The Victorian Village Commission approved a Certificate of Appropriateness Friday for a third-floor rooftop terrace and penthouse-style access at 28 Butles Avenue, but only after commissioners extracted conditions intended to reduce the feature’s visibility from the streetscape.

Staff told the commission the applicant submitted two roof options: option 1 sets the guardrail back from the parapet; option 2 does not. Staff recommended continuing the application to allow confirmation from Building & Zoning about whether a flat hatch could meet egress requirements; the applicant said a flat hatch could not meet egress without extensive changes and that a penthouse was the viable solution to maintain code compliance and access.

Commissioners pressed the applicant on precedent and visibility. Several members said they accepted a limited, site-specific exception because the location and nearby newer construction reduce street-level visibility, but asked for a set of conditions to limit the roof-unit’s long-term visual impact. The motion that passed requires use of staff’s option 1 configuration with a two-foot setback on the east and north sides, efforts to reduce the scale of posts and rails, omission of continuous gravel wrapping the rooftop, and submission of final railing product information to staff for approval. The commission’s motion also recorded the site’s unique context as part of its justification.

The applicant had described code constraints that made a flat hatch infeasible for egress and maintenance; staff and commissioners emphasized the importance of documentation from Building & Zoning confirming the chosen solution meets egress and other code provisions. The commission noted concerns about future applications: if similar rooftop elements were proposed on other historic properties, the body expects site-specific evidence and careful design to avoid setting unwanted precedent.

The approval was recorded as a conditioned COA; staff will track the required revised drawings, building-and-zoning confirmation and final railing materials before the certificate issues.