Commission approves porch and balcony repairs, grants code exemptions for 522 East Broad Street

Nevada City’s planning commission approved an application to repair the porch and upper balcony at 522 East Broad Street and accepted staff’s recommendation to allow historical-building-code exemptions for the project.

Staff said the property — a prominent building at the top of Broad Street — is outside the formal historical district and is not a landmark, but it has local historic value. The building department had agreed to use historical-building-code exemptions so the project can retain a 36-inch banister height (instead of the current 42-inch code requirement) and preserve the existing spindle spacing (described in the transcript as about five inches). Staff also described a proposed change from torch-down roofing to a PVC vinyl balcony flooring product with higher solar reflectivity and greater durability; staff found the material change acceptable and recommended approval with conditions A–F.

Owner Fred, who said he traced the house to 1895 and described local oral history about a former occupant, told the commission structural repair needs grew from what began as a dry-rot job. The contractor described the restoration challenges of working on an old structure.

A motion to grant the requested exemptions and approve the architectural-review application for front-porch and upper-balcony repairs carried on roll call; several commissioners recorded 'yes' in the transcript. The commission’s approval allows the owner to proceed with repairs under the enumerated conditions and the building-department’s permitting process.