Thursday, June 21, 2007

CRO Will Add A Staffer

Yesterday, I told you about some of the work of the City’s Planning Commission; today’s note is about Rollin Stanley’s other commission, the Preservation Board.

Like the Planning Commission’s meetings, the Preservation Board’s agendas and meetings are good sources of information about things going on in some of the City’s neighborhoods. Although much of the Preservation Board’s meetings are taken up by appeals of decisions made by the staff of the Cultural Resources Office, one of the Board’s duties is to review rehab, construction, and demolition projects proposed in the City’s historic districts. The reviews are sometimes lively, and always informative.

The creation of a couple of new local historic districts in the City has dramatically increased the workload of the CRO staff — and the agenda of the Preservation Board. In recognition of this heavier workload, the Board of Aldermen and the Board of E&A have added a General Revenue-funded Historic Preservation Planner position to the CRO’s staff. Local historic districts protect property values by ensuring that work done on historic buildings meets historic code requirements. Timely reviews of such work make it more likely that property owners will use the process and comply with the ordinances.