Allan Appel Photo
The Turnbridge condo complex viewed from Grand Avenue Bridge looking south.
“I was an alder. I appreciate the job you do.”
Those brief but notable words of appreciation came from Bob Oliver to the members of the Historic District Commission at the HDC’s regular monthly meeting at City Hall.
Bob Oliver makes his case.
Oliver, who represented Ward One on the Board of Alders in the mid-1960s, was in attendance in his capacity as an officer of the Turnbridge Crossing Condominiums at 650 – 676 Quinnipiac Ave, where he lives in the heart of the Quinnipiac River Historic District.
The condo association was back for its second appearance before the commissioners seeking a certificate of appropriateness to replace the overhead doors — 14 of them — on the units’ garages.
It was Oliver’s second appearance. Or as he put it when he rose to speak to the commissioners, “Back again.”
There were likely no 19th century overhead doors any more than there were airports during the Revolutionary War. But the HDC’s mandate is still to approve any change in a structure in the district that is viewable “from the public way.”
And the 14 doors, among several buildings of the condo complex at the iconic gateway to Fair Haven by the Grand Avenue bridge, are indeed visible to drivers, pedestrians, and even travelers on the Quinnipiac River.
Oliver, who was subbing for the condos’ agent at the meeting this past Wednesday night, came without sufficient documented detail about the doors’ size and materials. The commissioners require that information to grant approval.
Basically, Oliver said, the association wants to change out its old pressed wood overhead doors for steel doors. “The pressed board has no durability,” Oliver said, testifying that he personally has gone through two of them, which absorb water, in the last 15 years.
View of the doors looking north
Commissioner Tom Kimberly asked for Oliver to identify the doors’ manufacturer.
“I don’t know but we can get it,” he replied
“And the model number?” Kimberly added.
One of the commissioners suggested, as the info required in this instance was relatively straightforward, that Oliver go into the hall and phone colleagues on the board for that info.
He did. Yet when Oliver returned, he said he could not reach anyone who could provide the information.
“Do I have to come back to another meeting?” he asked.
“You’re asking us to make a decision without any information in front of us?” HDC Chair Trina Learned responded.
Oliver inquired when the next meeting would be. He was told Aug. 14 and then said the condo association would be there.
As he rose and turned to leave, Oliver added, “I was an alder. What you do isn’t easy. I appreciate your job.”