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02 - February 07 (Special Mtg)CITY OF PRATTVILLE Historic Preservation Commission Planning Department Staff Report CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS 132 N. Northington Street – CA1302-01SP DATE February 6, 2013 PROPOSED DEVLOPMENT Petitioner: Rick and Carrie Womack Property Owner: Same as petitioner Agent: N/A Location: 132 N. Northington Street Review Status and History Submission Status: Initial request for a Certificate of Appropriateness for this address. Previous Approvals: N/A Conditions of Previous Approvals: N/A 1984/2007 Historic Properties Inventory Details 132 North Northington Street (circa 1900, contributing) W. W. Dunkin built this one-story frame building with its hip-and-gable roof and multiple, pedimented gables with original fish-scale shingles and stick-work ornamentation. Its half-hipped porch remains, though the original turned supports and balusters are no longer present. Proposed Alteration, Renovation or Addition The following changes have been requested by the applicant. See the application included as Attachment A for the owner’s description of each item. 1. Remove existing brick chimney on the south side of the house due to missing bricks and deteriorated joints which is permitting rainwater to leak into the house. Hole created by the removal will be roofed over with the same shingles as the existing installation. Page 2 of 3 PLANNING STAFF EVALUATION Reviewed by: Joel T. Duke, AICP Site Visits Conducted: January 22, 2013 Recommendation: The Commission should ascertain what actions have been taken to repair and preserve the chimney prior to considering the requested removal. Evaluation: The requested alterations were reviewed against the standards contained in the Prattville Residential Design Review Guidelines Manual. The relevant sections of manual are included. Staff comments/evaluations are summarized at the end of each section. Item 1. Remove existing brick chimney on the south side of the house due to missing bricks and deteriorated joints which is permitting rainwater to leak into the house. Hole created by the removal will be roofed over with the same shingles as the existing installation. Masonry (pages 23 and 24) Brick and other masonry materials, such as concrete block, are common in residential sections of the historic district. Historic examples of masonry should be retained, maintained, and, if needed, repaired. 1. Historic masonry should be retained and maintained. 2. Historic masonry should only be cleaned in response to severe staining or build up. 4. Historic masonry should remain visible and untreated. Exceptions are if bricks have lost their protective outer coating, in which case paint may be used for preservation, or if repairs have failed to stop water from getting into bricks, in which case water-repellant coatings might be used. 5. Deteriorated or damaged masonry should be repaired and missing elements should be replaced. The materials used in repairs should replicate the masonry’s historic appearance. Analysis: Masonry details, such as chimneys, were once functional well as decorative. As such they are important to the history of the structure. Since 132 N. Northington Street is contributing structure to the National Register District, the Commission should consider efforts to preserve original features visible from the street such as the chimney under consideration. The applicant has not indicated any actions to repair the brick or mortar in the chimney. However, efforts to arrest water intrusion Page 3 of 3 may be complicated by its location on an inside wall rather than being mostly outside the structure. The Commission should explore the possibility of repairing the chimney before approving its removal. ATTACHMENTS A. Application and attachments B. Location map C. Staff photographs D. Pages 23 and 24, Residential Guidelines Prattville Residential Design Review Guidelines Manual 23 Masonry 1. Historic masonry should be retained and maintained. 2. Historic masonry should only be cleaned in response to severe staining or build up. 3. If cleaning is necessary, low-pressure water and detergent cleaners should be used. Abrasive or high-pressure cleaning methods are destructive and should never be used. 4. Historic masonry should remain visible and untreated. Exceptions are if bricks have lost their protective outer coating, in which case paint may be used for preservation, or if repairs have failed to stop water from getting into bricks, in which case water- repellant coatings might be used. 5. Deteriorated or damaged masonry should be repaired and missing elements should be replaced. The materials used in repairs should replicate the masonry’s historic appear- ance. Brick and other masonry materials, such as concrete block, are common in residential sec- tions of the historic district. Historic examples of masonry should be retained, main- tained, and, if needed, repaired. Brick and mortar are common residential building materials in the district. Brick and other masonry walls and details such as foundations and chimneys should be retained and main- tained. Masonry buildings without severe staining should not be cleaned. Prattville Residential Design Review Guidelines Manual 24 6. Hand tools should be used when mortar must be removed. 7. New mortar should match the historic mortar’s width, depth, color, raking profile, composition, and texture. 8. If the original mortar composition is unknown, historic compounds such as one part lime and two parts sand should be used. Portland cement and other hard mortars are destructive in combination with historic masonry and should not be used. 9. If bricks or other materials are missing, replacement bricks or stones should match the surroundings materials. Power tools are damag- ing and should not be used to remove mortar. Hand tools allow for precision work and brick preservation. Mortar profiles used in replacement masonry should match the surrounding historic pat- terns. Common bond is a typical bricklaying pat- tern in Prattville. Replacement masonry should replicate the historic surrounding pattern. Masonry Original exposed masonry surfaces should not be painted or otherwise covered.