One Man's Journey into Restoration

[ChriswUfGator]

Lisa Simon has absolutely no business being on the HPC, and needs to step down.

SPAR and its members (including Lisa Simon) have fully demonstrated that they do not value preservation.

[Livein32206]

spar may finally be turning the tide, as they've seen that the people of the neighborhood are not going to allow spar to allow and promote demolitions. It's my hope that the new ED knows that what happened under the direction of DeSpain, is not acceptable now...the destruction she enabled and asked for caused our neighborhood to lose so many structures, and spar allowed that to happen. Now there is the SOS group that has virtually come out of nowhere and demos came to a screeching halt and the city, HPC and everyone else sees that things have to be handled differently. 

Speaking of having agendas...I agree, that there are people who need to remove themselves from the positions they hold, and one of them should be Claude...he's been sitting in that position too long and has not spoken truth as to what the actual community wants. He is one of the reasons as to why I will not join spar, new board members or not, he's still there.

[urbanlibertarian]

I agree, fieldafm.  My point is if you don't hire a real estate attorney to represent your interests in the deal you will be the only one involved who is only looking out for you and who doesn't have some conflicting interest.

FYI, I am not an attorney.  I wish they were much less necessary than they are.

You know, when I was recommending using a real estate attorney, I meant someone more scrupulous than this guy:

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-10-26/story/jacksonville-attorney-held-500000-bail-real-estate-scheme

[iloveionia]

On a serious note.  The owner has contacted a local attorney to speak for him at his hearing next week, but he has not received a response.
He needs an attorney and will pay for the services.
Please email me someone you recommend that is familiar with Historic Springfield so that I may forward information.
nicolelopez89@yahoo.com
and thank you in advance.

[iloveionia]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/set-for-a-life-of-leisure-couple-instead-1058995.html?cxtype=rss_news

^This is Ray, owner of 1551 Boulevard.  How lucky we are to have him in our community.  And shame on anyone who thought otherwise. 

[sheclown]

WEST PALM BEACH â€" Raul Colon retired three years ago intent on playing lots of golf. His children were grown, as were his grandchildren.

Then the former U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervisor and his wife, Maria, became foster parents to a boy named Adrian, now 4.

"We just fell in love with him," said Colon, 66.

Later, Adrian's sisters, who were in other foster homes, met the Colons.

"We knew they needed to be together," Colon said.

And Friday, at the annual National Adoption Day celebration at the Palm Beach County courthouse, they sealed the deal. The Pompano Beach couple officially adopted Adrian, 10-year-old Samantha and 6-year-old Natalie.

"This is our gift," Colon said. "God sent them to us."

It is the happiest day of the year at the courthouse, with adoption workers dressed in red, giant "Congratulations" cakes, clowns and magicians perfoming where foreclosed homes usually are auctioned off - and children placed in forever homes.

Steve Bardy, executive director of the Children's Home Society, again donned his borrowed ruby-red sportcoat, looking more like a movie-theater attendant than administrator. And the judges ­- Juvenile Court Judge Ronald Alvarez hauled himself out of a sickbed not to miss it - donned red sashes over their robes on what is a clearly joyous day for them as well.

"Ok, Mom, you're in the delivery room and it's coming," Circuit Judge Kathleen Kroll said to Maria Colon as the judge was about to sign the final papers. "Congratulations."

In another courtroom, another family stepped up. Teacher Andy Matzkow, 62, and his wife of 41 years, Barbara, adopted their 4-year-old grandson, Kyle. Seated with them was their 17-year-old grandson, Evan, whom they are adopting in two weeks.

Juvenile Court Judge Karen Martin asked Kyle what his new name will be.

"SpongeBob," he said.

"I've been parenting my whole life," said Matzkow, who runs the orchestral strings program at Palm Beach Public school. "Kids are a big, big part of my life."

The state Department of Childen and Families has increased efforts to get kids out of foster care and into permanent, loving homes.

But some are still waiting. Currently, there are 49 children available for adoption in Palm Beach County, said Perry Borman, Southeast Regional Director for the Department of Children and Families.

The Colon's adoption of three children is remarkable for two reasons, said adoption workers. First, a group of three siblings could be placed together. And second, a couple set for a life of leisure so willingly opened their home and hearts.

And how has that been? Going from Par 3 to three kids in one shot?

"Exciting," said Colon, grimacing and smiling, "Different!"

"I have a great set of clubs. I just haven't been able to use them."

susan_spencer_wendel@pbpost.com

[sheclown]

Do not neglect to show kindness to strangers; for, in this way, some, without knowing it, have had angels as their guests.

Hebrews 13:2

[strider]

Chris Farley » Sat Sep 20, 2014 7:00 am

The matter of the beautiful tile roof being removed from 1551 Boulevard (after the HPC had denied permission to remove) will be on the agenda of a meeting in the Ed Ball Building 214 N. Hogan, 1st floor, on Tuesday Sept 23rd 2014. The meeting starts at 10am, but as yet we do not know where this matter is on the agenda. The city is asking that the roof be restored.

While I do not agree with how this was done, I do understand where the owner was coming from. The frustration at dealing with the often short sighted bureaucracy of preservation is often very high. In the not too distant past, ten minute conversations would be had over the demolition of a house in Springfield and 45 minutes on the window placement in a new construction house. The age old expression "can't see the forest for the trees" comes to mind.

