Design Review Board

Oakwood/Lincoln Park Infill Housing Overlay District

12-C-24-IH

Staff Recommendation

Staff recommends approval of Certificate 12-C-24-IH, subject to the following conditions: 1) final site plan to meet City Engineering standards; 2) modifications to the porch to meet Infill Housing guidelines; 3) use of lap siding with an overlap instead of Dutch lap or flush panel siding; 4) final site plan to include a walkway from the front door to the street; 5) revisions to parking to meet design guidelines and avoid the front yard; 6) revisions to façade and side elevation windows design and placement, with approval by staff; 7) final site plan to include one tree in the front and rear yards.


Owner
Edilmar Lopez LVZ Construction

Applicant Request
New Primary Structure
1. The new house is proposed to be set 20' from the front property line. The average front setback of the blockface is 29.8'; however, the blockface is long and features a wide variety of front setbacks. The final site plan should include a walkway from the front of the house to the street.

2. Overall, the block lacks significant context. Nearby houses are shotgun-style and Minimal Traditionals, and there is infill construction and modified Craftsman bungalows/cottages on the neighboring block on Hiawassee Avenue. The proposed new house is proportionate to the dimensions of the lot and to other houses on the block.

3. Infill Housing design guidelines recommend that on lots without alleys, new driveways should be at least 20' behind the front façade of the infill house with access limited to one lane between the street and the front façade. Parking is currently proposed for the front yard and should be revised to meet guidelines. The final site plan should meet City Engineering standards.

4. The three-bay façade is similar in scale and height to the context.

5. The design includes a 6' deep, half-length front porch recessed under the primary roofline, supported by two square columns made from an unspecified material. Guidelines typically recommend a porch 8'-12' deep. The porch depth should be revised to meet guidelines.

6. Guidelines recommend window and door styles be similar to historic houses on the block, with similar placement and ratio of solid to void, and also note that "contemporary windows such as 'picture windows' should not be used." The design primarily uses paired single-light picture windows, which are incompatible with the context where 1/1 single-hung windows are most common. The front and rear elevations contain sufficient transparency. The right elevation contains one paired picture window, and the left elevation features a single-hung window and a small picture window. Picture windows should be revised to be single- or double-hung, and one window should be added to the right and left elevations, with details submitted to staff for approval.

7. The hipped roof has a sufficiently steep pitch for the neighborhood context, and the design benefits from the added complexity of the front-gable massing and front-gable dormer that project from the façade.

8. The materials for the roofing and siding were not provided, and the foundation appears to be a concrete slab. The slab foundation should be clad in stucco or parge-coated to match the context. Siding should be a horizontal lap siding with an overlap similar to wood clapboard patterns instead of Dutch lap or flush panel siding.

9. The site plan indicates a tree in the front yard, and the final site plan should also include a tree in the rear yard.

10. The three adjacent new houses are sufficiently differentiated from each other.

Staff Comments
New primary structure fronting Hiawassee Ave. One-story residence features a hipped roof (8/12 pitch), an exterior of "horizontal siding" (material unspecified), and a slab foundation. The house is 33' wide by 50' deep and will be set 20' from the front property line. It features a partial-width, 6' deep front porch recessed under the primary roofline and supported by two square columns with a post and pier of unspecified material. Parking is a 10' concrete pad located in the front and accessed via Hiawassee Avenue.

The façade (north) features three bays, with a projecting front-gable massing with a paired picture window on the left bay, a projecting front-gable dormer with a window and quarter-lite door in the center bay, and a paired picture window on the right bay. The left elevation features one double-hung window and one small picture window. The right elevation features a paired picture window, and the rear elevation features two pairs of picture windows flanking a secondary entrance.
Applicant

Edilmar Lopez LVZ Construction


Planning Staff
Lindsay Crockett
Phone: 865-215-3795
Email: lindsay.crockett@knoxplanning.org

Case History