The Historic District Commission met last week with a light agenda, and commissioners took the opportunity to restate their reasons for eliminating site visits.
The four commissioners in attendance at the Aug. 7 HDC meeting had voted to do away with site visits and rely on the information in an application. They explained their decision to the other three commissioners, who all agreed with the change in procedure.
“There has always been a problem with site visits,” Chair Steve Holifield said, explaining that commissioners had no way to demonstrate in court what they said on site. The new state requirements for an audio recording of all public meetings brought additional problems, and during the first test of recording a site visit, not all commissioners could be heard.
Holifield said he had spoken to Mayor Butch Berry, who said if a printed application lacks sufficient information, it probably would not hold up in court. Holifield also said he had heard inappropriate comments during site visits “that could get us in trouble.” As an example, he mentioned commissioners offering encouraging comments during a site visit, but later voting against an application.
Previously, the commission required a site visit for all Level III applications, as well as Level II applications with complications. Commissioners receive agendas far enough in advance to drive past a property, and the commission can still request permission from property owners to have a site visit in unusual circumstances. Otherwise, the HDC will reject or delay applications lacking information.
The agenda included three Level II applications, and all were approved without objection.
At 50 Wall St., Tom Reay asked to add a new retaining wall at The Woods Cabins. The property, built in 1999, is non-contributing.
Brooks Bingman, at 32 Emporia St., asked to replace three windows, and said the replacement windows will look the same as the inoperative windows he will replace. The house, built in 1968, in non-contributing.
At 7 Charles Circle, George Robinson received approval for 200 feet of white wooden rail fence along the front of his property. The fence will be 36 inches high. Commissioners also approved replacing deteriorating railroad-tie steps with concrete, and removing a low retaining wall that Robinson had installed as a landscape feature.
The HDC will meet next at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4. Level III applications were due Aug. 22, and other levels are due by Aug. 29.
HDC explains itself
City Historic Preservation Officer Glenna Booth had copies of a new brochure explaining the purpose and function of the HDC. She said she had mailed 950 copies to addresses in the historic district, and will make copies available to real estate brokers and others. A certified local government grant provided funds for the project, Booth said, and she reported “good feedback” on the brochures. “This will be a good resource for us,” she said.
50 years old is historic
During the comments period at the end of the meeting, Commissioner John Nuckolls pointed out that a house built in 1968 had come before the commission that night. Although the house is non-contributing, Nuckolls said it has become historic because it is older than 50 years. The commission will increasingly see houses built in the late 1960s and thereafter, and Nuckolls said the historic district guidelines for acceptable replacement materials “may not be appropriate in every situation.”