The owner of a historic property in Kalamazoo came before the City Historic District Commission with a revised proposal to replace a small, deteriorating rear porch with an open-air deck. The application had previously been denied when the proposed deck was 10 by 10 feet, roughly half the width of the house, which the commission’s historic district coordinator found too large relative to the property’s character.
The owner, who described wanting to give tenants a usable outdoor space for grilling and relaxing, came back with a scaled-down proposal. After extended discussion about whether the original porch was architecturally significant to the colonial revival home, and what materials would be appropriate, the commission voted 4-2 to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness to authorize demolition of the existing porch and construction of a deck no larger than 6 by 9 feet, with any exposed surfaces repaired using historically appropriate materials worked out with the coordinator.
The split vote reflected genuine disagreement: two commissioners found the open-air deck design insufficiently consistent with the historic character of the home, while the majority concluded it met the Secretary of the Interior’s rehabilitation standards and addressed a practical need for tenants.
