ADR supports constrained renovation at 11 Morrison Road after fire‑department constraints; asks for glare mitigation on large glazing

The ADR reviewed a renovation project at 11 Morrison Road that keeps the existing footprint, reduces overall floor area and adds a main‑level deck and a second‑story deck adjacent to the primary bedroom with glass guardrails. Staff said the application requests design review, a demolition permit, a hillside lot permit and a nonconformity permit.

The project team told the ADR that prior larger proposals could not clear the fire department’s review, and said the department is requiring the retention of roughly 50% of existing exterior load‑bearing walls as part of the path to a buildable, insurable house. As a result the applicant is proposing to reduce the house to a two‑bedroom design, raise several interior ceiling heights and keep the house within the existing footprint. The designers also described planned upgrades to siding and windows with an earth‑tone wood or hardy panel finish and said the exterior palette will be an earth tone intended to fade into the hillside.

The project team said they will preserve a large oak adjacent to the driveway, bow the access drive around the tree and rebuild an existing stair to serve the property. The team reported the redesigned home’s maximum height is below the 30‑foot limit cited in the code (the design sheets show a maximum of about 29.6 feet at one measured section).

AD R members said the proposal is a reasonable approach given the site and the fire‑department constraints. “I have no problem with this project as drawn. I feel like, you’re doing the absolute best you can do with it,” one member said. Members commended the decision to reduce the house and preserve off‑street parking. Several ADR members raised a design concern about the large expanses of glass on the west and south corners of the home, warning the glazing could create a pronounced “lantern” or reflective effect visible across the neighborhood. Members advised the applicant to investigate low‑reflectivity or mitigating glass treatments.

No formal ADR roll‑call vote to approve or deny appears in the transcript; members unanimously voiced support for the submission as presented while asking the applicant to consider glass mitigation treatments for reflectivity. The project will be forwarded to Town Council with the ADR’s comments.