Over the past two years, the Historic Preservation Commission denied 13 applications for changes to roofs, windows and more, while approving 74 applications.
Area contractor Earl Burke prides himself on the quality of his work. But after a brush with Augusta’s Historic Preservation Commission over a job in the Olde Town district, Burke said the group uses a double standard that tends to leave an unfortunate group of homeowners unable to afford needed repairs.
Burke applied last year to install a galvanized “ag panel” metal roof on a 19th-century home on Telfair Street. The house originally had wooden shingles, but currently has an aging standing-seam metal roof, the type preferred by the commission, which is plagued by leaks.
“It was the decision of the commission to DENY the petition, on the grounds that the roofing material was incompatible with the Olde Town Design Guidelines pertaining to roofs,” wrote city Planner I, Ryan T. Jones, last July.
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A double standard
Craning one’s neck to look at roofing materials around Olde Town, including on an adjacent house, the decision made little sense, Burke said.
“Within a quarter of a mile there’s 10 roofs with ag panel,” he said.
Whatever happened before to allow those roofs did not happen with Burke, whose application was supposed to be entering mediation. But the cost of a standing-seam roof approaches $100,000, more than double what the ag panel roof would cost.
“Your standing seam metal is so much more costly than the ag panel. They are pricing people out of where they can’t afford to fix their houses,” he said.
His appearance before the HPC made Burke aware that he was not alone in encountering its draconian decision making, Burke said. Another homeowner who dug up a crumbling driveway without a permit was denied a permit to pour a new one, he said.
Another applicant had replaced existing vinyl siding on a house, only to learn the commission had no record of the siding ever being among its building materials. “He has to go back with what was originally on the house,” Burke said. “They passed the burden over to him.”
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Blame lies with HPC
Left with requirements they can’t afford to make, leaky roofs continue to leak and homeowners are doomed to demolition by neglect due to the HPC’s decisions, he said.
“Why are they falling down? Because your homeowner cannot afford to fix them, based on your decisions,” Burke said.
Burke said it’s time for the HPC to end its reign.
“I can understand getting permits. I can understand beautifying downtown Augusta, but the methods and stuff they go through, no,” Burke said. “They would rather water to leak in on the congregation in the church than allow somebody an economical way to fix it. That’s their mentality and it’s just sickening.”
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What do other rejections look like?
A survey of HPC denials reveals the sort of challenges homeowners face. Several involved roofing materials and window design.
One man installed a coated chain link fence around a jacuzzi on Gary Street in the Summerville district. His request to legitimize the fence after it was installed was denied because it’s not supported by Summerville design guidelines. The owner was required to remove the fencing within three months or face code violation penalties.
Another man sought to “replace rotted beams and rafters and add a little more slope” to the front door portico of a Monte Sano Avenue house. The HPC denied the application after he failed to provide additional details about the renovation.
In the case of Russell Winter, his request to demolish a rear accessory building and construct a carport was denied because the commission determined that the building did not appear to be beyond saying and an “alternative to demolition” was suggested. This denial was made in August 2023.
Martin Washington requested to retain the vinyl replacement windows installed on the side and rear of his home, a request that was also denied in August 2023. Documentation states that the “windows were installed without required permits.”
This denial was paired with a request by the commission that wooden, double hung windows matching the original size and light pattern be installed.
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Kevin Mosby was denied a request in March 2024 to make additions which would impact the front facade of his home. This request was denied based on the commission’s conclusion that the proposed addition “did not align with the relevant design guidelines.”
Kristen Ludwig made a request to legitimize a chain-link fence which was already installed on her property. This request was denied on the grounds that the chain-link fence was not supported by the Summerville design guidelines.
Two requests made by roofing and construction agencies were denied in 2023.
These requests were made by Southpaw Roofing and Soapstone Construction Group, respectively.
Southpaw Roofing made a request to replace a metal roof with a shingle roof at a home located at 410 Third St.; Soapstone Construction made a request to replace a metal roof with asphalt shingles.
Southpaw’s request was denied because it was “inconsistent with historic guidelines.”
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Soapstones’s request was denied because the materials requested by the applicant did not match guidelines.
Another request for a metal roof to be replaced with shingles was made by Sarah Mooney, which received a denial in October 2023.
The denial stated that the materials requested by the applicant did not match guidelines.
Application approvals
From January 2023 through January 2025, the Historic Preservation commission approved 74 applications ranging from making changes to roofs, fences, windows and more.
