Voluntary historic rule adopted Voluntary historic rule adopted (August 20, 2004)

Neither side satisfied with compromise

By Jon Wiener

After more than two years and copious discussions, the city council passed a new historic preservation ordinance Tuesday that left few people happy.

As expected, the council favored a voluntary ordinance with incentives for property owners that choose to comply.

Advocates for historic preservation worried the ordinance had neither the stick nor the carrot necessary to compel landowners to preserve old buildings. But property owners bristled at the council's decision to collect a new inventory of historic resources.

Council member Rosemary Stasek -- the lone dissenter in the ordinance's 6-1 vote -- also spoke passionately, calling the deliberations a dishonest attempt to sweep the issue under the rug while paying lip service to a vague notion of preservation.

"I'll be the first to admit it's sausage," Council member Mike Kasperzak said. "What we've come up with is a bunch of compromises. It's not perfect. It's probably pretty far from perfect."

The council decided to allow property owners on the city's controversial historic register to remove their buildings from the list before facing any development restrictions. Those who remain, in addition to others who apply to get on the list, will receive several benefits in exchange for their participation in the program.

The incentives to those property owners include a rebate on the city's share of property taxes, which amounts to approximately $380 on a residential property assessed at $250,000. The state's Mills Act can also provide tax rebates by reducing the assessed value of the property 50 percent for residential property and 20 percent for commercial property.

In exchange, the property owners who participate are required to go through a review process with the city before making any building alterations that might impact its historic character. They can opt out of the program after the first 10 years they are in it, and every five years thereafter, but will then have to repay, with interest, all of their tax rebates.

The ordinance also provides for increased zoning flexibility and creates an unfounded loan program for restoration projects.

Council member Greg Perry said the lack of strong incentives comes down to an issue of funding.

"I'm not sure we want to close a library or cut fire (services) to do historic preservation," he said.

Perry was the lone council member who opposed the council's decision to ask staff for a professional inventory of the city's historic resources, a nod to the flaws in the creation of the original historic register. The register of 93 properties remains a sore point with those who found themselves on it after passage of an interim emergency ordinance in April 2002, created specifically to prevent the demolition of the building at 902 Villa St.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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