PC 041316 - Laserfiche WebLink

fagade acting as one, and that's the direction that they want to go. They don't want this large open space in front of this window. Commissioner Balch: So a large open space is a porch, right? So they don't want a porch. Townsend: We have a porch right here. Commissioner Balch: How about a porch as defined by staff? Townsend: Look at the definition of porch and what is a porch. It is a covered space. Chair Ritter: Staff, are there any other porches similar to this design in the neighborhood? Like Mr. Townsend said, there's one around the corner? Weinstein: Yes, so there's a mixture of housing in the area; a mixture of old homes and a mixture of new homes. The vast majority of the homes, I think all of the homes built in the last 15 years or so, have really good sized porches. There are some houses further down Rose and there are some multi - family residences as well if you go all the way down Rose, and if you go down Fair towards Division Street, there are also some mid - century, maybe 1960s -era houses where some of them have good sized porches and some of them don't; but in the immediate vicinity of this house, every single house has a porch and they're pretty substantial as well. Chair Ritter: This porch is in the vicinity, correct? And this is a porch you didn't like? Townsend: This is what the Commissioner was talking about where you're projecting it in front of itself. Chair Ritter: And that's not what you like. Townsend: Correct. Chair Ritter: But this is in the neighborhood. Townsend: This is the tract house around the corner and this is what we don't want to see and this is what you're going to end up approving. Weinstein: So we're actually okay with that porch. It's not the most amazing porch in the world probably, but it fits into the character of the neighborhood. Again, you're just seeing lots and lots of porches in this neighborhood and I don't want to come across as an ideologue about porches because it's not something we universally require for new residences throughout the City. We absolutely don't do that, but when we find neighborhoods that have a preponderance of porches that have a certain neighborly character, we really try to be sensitive to designing infill projects that are inserted into those neighborhoods. So when we see a predominant architectural feature in a neighborhood, we're really sensitive about seeing if that can be referenced in new construction so that's what we're trying to do here. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, April 13, 2016 Page 8 of 33