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Commission approves revised rear‑addition plans at 804–806 20 Second St.; neighbor raises privacy concerns
Summary
The commission approved a revised certificate of appropriateness for a reduced rear addition at 804–806 20 Second Street after staff said the addition was pulled back five feet; a neighbor’s attorney argued removal of a proposed six‑foot privacy screen in favor of a 22‑inch open railing creates significant privacy impacts.
The Historic Preservation Commission on June 17 approved a revised certificate of appropriateness for work at 804–806 20 Second Street that reduces a proposed rear addition by five feet, as required by the Planning Commission.
Planning staff (Rich Sucre) told the commission the revision complied with the Planning Commission’s directive to pull the rear addition back five feet and set it away from the rear property line. The project sponsor said the revision removed an originally proposed six‑foot privacy screen because the deck now sits five feet from the neighbor’s light well; the sponsor proposed a 42‑inch guardrail along the deck’s rear edge.
Neighbor Annette Carrier, speaking through attorney Sarah Hoffman, asked the Historic Preservation Commission to require that an appropriate privacy screen be maintained, saying that replacing the parapet and six‑foot privacy screen with a "22 inches high open rail" would "create significant new privacy impacts for both properties because there's absolutely no visual barrier between the rear deck and the carrier's windows, which are just 5 feet from the edge of that deck." Hoffman asked the HPC either to require reinstatement of the privacy screen or to make clear in the COA conditions whether staff could approve future changes to the railings without returning the matter to the HPC.
Commissioners debated whether rear railings required further review but ultimately moved, seconded and voted to approve the COA with conditions; the motion passed unanimously.
