In a message dated 5/22/00 4:05:22 PM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Any personal experience out there with this policy?  Is it followed in every
>  case?

Personal experience... THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT: LPC appears arbitrary
depending on who ate anchovie pizza the night before. I've been told on a few
projects that if we made sure to match the existing color that it would not
even be thought about by LPC, but considered maintenance. It also depends on
the degree of classification of the specified building. If the building is
regulated not because it is listed as a specific landmark, but is considered
historic due to location within a landmark district, the regulation and
oversight seems more relaxed. I consider, as a contractor, that the "matching
original color" is difficult to realize (appropriate for high-end
restorations with surplus money to spend) and that the emphasis of LPC
regulation should be on selection of a sensibly appropriate color. Question:
who decides what a sensibly appropriate color is? Easy solution, tell the
owner to match the original. In the past we painted about a dozen cast iron
facades in the Historic Cast Iron District and in each case we were given a
range of colors to select from, a gray or tan to mimic limestone for the cast
iron and a darker brown or forest green for the windows, and as long as we
kept our customer's selecting within these colors the LPC did not seem to
have a problem. We went through the "original color" scenario on the first
paint job. I have seen buildings in the same district painted with fairly
outlandish color schemes and have wondered how the owner did, or if they did,
get an approval. In defense of the LPC, the staff usually has too many
buildings assigned per individual, I've heard of as much as 300 each. There
is also a tendency that if a building owner, or their representatives, come
on aggressive towards the LPC (developers calling the LPC obstructionist)
that things get bogged down fairly quickly. Nobody likes to get yelled at and
if as a staff person you are overburdened to begin with it can become a mess
for everyone. In defense of the building, if regulation inhibits people from
doing minimal maintenance to their buildings (preservation), which is what I
consider a paint job on a cast iron facade to be, then in the long-term
regulation is not to the benefit of the historic building stock. I would
rather see cast iron painted the wrong color than not painted at all. The
cast iron buildings usually being less than 6 stories in height there is not
much attention paid to deferred maintenance until something falls off the
building. If the falling off does not hit anyone, and does not get in the
newspapers, then there is little pressure to maintain the facades. I've had a
building owner, with a straight face, ask me where the chunk of cast iron
came from, thinking it had been dropped off by someone driving by in the
middle of the night.

][<en