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Board approves recommendation to proceed on rehabilitation and modest raising of 243 Webster Street
Summary
The Historic Resources Board found the 243 Webster Street rehabilitation project consistent with Secretary of the Interior standards and recommended the director move forward. The plan lifts the house modestly for flood mitigation, adds a lower dwelling unit and removes a nonhistoric rear structure.
The Palo Alto Historic Resources Board voted to find the rehabilitation project at 243 Webster Street consistent with Secretary of the Interior standards and recommended the director proceed.
Staff described the property as an early 20th‑century eastern shingle cottage built around 1904 and documented on Sanborn maps; a nonhistoric rear structure dates to the 1950s. The project proposes to move the house approximately 3 feet laterally and raise it approximately 18 inches to improve basement light wells and meet flood‑mitigation requirements while adding a lower‑level dwelling unit and a small rear addition.
The project architect, a self‑identified historic architect representing the applicant, said the team worked with surveyors Paige and Turnbull and intends to restore the house's character while adding a basement unit and removing the nonhistoric rear building. "We've always intended to restore the house, rehabilitate it, and keep it in its original character and form and yet get some better utilization of the site by incorporating a unit in the lower area," the architect said.
Board members questioned how the small raise would affect the house's relationship with a notably similar adjacent home. The architect and civil engineer explained the rise is 18 inches, chosen to reduce the extent of visible retaining walls and to step grading back to match neighboring grades so visual impacts are minimized.
No public comment was recorded on this item. The board's motion finding the project compliant with the Secretary of the Interior standards passed by roll call (transcript: "Motion carries. 40"). The board recommended that the director move forward with the project.
The recommendation means staff and the applicant may proceed with the permits and work aligned with the board's findings and the Secretary of the Interior standards.
