February "Certificate of Appropriateness" (CA) applications:
4811 Sycamore Street-exterior changes including new front door siting, new windows, paint, side walkways eliminated, new front sidewalk
Applications for March should be submitted to Margaret Fiskell, our City staff representative. Her email is
Margaret.fiskell@dallascityhall.com and her phone number is 214 670 4151.
Next month's CAs are DUE to Margaret by THURSDAY MARCH 4th.
Applications for "Certificate of Appropriateness" (CA) for November through January:
-November-
4802 GASTON AVE: Remove two existing windows/delete two new windows on new second story addition
917 MORELAND AVE: New driveway and curb cut/extend existing front yard sidewalk
-December-
4803 SWISS AVE: new fir pergola with “Arts and Crafts” details/new flagstone patio
-January-
4825 SWISS AVE: new pressure-treated wood pergola over deck
4403 WORTH ST: remove rear addition one-story shed roof & porch
Thank goodness it's a new year, and hopefully, one with lots of new projects planned! Plan ahead for the Spring and submit your CAs to Margaret Fiskell, our city staff representative, by Thursday February 4th.
October "Certificate of Appropriateness" (CA) applications:
None for October!
One of the casualities due to the recent budget changes at City Hall is that we have lost Mark Doty as our city representative for PSAHD Task Force. We are most appreciative of the tremendous effort he made on behalf of PSAHD for the past several years. Many thanks to you, Mark! Our new representative is actually our old representative, Margaret Fiskell, with whom many of you have already worked during your CA process. Her email is margaret.fiskell@dallascityhall.com and her phone number is 214.670.4151.
Next month's CAs are DUE to Margaret by THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5th.
Applications for "Certificate of Appropriateness" (CA) for September:
608 N. Haskell Avenue - new fence, facade, painting
Fall is always such a lovely time in our neighborhood. As the leaves dress in their seasonal colors, neighbors commune casually on their front porches and in their front yards to revel in the autumn crispness and watch the running, cycling, dog walking world pass by. Especially on weekends, one hears a relaxed melody of laughter and chatter in this outdoor neighborhood as it reunites once again after a hot, buggy summer.
Autumn is also the time for the ants to forage and store food for the winter while the grasshopper lazily watches. As the ant moves flora orts to its subterranean abode, the ant is thinking ahead much like we must do in applying for a CA in preparation for any prospective work performed on the exterior of our property. Yes, I am capable of some really lame segues! Remember to SUBMIT YOUR OCTOBER CA to Mark Doty, our City Hall representative, BY THURSDAY OCTOBER 1st. Don't be a grasshopper.
August "Certificate of Appropriateness" (CA) applications:
4314 Trellis Court - revision of carport
Carport, carport, carport. Having deja vu? We certainly were. This particular application has been reviewed three different times in various forms over the summer. The applicant ran into several snags along the way, but he was diligent and worked respectfully with all involved, a most welcome attitude. And I continue to be impressed by the sincere interest our two task force architects show in our lovely neighborhood. In this case, one of our architects, David Sacha went beyond merely placing his stamp of approval on the application and suggested a slightly modified design, drawing it up and discussing the details with the applicant. Free advise by very knowledgeable professionals. Our architects do this often. We are incredibly lucky to have them on the PSAHD Task Force. Thank you David Sacha and Norm Alston!
September CA applications DUE to Mark Doty by THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3rd.
July applications for "Certificate of Appropriateness" (CA):
4314 Trellis Court - new carport in rear
Hail damage alert...first came the June 11th flood, then Mother Nature's second act, a tumultuous hail storm. Like me, if your roof was damaged in our recent hail storm and you are having a new roof added to your house, remember that you must submit a CA application for the work BEFORE it is started. Mark Doty, our city representative, said that if the new roof will be the same as your existing roof, your CA application will be considered "routine maintenance". If you are changing either the color or the type of shingles, then the application will have to go through the regular channels. So in our case, we also lost two windows, had lots of garden damage and both of our cars have little dents all over them. The curious thing is that I just had my car painted five days before the hail storm. Ah life. Gosh, I wasn't even supposed to power wash it for thirty days.
