staff noted the Historic Preservation Commission asked for revised, historically consistent materials; the applicant withdrew the application and then constructed the structure without an approved certificate, prompting a citation. The commission did not approve the appeal and signaled enforcement and mediation through staff and legal counsel as the next steps.

Commissioners and staff said they would follow up with the applicant on the exact remedies required and the timetable for compliance.