After issuing a cease and desist for construction on a North Water street home in August, the Edgartown historic district commission approved new plans for the project Thursday. 

Construction on the historic home at 114 North Water street halted August 30 when building inspector Reade Milne noticed the house was being demolished far beyond what had been permitted. It was one of the most egregious instances of noncompliance she had seen, Ms. Milne said at the time. 

For the past several months, the applicant and the historic district commission have worked to find a viable path forward for the project.

That path had been made more complicated when the project’s general contractor, Chris Miller, bowed out in September, leaving contractor Joe Delory to take his position in the review process. Despite the last-minute shakeup, commissioners thanked Mr. Delory for his cooperation during the review process. 

“This project is problematic and has been problematic, but you have done a really nice job,” chair Julia Tarka told Mr. Delory in the hearing on Thursday.

The new home will be three inches higher than the original structure, an increase that will be offset by two extra steps to the sidewalk to keep the façade more consistent with what had been there before. Some commissioners also took issue with an added upper railing and HVAC equipment which was not included in the plan.

Commissioners approved the updated project 4-2, on condition that the applicant return with HVAC plans when ready. Susan Catling and Hilary Grannis voted against approval. 

For Ms. Grannis, the project highlighted what she sees as a recurring pattern in recent applications.

“A lot of these applications are not getting pretty skinny and not complete,” she said, adding that in some cases, the commission would be able to spot noncompliance better with more robust applications. 

Ms. Tarka took note and encouraged commission assistant Sharon Brainerd to make sure applications were completely filled out before reaching the board.

The project must return to the building inspector before restarting construction.