CA applications due to Mark Doty at City Hall by Thursday August 6th.
June applications for "Certificate of Appropriateness" (CA):
You know you can keep chickens in Dallas? I am putting my coop in at the end of August. My neighbors, Sean and Melissa, have already agreed to chicken-sitting when we are out-of-town. If we had been around when many of our homes were built, that is exactly what many residents would have had in their backyards, along with some ducks or a goat or two. But no goats here. It was hard enough to get Michael to agree to chickens. The old goat.
May applications for "Certificate of Appropriateness" (CA):
JUNE DEADLINE for CA applications to Mark Doty, our City representative, need to be submitted to him (1500 Marilla St., 5CN, Dallas, Texas 75201--214.671.9260 (o)--214.670.0728 (f)) by THURSDAY JUNE 4th.
April Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications:
Zero, zip, nada—no CAs—there’s a first time for everything!!!
So this month, I shall use my allotted space to review the “Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation”, the nation-wide set of standards upon which our PSAHD guidelines are based. I do this periodically, but this time, I am taking liberties...
...my take on the national standards. If you would like to read the real thing, go to:
www.shpo.state.or.us/images/pdf/rehab_standards.pdf
Mark Doty, our city representative, will be accepting May CA applications through Thursday, May 7th.
Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications for March:
February Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications:
I am chomping on my chapeau, consuming crow, and well, eating my words. Last month, I went on about how wonderful it was that EVERYONE now was aware that we live in a historic district. Not so, MacDuff. A recent applicant said he purchased his house not long ago and was never told he lived in a historic district, and obviously, was unaware of any constraints. A nice fellow he was and he could not understand why real estate agents are not required to state the existence of this historic overlay to prospective buyers. Seems like it would be considered part of full disclosure required by law, would it not? The task force could not agree more heartily with him.
Nothing like four-season trees to line our streets. Crepe myrtles sprout in the Spring with glistening green leaves, bloom in the Summer with their delicate "crepe-like" (fabric, not pancakes a la francais) flowers, enchant us in the Fall with stunning autumnal color and strip naked in the Winter exposing their distinguished multi-toned bark and sculptural stance. Poetry aside, Oncor suggests mature tree height of no more than 25 feet under their wires. The great majority of crepe myrtles are in the 8-20 range. So begone ye butchers of Mother Nature's year-round guardians of our neighborhood! Renee has now descended from her Dallas County Master Gardener soap box.
Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications for November throught January:
September Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) application:
Such beautiful weather and only one CA this month—like me, everyone must be playing hooky from house projects! It took your Peak’s Suburban Addition Historic District Task Force just minutes to review this one CA application because it was in complete alignment with our PSAHD criteria and provided a site plan as well as an illustration of the proposed fence/gate. These applicants obviously researched the PSAHD guidelines and submitted their CA with all the necessary information. The task force did not have to sit around the conference table and try to figure out what was going where--trying to outguess your plans makes for a rather grumpy gathering of truly dedicated volunteers. It is also a waste of valuable time, both yours and ours, and often leads to a “denial without prejudice” because there is not sufficient information for us to approve said project. Yes, I am nagging, but DO YOUR HOMEWORK!
Do call Mark Doty, our very friendly City representative, at 214.671.9260 before you start any work on your property. He can answer your questions and explain the necessary steps for your CA application. If you need a copy of the PSAHD guidelines, Mark can send this to you also. October CA Applications are due to Mark by Thursday, October 2nd.
"GONE FISHIN'"--We had no July CA applications! The following is another informative article from Mark Doty, our PSAHD City Representative.
What is a 'Certificate of Appropriateness' form?
