Commission hears presentation on proposed exterior renovations at 59 E. Williams St.; no vote recorded in provided transcript

The Delaware City Historic Preservation Commission on Oct. 29 heard a staff presentation on proposed exterior renovations at 59 East Williams Street (application 2025-0655), a two-story Italianate brick property in the residential subdistrict of the downtown historic overlay. The transcript provided ends while staff was still presenting; no vote was recorded in the supplied excerpt.

Development planner Diane Gunther summarized the site context, zoning and history. She said the property is zoned RNX (neighborhood mixed residential district) and sits north of East Williams between Union and Henry. "The property is located in the residential subdistrict of the historic district," she said, and described adjacent uses: the district library to the north, St. Mary's Catholic Church and school to the south, and the Sarah Moore nursing-home and assisted-living facility to the west.

Gunther reviewed the building’s history: the two-story brick house dates from the 1880s and is Italianate in style. She noted historical land ownership by Moses Bixby and showed a Sanborn map reference and photographs. Gunther said the building was used as a single-family home for most of its life, was subdivided into apartments in the 1950s, was purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus in 2002, and was sold to T and R Properties in 2016 and converted to a two-unit rental. She told the commission, "the applicant purchased the site just last month, September, 2025 with plans to reinstate the property into a single family home." The transcript cuts off mid-sentence after that point.

The record in the supplied transcript does not include detailed proposed exterior treatments, recommended conditions, or an action by the commission. The item remains on the commission’s agenda for a certificate of appropriateness; staff and the applicant were still completing the presentation in the provided portion of the meeting.