In historic district, man’s intentions were good; new siding was not

Published: 6/27/2013 8:32 PM | Last update: 6/27/2013 10:07 PM

The old siding, according to Minner, was rotten, warped and eroded by water and vines that had, in some cases, grown under the siding and pulled it loose.

He was about halfway through taking off the old siding, putting up a weather wrap and then blue SmartSide siding, a pressed-wood product, when someone, concerned that he might be putting up vinyl siding on the 110-year old house in the Houston Whiteside Historic District, called City Hall to complain.

A city inspector came out on May 22 to take a look and stopped the work by red-tagging the house, because Minner didn't have a building permit and hadn't sought historic review approval, as required for houses deemed contributing properties in historic districts.

"I just got overzealous," he said. "I bought some siding and started tearing off the old siding to see how it would go. I had a lot of vines that were growing under the siding that were popping it off. It just fell right off when I started working on it."

The day after the inspector red tagged the house, Planning and Development Director Nancy Scott denied a building permit because "the re-siding project substantially changes the character of the building" by replacing the existing narrow wood siding with SmartSide siding.

Minner appealed to the Landmarks Commission on Thursday, which while sympathetic, denied his appeal and upheld Scott's determination that the work encroaches upon, damages or destroys the historic character of the house.

However, the Commission also urged Minner and his attorney, Jim Gilliland, to work with city staff on alternative solutions.

Under the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's standards for historic preservation, distinctive features of historic properties or buildings in historic districts should be restored if possible, then repaired if possible and replaced only as a last resort. And if replacement is necessary, it should be with similar materials.

Read the original post:
In historic district, man's intentions were good; new siding was not