A Certificate of Appropriateness form (or a CA form) is a document that should be filled out and submitted BEFORE ANY exterior alterations are done to a property within a historic district. A CA form can be found at the City Hall website http://www.dallascityhall.com/pdf/planning/ca.pdf. Now, depending on what type of work is being proposed, the CA can either be considered a 'Routine Maintenance' CA or a CA that will need to be approved by Landmark Commission.
'Routine Maintenance' work includes:
Continue reading "Task Force Update - Renee Manes with Contributor Mark Doty" »
June applications for “Certificate of Appropriateness” (CA):
Due to the July 4th Holiday, the submittal date for the August Landmark Commission meeting has been moved from the traditional ‘First Thursday’ to TUESDAY, JULY 1st.
ALL CA’s are due by 5PM, Tuesday, July 1st.
May Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications:
Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications for April:
March applications for CAs (Certificate of Appropriateness):
October Application for Certificate of Appropriateness (CA):
October Application for Certificate of Appropriateness (CA):
September applications for Certificate of Appropriateness (CA):
Certificates of Appropriateness (CA) for September:
Certificates of Appropriateness (CA) for September:
July Applications for Certificate of Appropriateness (CA):
Besides last month’s caulk-o-rama that I recommended, there are a number of other easy or relatively easy things you can do to improve the energy efficiency of your home without compromising historic integrity or looks. Here are some things to remember when the time comes to reroof:
June Applications for Certificate of Appropriateness (CA):
Last month I gave you a Don’t and there’s another big Don’t I need to address, but later. Let’s talk about Do’s now because there are lots of things you can do effectively.
May Applications for Certificate of Appropriateness (CA):
April Applications for Certificate of Appropriateness (CA):
March 2007 Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications:
February Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications
February Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) applications:
December and January Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) Applications:
October Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) Applications:
September Certificate of Appropriateness (CA) Applications:
4821 Worth Street — add railing to porch, paint
4711 Gaston Avenue — exterior site improvements, new driveway/parking
1015 N. Carroll Avenue — new fence/gate
4818 Junius Street — new fence/gate installed without a CA
1003 Moreland — new gate
Corner of Sycamore and Carroll — conceptual review of two new single family homes
If you will notice the last item on our agenda this month includes a “conceptual review”. In these cases, usually only utilized for new structures, an applicant will bring forth a very basic idea to the task force to see if the direction is compatible with the historic district. In this particular case, the applicant showed us several pictures of homes and wanted to know which style he should pursue. We picked two styles out of the three presented and explained why the one example was not acceptable. This applicant will now go to his architect and draw up detailed plans and hopefully, in the future, will present his detailed CA application to the task force. Obviously, this “conceptual review” eliminates an enormous amount of time devoted to part of a project that more than likely would not be accepted by any of the deciding bodies (PSAHD Task Force, City Staff, Landmark Commission).
Can you believe it was just about a dozen years ago, in March 1995, when the neighborhood created the Peak’s Suburban Addition Historic District and, WOW, look at how far we’ve come!
Peak’s Suburban Addition Historic District Certificate of Appropriateness or “CA” applications for August:
(Next month’s applications due to Mark Doty, our city representative, by Thursday September 7th)
4320 Gaston Avenue—demolition of contributing building
4406 Sycamore Street—enclose existing garage, started without a CA
4612 Swiss Avenue—new accessory building
4818 Junius Street—new wood fence and gate without CA approval
4500 Live Oak Street—exterior renovation of existing non-contributing retail facility
And why are we reviewing 4500 Live Oak? The address is a bit misleading. Live Oak is not in our historic district, but much of this building (the old Minyards) sits on Sycamore, which is in the district.
The phrase “without a CA” refers to action called in either to Mark Doty or to code enforcement which was performed without getting the necessary approval from Landmark Commission. If Landmark does not approve the work, then the property owner is required to “undo” the work. Obviously, one is much better off receiving CA approval prior to proposed work rather than afterward which risks both time and money!