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Historic review board approves in-kind front railing reconstruction for 518 South George Street
Summary
The York City Historical Architectural Review Board approved reconstruction in-kind of the front railing at 518 South George Street, limiting its approval to portions visible from South George while noting rear deck and structural repairs are outside the board's scope of review.
The York City Historical Architectural Review Board voted to approve an in-kind reconstruction of the front railing at 518 South George Street during its February 12 meeting, limiting formal approval to the parts of the porch visible from South George.
The applicant representative told the board the three-story stair tower and several decks showed structural failure and rot and that the project team will remove damaged decking and rotten supports and replace them without altering the structure’s exterior appearance. “There’s no intention of changing any design on the exterior structure of it. It’ll look exactly the same when it’s done,” the representative said.
Board members focused the board’s authority on features visible from the public way. Speaker 2 recommended approving only the front railing visible from South George Street and treating rear and interior deck repairs as immaterial to the board’s review. The board amended the motion accordingly.
The motion to approve the application as amended — limited to the front railing reconstructed in kind and visible from South George — was moved by Speaker 3, seconded by Speaker 6, and carried by voice vote.
The applicant said the team will pull the deck back about one foot to improve drainage and replace decking with either pressure-treated wood painted to match existing material or, depending on budget, a composite decking material. The board recorded that the rear decking and structural repair work will proceed but were not the subject of this approval.
No local ordinance or statute was cited during this item. The board’s action covers only the visual elements visible from the public right-of-way; any building, safety, or engineering approvals referenced by the city engineer were treated separately from this review.
