The Historic Preservation Board voted to deny application 25‑80 for 734 Ardmore Road after hearing strong neighborhood opposition and staff analysis that the variance and design did not meet the city's historic preservation standards.

Architect David Lawrence presented a reduced proposal (a 268‑sq‑ft apartment above a garage and a 300‑sq‑ft cabana) and said the team had met with neighbors and offered enhanced landscape screening to mitigate impacts. Neighbors who spoke — including Stephanie Smith and Nancy Vergadamo — described significant fill already placed on the site, perceived loss of privacy, and past actions they said damaged adjacent plantings: "Before they started construction, they elevated they filled my side 4 feet," one neighbor said, and another said she had $5,000 worth of plants destroyed. Lawrence said some trees were removed at utility company direction and pledged to increase screening; he also said the design team had tried to reduce massing by narrowing the apartment footprint and by other mitigations.

Staff recommended denial of the variance and expressed concern that accessory structure placement and a new second‑floor apartment would create scale and massing incompatible with the street. The board agreed and voted to deny the application, basing its motion on testimony in the record and staff analysis under section 94‑49 and the Secretary of the Interior standards (specifically Standards 9 and 10).

The denial was final at the meeting; the board asked staff to communicate the decision and next steps to the applicant.