The owner of this house did indeed go to the commission over his roof some time ago. He took the information on his roof with the expectation of getting help and guidance. The cost of a new or totally renovated barrel tile roof was scary high. He had information on alternative products that gave the appearance of a new tile roof but the Commission refused those alternatives.

This put the owner in a bad situation. He could not afford to replace the roof under those conditions. And yet, as we all know, you can eventually lose the house for the want of a roof. Fortunately we did not in this case. It does appear that it needed a roof bad enough that he could no longer wait. So the owner, whether you agree with his choice of materials or not, chose to protect the house.

Barrel tile roofs are perhaps the longest lasting roofs we can have. And while the tile themselves can last hundreds of years, the fasteners do not and so it becomes a matter of removing, inspecting and cataloging each existing tile, finding matching replacement tiles or just replacing them all. Today the roof deck once secured and repaired, would have to be sealed and then the tiles refastened. In theory then you would have a roof that could last 300 years. In practice, as many have seen, about 100 years with luck.

So, yes, it is a loss to lose the significant feature of the tile roof on this grand house. But we still have the house. And who knows, perhaps when the next roof is needed, the funds will be there to restore that great feature.

Because frankly, you must first have the trees to be able to see the forest.

Did this owner not follow the rules? Yes. But at this point, what is the cost to the house, the real reason we have a Historic District, to get it changed today? Is there not some middle ground to be reached here? For the sake of the house.

[DDC]

You have got to be kidding me. This is still going on? I had just moved here just before the first post in this thread. Has the homeowner been living here all this time and it is still not settled? Freakin' unbelievable.

[strider]

The issue is, I believe, that it is very easy to say you have to spend those big bucks when you are not the one spending it.  Heck, a year or so ago in Springfield, a VP of SPAR tried to get it set up so that if you did not want to put on the 3 to 4 times the expense metal shingles on a roof, you had to go before the commission and hope they gave you permission for a less expensive roof.  This because the houses mostly originally had metal shingles and so you needed to preserve that look of metal shingles.  The normal trend today is to have metal, 5 v or standing seam OK or a grey color shingle per state guidelines.  The ironic thing?  The person pushing for this put regular old asphalt shingles on her own house.

Frankly, I think if I were the owner of this house, I would say that the asphalt shingles were a temporary roof to preserve the house until he could afford the 5 to 6 times the cost of the barrel roof.   You can do some things on a temporary basis to protect the building even if it is not exactly strictly kosher with the guidelines.  Hey, if the guy can save 5K a year for the next ten years, he could get that new tile roof they want him to have.

While I am a preservationist, I also believe in common sense.  Requiring anyone to do something that is too expensive to reasonably justify in today's market is one reason why there are many houses sitting abandoned. We lost several in the resent years because they were abandoned after the HPC insisted on certain criteria.  In some cases, the HPC was very justified and the blames goes elsewhere.  But in a few, had the HPC been a bit more flexible, we would have a lived in house rather than an empty lot or abandoned building.

The structure is the skeleton of a house.  In the case of these old ladies, the skeleton is stronger than most would ever imagine.  The things like the windows and doors and even the roof materials, those things are the cosmetic equivalents of hair and finger nails.  They can be changed easily.  In fact, because people really have not changed all the much though the decades, many house have been added onto and updated as people's needs changed.  It is far better to lose a tile roof or a window or a front door than lose the entire house.   Those windows can change again in 20 years, that roof in 15 and a door in just a few years.  What someone can't afford today, perhaps they can tomorrow.  That's why it is important to have some flexibility to accommodate the individual needs.  That way the house gets to be a home - because it is those that live in the house that give it it's heart.  Not the window or doors or the roof itself.  It is also that heart that will enable the house to live on for many generations.

If I did not have inflexible business commitments tomorrow I would go to this meeting and speak up for common sense. Hopefully, someone will.

[sheclown]

the house in question:

[MusicMan]

I know this house well. It is beautiful inside. The roof is pretty decent, and barrel tile is expensive. I'm glad someone who cares owns it. I wish him luck. The HPC can be totally ridiculous at times.

[strider]

A fact I think is important here is that he took alternative materials that gave the appearance of barrel tiles and got told no. They were actually pretty nice metal shingles that were formed to look like the tiles and covered in a sand texture. I believe they were about half the cost of the real barrel tiles. I also believe it was like 2 years ago? So I expect that the asphalt shingles were more in response to a need rather than just a "in your face i'm doing what I want" reaction.

This is not the first time something like this has happened.  The HPC, like Code Compliance, has the power to fine.  Rolling fines of between $50.00 and $ 500.00 per day as well as set amounts per violation. 

There was an alternative to getting around the HPC decision.  Those decisions can be appealed to City Council. I do not know if this owner tried that.

I think this is bad situation for the city.  Yes, this owner went against the findings of the HPC.  Yes, he put the "wrong" roof on his house.  But he did it in a way that tells me he tried to find a way to do what the HPC wanted him to do but in the end, elected to protect his house in the best way he could.  So how do you tell him he was wrong when he was also right in the end?

[strider]

So we talked to the Historic Department folks and the owner did take the idea of the cheap three tab to the HPC since he took the metal barrel type roof and got denied so a bit more in your face than what I thought.  He is going to Special Masters today and more than likely will get fined.  I still stand behind the idea the the HPC should have approved the alternative materials to start with.  If they had, I wonder if we would talking about this issue today?

[mbwright]

It still looks much better than a blue tarp, and much better than water coming in, and doing damage.