Officials make exception to preservation rules, letting owner keep vinyl windows

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A debate over something as seemingly simple as window replacement revealed different attitudes toward historic preservation at a Milwaukee Common Council meeting on Tuesday.

In a 8-6 vote, Common Council members decided that the owner of a duplex on the city’s north side should be allowed to keep the vinyl windows he had recently installed, even though they were in violation of local historical-preservation rules. The vote overturned a decision the Historic Preservation Commission had made in September calling for the use of wood-framed windows that would better match the historic character of nearby buildings.

Supporters of the preservation commission called on local officials to do what they could to maintain the appearance of older parts of the city. They noted that residents living in the neighborhood in question had agreed to have their area placed under a historical designation.

Others, though, argued that forcing a property owner to replace his windows could have bigger consequences. To them, the dispute boiled down to the question of: What kind of message does the city want to send people who choose to spend money in neighborhoods that need it most?

The property at the heart of the dispute – a duplex in the 4400 block of North 25th Street – belongs to a local man, William Smith. Smith, who could not be reached for this article, rents units there to tenants. Since his property is part of the city’s Garden Homes Historic District, he is required to make sure it complies with various historic-preservation rules.

In general, these rules seek to have features of historic structures replaced with materials that might have been used when a building was first put up. To that end, they ban the use of vinyl, metal or fiberglass windows.

Smith has told officials he was not aware his property was in a historic district. He has said that he only learned of his possible violation after a Historic Preservation Commission staff member had noticed workers replacing the windows at the duplex.

With some of the work already complete, Smith’s response was to ask the commission to let the vinyl windows remain. The commission denied his request.

Alderman Robert Bauman came out strongly on Tuesday for having Smith redo the work.

“Windows are a key issue for historic preservation,” he said. “They’re one of the most distinctive features of a home in a historic district.”

Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton countered by arguing that there are many homes in the Garden Homes Historic District neighborhood that are in great need of maintenance and repair. Some of the properties there, he said, have assessed values as low as $20,000.

“At a time when we don’t have many investments in those properties in that neighborhood, to actively slow the process, to show how difficult it is to actually invest in a property, can actually have a detrimental effect on bringing other folks to the table and making investments in those properties,” he said.

Alderman Russell Stamper said that Smith’s duplex certainly wouldn’t be the first property in the neighborhood to have new vinyl windows. He noted that the city’s health department had recently used its lead-abatement program to install vinyl windows at a nearby house.

Staff workers at the Historic Preservation Commission said those windows have had to be replaced because their installation was the city’s fault, not the property owner’s. Stamper said he believed the commission, in making that case, was operating under a double standard.

Although Smith didn’t speak at Tuesday’s meeting, he had told members of a common council committee last week that he had already made a significant investment in the new vinyl windows and hoped he would not have to spend even more money to replace them once again.

“The (old) windows were rotten, and decayed, and everything,” he said. “It was a rental property and I didn’t want my tenants living like that, so I spent over $3,000 in purchasing those windows.” Follow @alexzank