HPC Rejects Vinyl Siding, Splits Over Harvard Street Cornerboards and Sherman Avenue Porch

The Historic Preservation Commission's October 5 meeting included two contested siding disputes and an outright denial. At 58 Harvard Street, owner Jennifer Perez sought to swap out cedar shingle siding -- approved for a previous owner's addition -- for smooth fiber-cement clapboard. A first motion to approve the siding with matching cornerboards failed badly, 6-2, with only Way and Chair Herrigel in favor. A second motion, approving the same siding without cornerboards, passed 5-2 with one abstention: Kopec and Travia voted no, and Wright abstained.

At 16 Sherman Avenue, architect Eric Baker returned with revised plans for an addition and enlarged front porch for owners Lillian Shi and Victor Liu. The commission approved the plans with several conditions, including eliminating the second-floor porch and railings, on a unanimous vote among those participating (Wright had stepped down). A competing version of the motion -- which would have allowed a different eave material and skipped the requirement to remove the second-floor porch -- failed 4-3, with Darby, Githens, McMahon and Herrigel voting against it, leaving the first, more restrictive approval as the one that stands.

Separately, the commission unanimously voted to deny Donald Dagress's application to replace the aluminum siding at 276 Bay Avenue with vinyl siding, after finding cedar shake shingles underneath. An addition proposed for 162 Ridgewood Avenue by Ajay and Anita Agarwal was withdrawn after the commission found the massing too large relative to the rest of the house.

Other applications passed unanimously: a full teardown-and-rebuild at 254 Washington Street (Eric Baker), rear rooftop solar panels at 957 Bloomfield Avenue (Emmanuel Urquijo), a retaining wall and walkway at 36 Edgewood Road (Jorge Alfonso), a rear addition at 480 Ridgewood Avenue (Aaron Kramer and Sablina Sodja), a second-floor addition at 190 Sherman Avenue (First Mountain Realty LLC), and new front steps at 40 Stephen Street (John Davie).

What to watch

• The Agarwals may return with a revised, less bulky design and a site plan for their 162 Ridgewood Avenue family room addition; no new date has been set.