HAHC approves consent agenda, rules on three contested Certificates of Appropriateness including brick replacement and FAR limits

The Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission approved a multi-item consent agenda on April 10 and took separate actions on three contested Certificates of Appropriateness: D7 (825 Columbia Street), D10 (1138 West Fugate Street), and D14 (2206 Lubbock Street).

Staff presented a slate of consent items recommended for approval and asked that all items in Section D be taken in a single motion except D7 (825 Columbia). Commissioners voted to approve the consent slate as presented; items pulled for discussion were heard individually.

825 Columbia Street (Item D7): Staff described a proposal to add a roughly 250-square-foot second-floor rear addition cantilevered over a new unconditioned rear covered patio on a contributing house in Houston Heights South. The existing structure (3,267 sq ft) exceeds the typical FAR for the lot and the addition would increase the conditioned square footage; staff recommended partial approval: approve the rear porch as submitted but deny conditioned space above it. The applicant, Matthew Fisher, said the addition was not visible from the street, that adjacent neighbors provided letters of no objection, and that the design would not touch the historic portion of the house. After commission discussion about the ordinance provision that exempts work obscured from street view only if obscured by original structure (not by nonhistoric additions), a motion carried to accept staffs recommendation and deny the conditioned second-floor space over the porch.

1138 West Fugate (Item D10): Staff presented a proposal to construct a two-story rear addition and to repair or replace deteriorated materials on a contributing 1925 residence in the Norhill Historic District. Staff noted the propertys historic brick veneer had partially fallen and that much of the removed brick had been taken from the site for donation before staff could determine salvageability. Staff recommended approval with conditions that roof rafter tails (soffits) of the contributing structure remain as documented and that existing windows be repaired rather than replaced. Public commenters and the neighborhood association discussed options including reusing original brick or sourcing scratch-face historic brick; the applicant said replacement material would be salvaged or matched. The commission voted to approve the project with additional conditions requiring that soffits remain open, that the original structures three exterior elevations be faced in a suitable scratch-face brick matching the original where possible, and that existing windows be repaired (instead of replaced).

2206 Lubbock Street (Item D14): Staff reported unpermitted work at a one-story contributing Queen Anne residence (textured siding had been removed and replaced with non-historic textured siding; non-historic windows had been installed). Staff recommended denial of the COA and issuance of a Certificate of Remediation with conditions to replace the textured siding with smooth beveled wood siding with a 5-inch reveal on the front, left, and right elevations, add a sill to window trim on all windows, inset and recess the already-installed windows, and approve other proposed work. Commissioners asked staff to clarify window materials and confirmed the owners cooperation; the commission approved staffs recommendation with the explicit direction that replacement siding be smooth beveled wood and that the front two windows be restored to match the historic photograph (four-over-four configuration) and be wood.

The commission recorded the consent vote and the separate decisions above. Staff will follow up with Certificates of Remediation where required and will work with applicants on brick sourcing and window details.