Tuscaloosa Historic Preservation Commission continues driveway/patio modification case; approves five exterior alteration requests

The Tuscaloosa Historic Preservation Commission on Jan. 8 continued action on a contested application to modify a previously approved driveway and patio at 904 and 908 16th Avenue and approved five other certificate-of-appropriateness requests for exterior work across the city.

The commission, chaired by Vice Chair Jordan Morris, continued HPC 0125 at the applicant’s request after a lengthy discussion about whether a poured, continuous concrete area should be treated as a patio or as parking. Staff had said an earlier approval called for an 18-foot-wide driveway and a 4-inch step separating a driveway from a patio; the built condition removed that step and created one continuous concrete surface separated only by heavy-duty parking bumpers. Darrell Knotts, the applicant, told the commission the bumpers were installed because the 4-inch barrier “would create a safety hazard,” and that they were placed to make the space safer and symmetrical with adjacent work on 908. Jordan Morris said he was concerned about setting “any kind of a precedent” that would allow homeowners to create parking and call it a patio. Staff confirmed that, if the surface were defined as parking, lot-coverage rules would still be met. The applicant requested a continuance to propose alternatives to the installed parking bumpers; the commission voted to continue the case to the next meeting.

Why it matters: The case raises the commission’s recurring challenge of distinguishing…