In the pink

That's how I felt after meeting this afternoon with Clayton Lopez, our city commissioner. We went through various strategies about windows throughout Old Town, not just at our house, and by gosh he persuaded me we were going to prevail.

This bromeliad, meanwhile, is blooming in front of our apartment. It looks as splendid as I feel.

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Just for the record, here's the letter I sent him (and the mayor, and the rest of the Commission, and which Clayton is passing along to the city attorney:

Dear Commissioner Lopez:

A year ago, the builder rehabbing our house in Old Town made a mistake – but it’s one that I hope can lead to increased protection for the lives and property of thousands of residents.

His mistake? Installing windows that meet tough storm codes but not Historic Architecture Review Commission guidelines -- not because of their appearance, but because they’re made of metal. HARC wants us to tear the storm-safe windows out. Of course we’re ready to comply, but first we’d like to raise a question of storm-readiness that the city should consider.

Those of us who live here take hurricanes as seriously as San Franciscans regard earthquakes. We know the question isn’t if a big one will hit, but when, and we look to the past to strengthen us for tomorrow.

Andrew is a case in point. After it struck in 1992, killing 64 and wreaking $24 billion in havoc, Florida became the first state in the nation to strengthen its building codes to address the extreme wind conditions tropical storms bring to coastal regions. The state mandated an array of improvements to armor structures against deadly design pressures. Since then, manufacturers have stepped up to offer a wide variety of products that provide structural protection -- including impact-rated windows in pleasing architectural styles.

Yet despite this history, and despite increasing warnings of more volatile hurricane seasons to come, Key West’s Old Town might as well be trapped in 1892, a century before Andrew. Wind protection required elsewhere in Monroe County is explicitly denied here, because of HARC guidelines.

HARC currently requires that replacement windows be made of wood -- period -- though unobtrusive window systems of metal and impact-resistant glass offer extraordinary protection for life and property, and insulation from skyrocketing wind insurance to boot. Our agent says wood windows will increase our wind-insurance premiums by $3,000 a year.

To show the depth of the problem: At a recent HARC meeting, one Commissioner even mused that perhaps only putty-glazed wood windows should be allowed under the guidelines. How far out of touch with protection of life and property is that? HARC can’t trump fire-safety codes; how can it continue to deny wind-safety requirements?

At that meeting, the Commissioners agreed that the issue needed study (indeed, the guidelines haven’t been updated since about 2001). Thus I respectfully ask that the City Commission order HARC to develop a list of wind-rated windows that conform to historically appropriate forms. If you’d like to see some, just take a look at my house. The lone HARC Commissioner who did look found the windows perfectly acceptable in appearance and moved to approve them.

They are widely available, from such manufacturers as PGT, Marvin and Andersen, and are a far cry from the armor-plated look of earlier styles, whose thick muntins made them obvious from the street. They are architecturally unobtrusive, and far from threatening Old Town’s historic treasure, they could actually help preserve it in the face of a deadly storm.

I am eager to work with you for this change, so please don’t hesitate to call me about it. I think it’s imperative to protect life and property within Old Town without changing its historic appearance.

Sincerely,