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New Bern commission issues COAs for twin infill houses at 717 and 719 New Street
Summary
The New Bern Historic Preservation Commission approved Certificates of Appropriateness for two nearly identical infill houses at 717 and 719 New Street, imposing conditions that require plan revisions and administrator review before final inspection.
The New Bern Historic Preservation Commission voted to issue Certificates of Appropriateness for two nearly identical infill houses at 719 and 717 New Street after a detailed review of plans, materials and streetscape context.
Commissioners spent more than an hour examining site plans, floor plans and elevations for the corner lot at New and Burn streets (719) and its mirror-image neighbor (717), with staff and the applicant answering questions about setbacks, window sizes, porch details and exterior materials. The applicant for both projects is represented by John Rosen; the owner of 719 is identified in the record as All Square Enterprise LLC and 717 as High Design Properties.
The staff report, which Mr. Shelley presented to the commission, highlighted orientation and a chimney revision as the chief items needing attention and recommended conditions to ensure compatibility with the historic-district design principles and standards. "This staff report is quite a bit different than previous ones," Mr. Shelley said, explaining that he included explanatory principles along with the enumerated standards to guide the commission's deliberations.
During the presentation, commissioners questioned several construction details, including the siding and trim material (fiber-cement "Hardy" board), porch decking and whether the porch flooring should be tongue-and-groove or butt-mounted. The commission also discussed window trim widths and the planned shutters; the group settled on a 78-inch window height with 15-inch-wide shutters for the front windows, subject to final plan edits.
Applicant John Rosen answered technical questions about the elevations and a window revision, telling the commission the change would be made by "raising the header." The commission asked that plan sheets reflect recessed infill between brick piers, clearer shutter-hardware attachment details, and a minimal landscaping plan to be submitted to the administrator before building permit approval.
A motion to find the 719 application compatible with the applicable ordinances and district standards and to issue a COA with conditions carried; the commission then took judicial notice of the prior 719 record when considering the 717 mirror application and approved a separate COA for 717 with the same types of conditions. Both COAs carry the condition that any design changes be submitted to the historic-preservation administrator before final inspection by the building-inspections division.
The commission's approvals were procedural and conditional: they allow the applicants to proceed with obtaining the required zoning and building permits but require that the clarified details appear on revised plans and be submitted to staff for administrative review before final sign-off.
