Formal vote needed to settle disagreement over historic stucco restoration on Washington Street

A plan by owner Debbie Forman to strip modern brickface siding from 301 Washington Street and restore historic stucco divided the Historic Preservation Commission enough that Chair Geoffrey Darby called a specific, separate vote on how the window and door trim should be treated, after members disagreed over whether historic-image-matching wood casings were required alongside the new stucco. The commission ultimately voted unanimously to approve the stucco restoration, including trim and cornice details matching historic photographs, plus a second unanimous vote approving new window configurations on the side elevation.

Commissioners also worked through an extensive list of conditions for a large rear-and-attic addition at 76 Midland Avenue, requiring the applicant to pull back a prominent two-foot cantilever, reduce a rear balcony's visibility from the street, and realign numerous window openings; the project was approved unanimously subject to those revisions going to subcommittee.

Also approved with conditions: a second-story addition over a one-story wing at 507 Ridgewood Avenue; a front-porch conversion at 19 Oakwood Avenue, for which Commissioner Peter Korian was absent after leaving the meeting early; a rear patio and deck at 76 Essex Avenue; and a kitchen window addition at 14 Hamilton Road. An application for a teak slat-wall and deck at 114 Clark Street was withdrawn after commissioners said the drawings lacked enough detail to evaluate it.