Historic Commission - Philadelphia

[Yuval B.]

Hi Everyone,

I just finished a complete gut renovation for a property I own that is located in an area regulated by the Historic Commission.  I added a couple of decks in the back of the building and went through the Historic Commission for approval.  No problem there.

As part of the renovation, my contractor replaced the front door of the building (which was an eye sore) with a new front door.  Nothing fancy, just a standard front door for a multifamily building.

I recently got a violation notice from L&I because of that door.  I called the Historic Commission and they are saying that I need to replace the door with one that is approved by the Commission and resembles the original door to the building.  The property next door has such a door and essentially they are asking me to replicate that one.

The funny (?) thing is that if I were to keep the old door, which was ugly and was not providing proper security to my tenants, I would have no problem as it would have been grandfathered by the Historic Commission because that is how I had bought the building.

Long story short, I did some research and fabrication + installation of a replica historic door will cost me around $8,000.  I'm now weighing my options.

Does anyone have any experience with a situation like this in Philadelphia?  Does anyone know how high the fines I should expect from L&I for a Historic violation, if I keep the door as is?

Thanks!

Yuval