ENFIELD HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
DECEMBER 18, 2009
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Historic District Commission was held in the Thompsonville Room, Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut. Chairman Tatoian called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m.
PRESENT: Richard Tatoian, Chairman
Nancy Smyth
Roman Polaski
Robert Johnson
Lillian Troiano, Alternate
ALSO PRESENT: Roger Alsbaugh, Assistant Town Planner
PUBLIC HEARING – HDC#344 – Felician Sisters, 1365 Enfield Street, Modification of porch plan approved previously under HDC#338 – significant change to design and layout. EHDO Section 8.
Steve Jager, 4 Grandview Drive, the architect, appeared before the Commission regarding this application. He represents the Felician Sisters in this application.
Mr. Jager presented the original application. Chairman Tatoian stated the existing application was for the extension of an existing covered walkway on the south side, a covered drop off area and construction of a seasonal screened room.
Mr. Jager stated the only thing we are concerned about today is the addition on the north and not the covered walkway. Chairman Tatoian stated that would be the screened porch.
Mr. Jager stated the difference between what was presented originally was a small shed roofed screened in porch on the south side. There is an existing concrete slab out there that they cannot bear on because they don’t know what the underlying structure of it is. They decided to rotate the addition ninety degrees. In the previous addition there was some difficulty in tying the existing roofs together. There’s a one-story area where there are some rooms and with the addition it was difficult to put a roof together there. They decided to change and orient it north south so that it is parallel to Route 5. The other reason for doing that is what doesn’t show on the plans in the existing building. There’s actually a window that is shown on the elevation but it doesn’t show on the floor plan. One of the problems they had was they didn’t want to lose this existing window. On the west elevation you can see the window. If they left it the way it was with the shed roof and the difficulty creating the roofs, they would have to block up that window and they didn’t want to do that. That was the reason for turning it and going the other way with the addition. They thought they could save that window.
Mr. Jager stated on the A-2 drawing the bottom elevation north shows the window that is there. It is translucent glass and that is the window they were trying to save. It is one of the original windows to the house. That was the big change physically.
Mr. Jager stated the second thing they did in a subsequent application is they have reduced the amount of windows and changed the proportion of the windows that they are showing. The proportion of the window on the existing house is approximately two to one. They are like three and a half by seven feet making them substantial windows. In doing what they did on the second go around, the change was on the elevation to the west. The change was they got a larger window that was more proportionately correct to the existing house. They are trying to stay with standardized windows due to the cost.
Mr. Jager stated they have increased the freeze board on the top which they didn’t really have before. They just had some crown molding. It’s pretty substantial. It’s not quite as large as what is in the house but it is proportional to the addition. They also have a wide corner board or pilaster that they’ve added which is approximately twelve inches wide. The original was eight inches so this is a little wider.
Mr. Jager stated with the existing house, because it is the rear of the house, those pilasters that are on the photograph are purely painted on. Someone decided to paint them. Chairman Tatoian pointed out an item on the plans and asked if that is original to the house. Mr. Jager stated the original brick is just painted white. Chairman Tatoian stated the entrance to the house faces east. Mr. Jager pointed out the area of the new addition.
Mr. Jager pointed out the corner of the house and the porch on the plans.
Chairman Tatoian asked about the construction of the addition. Mr. Jager stated it is wood. All the siding material is going to be a ship lap which means the board is going to be smooth similar to the old town hall. There’s a lot of horizontal boards but they don’t overlap. They’re all butted together but in a ship lap there’s actually a joint there to prevent water from getting in. So it is a smooth looking finish to the walls. It’s not clapboard. The roof is shingles. The door is a wood door with a half glass in the top. There are doors on the side of the house that butt into this addition and there are side lights with a half glass in the house. They are being consistent. Before they had a double door and all the muttons were glass. They decided to take those out to be consistent with the house. However, he has a feeling that the original windows were probably six over six. These have been replaced with an aluminum finish on it. They decided to be more consistent with all the doors on the house and do the single door with the side light. It will still allow the sisters to get people in and out with wheelchairs.
Chairman Tatoian reviewed the plans with Mr. Jager. Mr. Jager pointed out a column on the plans. Chairman Tatoian noted the peak of the roof is going to be below.
Chairman Tatoian asked about the purpose of this screened in room. Mr. Jager stated they wanted an outdoor seasonal porch for the elderly that they care for. Originally it was going to be a screened in porch and they wanted the ability to put in windows so they are proposing windows as an alternate. Right now they are over what they can afford so they were looking at using it as a screened porch so that they can bring people outside. This will be a three season porch without heat. They have a lot of patio furniture for this room.
Chairman Tatoian asked what the house is used for. Mr. Jager stated it is for elderly care. Chairman Tatoian stated they also have the Sisters of the Poor which is a separate entity. Then in the Felician convent, there is also medical and nursing. Mr. Jager stated the elderly use is run by the Felician Sisters.
Mr. Jager stated this is a nice program and they will be able to get people outside. The idea is if they can afford it, they will put in the screened porch. If not, the fall back would be screened openings of the same size so that it would be truly a screened in porch for the short term until they get more funding. But they wanted to get approval for the whole thing with the windows.
Chairman Tatoian stated on the main building is one area painted. Mr. Jager stated those are stone which is consistent with masonry construction.
Ms. Troiano asked how much lower is this new building compared to what they are adding on. Mr. Jager showed the top of the building on the drawing and noted it is down from the roof about eight feet lower then the existing structure. It is substantially smaller. It is more consistent with the shed roof addition that goes all the way back to the apartments they created. The two roofs are similar in height.
Chairman Tatoian asked about the square footage of the addition. Mr. Jager stated it is approximately 540 square feet.
Chairman Tatoian opened this hearing to the audience. No one spoke in favor or against this application. Chairman Tatoian closed this public hearing.
Mr. Polaski made a motion, seconded by Ms. Smyth, to approve HDC#344, Felician Sisters, 1365 Enfield Street, modification of porch plan previously approved under HDC#338 – significant change to design and layout. The motion was approved by a 5 – 0 – 0 vote.
Mr. Jager stated they will be back for the other drive up canopy issue.
The reasons for approval are the proposed addition is appropriate for the design of the house and also in accordance with the architecture of the surrounding properties.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Alsbaugh stated today’s meeting points out that this Commission can and does work well under conditions requiring special consideration.
Ms. Smyth made a motion, seconded by Ms. Troiano, to adjourn. Following a 5 – 0 – 0 vote, the Commission adjourned at 10:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
_______________________
Nancy Smyth, Clerk
Enfield Historic District Commission
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