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On May 17, 2024, the owners of 58 Colleton Drive applied for a permit to demolish the house and foundation due to structural issues. The City of Charleston approved the permit on May 22 and the demolition occurred shortly thereafter on or about May 24th. Although, from what I understand, the owners made every effort to save their house, the reality is that any property owner is well within their right, under the City’s zoning codes, to demolish any house in Byrnes Downs.
This reality has caused considerable heartburn in many of our residents and has once again brought up the conversation of historic preservation through either a demolition ban, the creation of an Historic District or both.
Unfortunately, neither action answers the obvious question of what, if anything, should be preserved?
Towards answering that question, it is important to recognize that Byrnes Downs was built to conform with federal guidelines as set forth by the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) in their Principles of Planning Small Houses and the small house program of the early 40s:
FHA’s 1940 edition of Planning Small Homes introduced a dramatically different, flexible system of house design based on the principles of expandability, standardization, and variability. Praised for its livability, the simple one-story “minimum” house became the starting point from which many variations arose as rooms were added or extended to increase interior space, often forming an L-shaped plan. The revised edition also included designs for two-bedroom, two-story houses having central-hall and sidewall-stair plans, some offering built-in garages and additional bedrooms. The new FHA principles provided instructions for grouping similarly designed houses in cul-de-sacs and along streetscapes by varying the elements of exterior design in ways that avoided repetition and gave the neighborhood an interesting and pleasing character, for example, by varying the placement of each house on its lot. |
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The Board will be meeting with City officials and Councilman Appel this week to discuss all options: demolition bans, enacting a City Historic District, enacting preservation guidelines from other communities built under the same FHA plans as well as how stormwater mitigation should fit into such.
Because we believe that this issue is to be decided by property owners, all options, to include any that residents might want to explore, will be presented at a meeting in the coming weeks. Understand that doing nothing is also an option.
As we have no power to govern property rights within Byrnes Downs, the Board’s intention is to educate and facilitate.
In the interim, take a few minutes and review the Principles of Planning Small Houses, described above. You may recognize your or your neighbor’s home as well as the original layout of Byrnes Downs.
Should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out!