6 Ashland Street (Pleasant Street Baptist Church)

At a glance

• What: Certificate of Appropriateness COA-26-26 and demolition delay waiver for a new side deck, stair, door, transom and hood at 6 Ashland Street, owned by Pleasant Street Baptist Church (a two-family used for church staff housing).
• Where it stands: resolved. On 2026-08-20 the waiver passed 5-2 and the Certificate of Appropriateness passed 6-1 for the Crown Hill Local Historic District.
• Next: the petitioners must return about a newly built vinyl fence, and possibly about when the door was enclosed.

Background

• The matter began as a violation; an initial $1,400 fine was issued before the owner applied.
• Per the auto-captions, the work started without permission; the church's consultant got a site plan approved by the building department before realizing Historical review was missing.
• Pastor Rivera said a door once stood further along the wall and was already closed in when he arrived about two years ago; a 2023 photo appears to show a door there. The new door sits at the foot of the stair to the upper unit.
• Charles Crovo and Pastor Jhorman Rivera presented the egress door for the second-floor unit.

Objections

• Neighbor Nancy Quinlan of the El Dorado condominiums objected, disputing ownership and citing contractor licensing, lead-law and fence disputes.
• The chair kept the discussion to architecture and said ownership, neighbor and contractor disputes belong to other boards. Quinlan also mentioned an ongoing fence/wall dispute and a nearby driveway.

Decision and next steps

• Waiver (new opening) passed 5-2 on 2026-08-20 (Commissioner Livoti and the chair voted no).
• Certificate of Appropriateness for the deck, stair, railing, door, transom and hood passed 6-1.
• Michelle H. Johnstone said a newly built vinyl fence also requires Commission approval and the petitioners must return, and that they may need to come back about when the door was enclosed (she planned to check aerial imagery). The $1,400 fine must be paid before a permit issues.

Discussion time

About 19 minutes across 2 meetings (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Log

• 2026-08-20 - Historical Commission - Waiver approved 5-2 and COA approved 6-1 (Livoti dissenting on both, chair on the waiver); vinyl fence still needs separate approval; fine must be paid before permit; staff to check when the old door was closed in.
• 2026-08-06 - Historical Commission - Staff noted a violation status hearing had been planned but the application was filed, so it moves to Aug 20.