The Vinyl Solution

Our neighborhood lost an important battle Thursday night, and it’s one you all should know about. The Historic District Commission (of which I am a member) approved by a 3-1 vote (I was the sole dissenter) a proposal by developer Ed Mackowski to build five new vinyl-sided houses in the subdivision on the newly named Frances Carol Place (off Judson Place, behind the Knights of Columbus). I think Mackowski is fundamentally a decent guy, and from the drawings we saw the homes will not be unattractive — your basic two-story “Colonials.” But I didn’t believe, and still don’t, that vinyl-clad houses are appropriate to one of the most distinguished historic districts in all of Connecticut.

This is really an elemental issue. The very existence of a historic district is controversial in our neighborhood, on a couple of levels. The benefit of historic preservation — that it buoys property values of the entire neighborhood — is an abstraction not grasped by all, and beyond that people don’t like to be told what they can and cannot do to their homes.The most common issue the HDC grapples with is windows, and every month at least one property-owner comes to us for permission to replace his/her old, draughty, inefficient wooden windows with new, much more efficient and above all CHEAPER vinyl windows. It is our job to say no. So we do, and then they hate us. Personally.

One of the things we HDC commissioners are reluctant to tell our neighbors, but maybe we shouldn’t be, is this: In terms of repairs and upkeep, it costs more to live in an historic district. There — I said it. In communities with really successful historic districts that enjoy broad public support — say, Westport or Litchfield — no one questions this fundamental truth: To maintain the historic character of an historic home is expensive. Like, duh. But wait, some people say — Stratford is not Litchfield or Westport. That’s true. But Stratford is changing, and that change isn’t directionless. Our neighborhood is home to many more white-collar, professional families than a generation ago, and demography drives change. Beyond that, what communities would we prefer to model on? Westport or West Haven? (Sorry West Haven!)

That was my argument, but three other HDC commissioners — Pat Pistey, of Pistey Funeral Home fame, Ann Miron, of mother-of-the-mayor fame, and fellow OSNA officer Paul Joy — were not persuaded. Paul pointed out that 80 percent of new houses built in the Northeast these days are vinyl-clad (but not in historic districts, Paul!). To my observation that the neighborhood would be better served if, instead of building five vinyl homes selling for about $300,000, Mackowski should build three beautiful, wooden homes and sell them for $500,000, Ann Miron said, “No one is going to pay $500,000 for a house behind the Knights of Columbus.”
But Ann — half our neighborhood is “behind the Knights of Columbus”!

So I lost the argument, and in my opinion we let you guys down. I urged Paul Joy to post arguing the majority view here on this site (which is the whole reason we started this), and I hope he does. But in any event it would be really valuable to hear our neighbors’ views on this issue. By all means, please e-mail us at StratfordNeighbors@gmail.com and tell us what you think!

-- Michael Bingham