Board upholds decision on councilman's downtown facade
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on September 28, 2017 5:50 AM
The Goldsboro Board of Adjustment upheld a Historic District Commission decision requiring a Goldsboro councilman to remove a facade improperly added to his South Center Street business.
The Board of Adjustment was divided in its decision in a 3-2 vote Monday, with board members Mark Corbett, Mitch Miles and Joyce Duncan voting to deny Councilman Antonio Williams' appeal of the Historic District Commission decision. Board members Ed Swindell and Pat McArthur voted in opposition.
The case went before the Board of Adjustment after the Historic District Commission declined to issue Williams a Certificate of Appropriateness, which would have approved his addition of a facade to the wall outside his business, The Ice Storm, at 116 S. Center St.
Williams started adding the wood veneer to a column outside of the building after receiving approval from city staff, earlier this year. City staff were unaware, until a building facade was added, that the additional work was planned, said Jimmy Rowe, Goldsboro planning director.
Rowe told Williams he needed to apply to the Historic District Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness for the work. The application was denied and the commission ruled that the facade would need to be removed.
The facade addition was denied because the newly-added facade covered the original building material of brick, stucco and metal, which violates historic rehabilitation guidelines within the historic district.
Historic District Commission decisions can be appealed before the Board of Adjustment, a quasi-judicial body, which serves as an administrative board that makes rules of law similar to a court of law.
Prior to the Board of Adjustment's vote, the board was advised by its attorney that it had limited decision-making power.
During its Aug. 28 meeting, when it first heard the case, the board learned that it would not be able to approve Williams' appeal unless it found that the Historic Commission failed to follow the law in its decision.
"What we're here to figure out is whether or not the Historic District Commission acted within their scope of their authority to properly issue a denial, which caused the appeal to happen," said Chris Boyette, Board of Adjustment chairman.
"When we're done with this, my only hope is that the Historic Commission and the council can get together and work out some new guidelines to relax the standards for the non-significant or contributing buildings so they're not held to the same standards as the ones that are.
"That would make things a lot easier for people downtown that are trying to improve properties."
Based on Boyette's comments, city staff plan to ask the Goldsboro City Council Monday if it is open to considering changes to the historic district guidelines that apply to structures not considered as contributing to the historic district.
The Board of Adjustment decision can be appealed within 30 days in Superior Court. No city staff decision has been made in regard to when the Ice Storm facade would need to be removed, said Jennifer Collins, Goldsboro assistant planning director.