Portsmouth historic district officials said “no” to a development of single-family homes on the site of a former candy store on an unusually large lot in the city’s South End.

By a vote of 4-3, the city Historic District Commission rejected a development application filed by an LLC controlled by James H. Sanders of neighboring Sanders Lobster Co.

Sanders had proposed building a pair of 1.5-story Victorian-style houses, one just over 2,900 square feet and the other nearly 2,400 square feet, plus single attached garages, on a lot currently occupied by a 302-square-foot cottage.

City property records show Sanders’ LLC acquired the one-room cottage at 445 Marcy St. and an adjoining lot at 20 Pray St. – together totaling 0.34 acres – in 2017 for $0. However, the two lots were listed for sale in 2019 for $2 million, although neither sold.

Despite their simple architecture drawing on traditional local forms, several residents who spoke at the meeting said neither design fit with the “character” of the neighborhood.

But the argument that appeared to hold the most water with commissioners was the existing cottage’s historic significance.

Local resident Ashley Jones III moved the building to the site in the 1950s, from a summer camp in New Castle, to house his candy store. It was one of the city’s few Black-owned businesses, and commissioners and residents said moving it to a new site under new owners, as the developer hoped to do, just wouldn’t do.

“I don’t see how moving it can retain any of its history” if it’s moved, commission Vice Chari Margot Doering said.