8-B-25-IH

Level III: New Primary Structure

Recommendation

The Board should discuss the depth of the proposed house. If deemed appropriate, staff recommends approval of Certificate 8-B-25-IH, subject to the following conditions: 1) final site plan to include a walkway from the front porch to the street; 2) final site plan to meet City Engineering standards; 3) parking to avoid the front yard and the garage to be either omitted or revised in placement to the rear of the house, with a revised façade elevation to be submitted to staff showing windows and siding in place of the garage door; 4) final site plan to include a tree in the front and rear yards; 5) the porch depth be revised to at least 8'; 6) an additional window be added to the right elevation, to be approved by staff; 7) final construction to retain the eave overhangs, horizontal headers, and trim as depicted on the elevations; 8) foundation be parge-coated or clad in stucco; and 9) clapboard-style lap siding be used as the primary siding material on all elevations with board-and-batten as an accent only.

Case File

Applicant Request

New primary structure.

- 1. The average front setback of the blockface is 29.4', with the adjacent house at 12'. The proposed 25' front setback is appropriate. The final site plan should include a walkway that connects from the porch to the street.
- 2. Parking is a two-car front-entry garage accessed via Chickamauga Avenue. Guidelines discourage front yard parking and state that "garages…should be at least 20 feet behind the front façade;" there are no houses on the block with front-entry garages. The front-entry garage should be omitted and replaced with a single lane driveway extending at least 20' behind the façade, or the garage should be revised in placement to the rear of the house, with access from the rear of the house. The final site plan should meet City Engineering standards.
- 3. The final site plan should include a native or naturalized shade tree in the front and rear yards. There are existing trees on the lot that could be retained to meet this condition.
- 4. The block to receive new construction is characterized by Minimal Traditionals, modified Queen Anne cottages, Craftsman bungalows, and infill construction. The design features details like eave overhangs, horizontal headers, and 2/2 windows that reflect the context. The 29'-6" wide by 59'-10" deep house is proportionate in width to the lot and other houses on the block. However, the house is approximately 10'-25' deeper than all other houses on the block, with the exception of an 85' deep townhouse development. The Board should discuss whether the depth of the proposed house is appropriate for the context.
- 5. The three-bay, one-story façade is similar in height and scale to the context of the block, which primarily features one-story houses.
- 6. The design features a 4'-6" deep, half-length front-porch recessed under the primary roofline and supported by two 10" posts. The depth should be revised to at least 8' to meet the design guidelines.
- 7. Guidelines recommend window and door styles be similar to historic houses on the block with a similar ratio of solid to void. The 2/2 single-hung windows and half-lite paneled door match the context. The front, rear, and left elevations feature sufficient transparency, but an additional window should be added to the right elevation to avoid large swaths of blank siding.
- 8. The 7/12 pitch front-gable roof meets the design guidelines, and the design benefits from the eave overhangs, horizontal headers, and trim, which should be retained in final construction.
- 9. The asphalt shingles meet the design guidelines, and the slab foundation should be parge-coated or clad in stucco. The elevations depict board-and-batten siding on all sides of the house, but a note states that board-and-batten will only be used on the façade, with horizontal siding on the rest of the house. Guidelines discourage the use of vertical siding and multiple primary siding materials, and board-and-batten is typically only approved as an accent. Clapboard-style lap siding with an overlap should be used as a primary siding material on all elevations, with board-and-batten used as an accent in the gable fields and on the projecting front-gable massing, if desired.

Applicable Guidelines

Heart of Knoxville Infill Housing Design Guidelines

- 1. Front Yards
  - Consistent front yard space should be created along the street with the setback of a new house matching the older houses on the block.
  - A walkway should be provided from the sidewalk or street to the front door. Along grid streets, the walk should be perpendicular to the street.
  - Healthy trees that are outside the building footprint should be preserved. The root area should be marked and protected during construction.
- 2. Housing Orientation
  - New housing should be proportional to the dimensions of the lot and other houses on the block.
  - On corner lots, side yard setbacks should be handled traditionally (that is, closer to the side street). The zoning requirement to treat corner lots as having two frontages should not apply in Heart of Knoxville neighborhoods.
  - Side yard setbacks should be similar to older houses on the block, keeping the rhythm of spacing between houses consistent.
- 3. Alleys, Parking, and Services
  - Parking should not be in front yards.
  - Alley access should be used for garage or parking pad locations. On level ground, pea gravel or similar material may be used as a parking pad off alleys.
  - On streets without alleys, garages or parking pads should be at least 20 feet behind the front façade of the infill house with access limited to one lane between the street and the front façade.
  - Garages which are perpendicular to the alley should be about 18 feet from the center line of the alley pavement, allowing a comfortable turning radius for a driver to enter a garage.
  - Alley-oriented parking pads, garbage collection points, and utility boxes should be screened with a combination of landscaping and fencing.
  - On those streets which have alleys, driveways should not be permitted from the front of the house.
  - On corner lots, a driveway to the garage may be provided off the side street.
- 4. Scale, Mass, and Foundation Height
  - The front elevation should be designed to be similar in scale to other houses along the street.
  - The front façade of new houses should be about the same width as original houses on the block.
  - New foundations should be about the same height as the original houses in the neighborhood.
  - If greater height is to be created (with new construction or an addition), that portion of the house should be located toward the side or rear of the property.
- 5. Porches and Stoops
  - Porches should be part of the housing design in those neighborhoods where porches were commonplace.
  - Porches should be proportional to original porches on the block, extending about 8-12 feet toward the street from the habitable portion of the house.
  - Porches should extend into the front yard setback, if necessary, to maintain consistency with similarly sited porches along the street.
  - Porch posts and railings should be like those used in the historic era of the neighborhood's development. Wrought iron columns and other materials that were not used in the early 1900's should not be used.
  - Small stoops centered on entry and no more than 5 feet deep are appropriate on blocks where porches were not traditional.
- 6. Windows and Doors
  - When constructing new houses, the window and door styles should be similar to the original or historic houses on the block.
  - To respect the privacy of adjacent properties, consider the placement of side windows and doors.
  - The windows and doors on the front facade of an infill house should be located in similar proportion and position as the original houses on the block.
  - Attention should be paid to window placement and the ratio of solid (the wall) to void (the window and door openings).
  - Contemporary windows such as "picture windows" should not be used in pre-World War II neighborhoods.
- 7. Roof Shapes and Materials
  - New roofs should be designed to have a similar pitch to original housing on the block
  - More complex roofs, such as hipped roofs and dormers, should be part of new housing designs when such forms were historically used on the block.
  - Darker shades of shingle were often used and should be chosen in roofing houses in Heart of Knoxville neighborhoods.
- 8. Siding Material
  - Clapboard-like materials (such as cement fiberboard) should be used in constructing new housing where painted wood siding was traditionally used.
  - Brick, wood shingle, and other less common material may be appropriate in some older neighborhoods, particularly those with a mix of architectural styles.
  - Faced stone, vertical siding, and other non-historic materials should not be used in building new houses. In 1930-1950 era neighborhoods, faced stone may be appropriate (see Section 12).
- 11. Landscape and Other Considerations
  - One native or naturalized shade tree should be planted in the front and rear yards of in fill lots with 25 feet or more in depth to front of house.