Posted 8:35 am Thursday, October 08, 2009
Historical Preservation Board Rejects Application For Home Demolitions
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
The Historical Preservation Board denied Wednesday a request to demolish three dilapidated houses in the Charnwood Residential Historic District.
Staff Writer
The Historical Preservation Board denied Wednesday a request to demolish three dilapidated houses in the Charnwood Residential Historic District.
Calvin Clyde Jr. filed an application for a certificate of demolition for the three houses, located at 313 and 315 E. Houston St. and 602 S. Fannin Ave. With the board's denial of the application, Clyde can now appeal the issue to the Tyler City Council.
Bob Kemper, of Rose Remodeling, gave a presentation on the houses' condition on behalf of Clyde. He said he was hired to rebuild the houses but discovered they were so far gone it would not be economical to renovate them. He said they wanted to tear down the houses and plant grass there but no other plans had been made for the property that sits on the same block as the Butler-Clyde House.
Kemper said the house at 315 E. Houston St. has 14 major problems that aren't up to code, including electrical, plumbing, drainage and structural problems.
When asked why the houses had gone into such disrepair, he said Clyde had a property manager renting out the houses and the renters did not take care of them. He said money hasn't been spent to fix the houses up and it is now "economically unfeasible" to do so. He said it would be cheaper to build the same house from scratch than to remodel the old one.
The houses at 313 E. Houston St. and 602 S. Fannin Ave. have termite, roof and other damages. He said a squatter, the former property manager, is currently frequenting the Fannin house.
When asked by the board, Andrew Clyde, Clyde's grandson, said the family feels like owning the entire block is more important to the Butler-Clyde House and they hadn't considered selling the houses to someone else for remodeling. He said their only plan was to level the property, clear it and plant grass.
Kemper said they had talked about coming back later to landscape the area. He said it took a lot of money for Clyde to put the Butler-Clyde House back into shape.
Board Chairman Mike Patterson said it was basically demolition by neglect and he wouldn't be in favor of demolishing the houses.
Board member Michael Carmichael said it bothered him that there was no plan on what would be done with the property after the demolition.
Board member Janie Menegay said the houses are all part of a National Registry of Historic Places and are the entrance to the Charnwood steetscape, and to leave the area void would not be good for the community. She said the houses don't look in worse shape than most of the houses the board sees that are restored.
The board voted unanimously to deny the application.
The board also voted to authorize the Planning Department to use the new Historical Subject Marker Application for submittal purposes and to post signs on properties that are working under a certificate of appropriateness.
