savanah.htm

JAMES K REAP

Historic preservation and local government

The uS federal government leads by setting standards and providing economic incentives, while the power to protect resides in the most local level of government.

Jonesborough, Tennessee's historic district, has kept its residential charm through nt regulations.

'All politics is local,' declared Thomas 'Tip' O'Neill, a long-time Speaker of the House of representatives. Likewise, preservationists working at the city and county level have a corollary: 'All preservation is political, and all preservation is local.' While that is certainly an exaggeration, it is at the local level where the greatest power to protect specific historic properties and districts exists.

The movement to preserve historic places actually began at the local level. First came private initiatives in the 19th century to save important landmarks, followed by government efforts to acquire key historic buildings. In the late 1920s the City of Charleston, South Carolina, was the first local government to adopt a law for the protection of an entire historic district. Many local governments in subsequent decades followed this approach. The US government did not enact comprehensive preservation legislation until passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. even that effort resulted from a study sponsored by the US Conference of Mayors to help formulate a national approach.

The US constitution is based on the premise that power should not be concentrated in one person or group, or in one place. The Tenth Amendment specifies that 'the powers not delegated to the United States (ie the federal government), nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.' Given this limitation, the federal approach has generally been one of establishing nationally recognised standards and providing incentives for their adoption and implementation.

The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) created a partnership among federal, state and local governments. The 1980 amendments to the NHPA further expanded the partnership concept by certifying local government preservation programmes that meet federal standards. These 'certified local governments' can receive specially dedicated grant funds and enjoy an enhanced participation in the administrative processes under the act. One of the NHPA's most important tools, the National register of Historic Places, recognised properties of local significance for the first time at the national level. Other federal laws have included these locally significant properties in providing grants, tax incentives and protection under federal environmental laws. However, listing in the register does not prevent a private owner from doing whatever he wishes with his property - including demolition - unless a federal licence or federal funds are involved. That protection is available only at the local level.

Among the most important powers traditionally reserved to the states is the 'police power', a concept inherited from english law. This is the authority of the state to regulate, protect and promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare. exercising this power, states have enacted laws regulating the use of land and have delegated some of their authority to local governments. Many local governments, in turn, have enacted local zoning and historic preservation laws. The US Supreme Court held in the 1978 case, Penn Central Transportation Co v New York City, that the power to protect buildings and areas with special historic, architectural or cultural significance was a

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Once threatened with demolition, this former women's institute was rehabilitated according to locally administered guidelines.

legitimate use of the police power. Local governments may regulate what an owner does with an historic property - even strictly - as long as the owner retains some economically viable use of the property.

Local governments are free to craft their own preservation schemes, based on what their citizens and elected officials deem worthy of preserving in their community and how best to go about it. Some communities do very little. Others have extensive regulations and invest substantial sums of money in preserving community character. economic forces, of course, have a great impact on a community's approach, and preservation efforts become much harder when the developmental value of the underlying land exceeds its income-producing capability.

The specific scope and content of local preservation legislation vary considerably due to the differences among the states in the authority delegated to local governments. Generally, though, preservation ordinances regulate changes in designated buildings and sites if proposed changes would negatively affect or destroy the character of designated properties or

districts. Over 2,000 local governments across the USA have enacted some form of historic preservation ordinance.

In spite of differences, most communities experience similar problems including resistant property owners, lack of sufficient funding and staff, and development pressures. However, there is help for commissions from state governments and a national non-governmental organisation, the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions, which provides training, publications, technical assistance and a bi-annual forum for exchange of ideas.

In a typical community, the primary actors on the government side are the preservation commission and professional staff. Commissions generally comprise citizens of the community with interest and experience in historic preservation, including professionals such as architects, historians and planners. Their primary responsibilities are recommending which properties or districts should be designated by the local governing body, and then reviewing proposals from owners of designated properties who wish to make changes to the properties that could alter their character. Other powers and duties often include responsibility for public education and information about preservation and a wide variety of activities from managing conservation easement programs to administering historic sites.

Professional staff assigned by the local government generally supports commissions, but many small communities provide no full-time staff. In those cases, administrative responsibilities fall on the appointed commission with the assistance of a city clerk. Often preservation staff are part of a planning or zoning department, but they may have a separate office. Their roles include advising property owners, receiving and processing applications, issuing notices and reviewing proposed work.

This historic downtown in Hallowell, Maine has experienced a business revival since receiving historic district designation.

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Commissions adopt rules and procedures for conducting business as well as design standards and guidelines by which to judge the appropriateness of a proposal for demolition, alteration or new construction affecting designated properties. They conduct quasi-judicial proceedings to evaluate the request of a property owner against the criteria set out in the ordinance and design guidelines. Decisions are made by a majority of commission members although, in the case of minor works or routine matters, commissions may delegate decisions to professional staff. While most commissions have the ability to approve or deny applications from property owners based on these criteria, some commissions are advisory only.

Most ordinances are biased toward approval of applications, with language authorising preservation commissions to turn down a request only if proposal will have a substantial negative impact on the historic structure or district in which it is located. Proposals that pass muster with a commission or staff receive a 'certificate of appropriateness' which allows the owner to proceed with obtaining necessary building permits for the project.

Commissions also frequently have the ability to vary strict compliance with standards if the result would be economic hardship and as long as the overall goal of preservation is achieved. Many communities have adopted requirements for affirmative maintenance of designated properties to prevent owners for allowing them to deteriorate, and commissions and staff often have a role in enforcing these provisions.

Appeals from the decisions of preservation commissions generally go to another administrative board such as a board of zoning appeals, the local governing authority itself (mayor and city council or county commission), or directly to the courts. Fines and penalties are assessed for violation of ordinance provisions. These can include a court order to demolish inappropriate work completed without a permit or require reconstruction of features improperly removed. An owner who has violated an ordinance may also be denied a building permit for a number of years. In rare cases, a recalcitrant property owner might be jailed. However, this penalty is unlikely to be imposed.

Since the success of preservation efforts generally depends on favourable economics, many communities provide in addition to direct appropriations, loans, grants, property tax exemptions or abatement and other taxing mechanisms, such as special tax districts and tax increment financing. These, combined with approaches such as façade and conservation easements, help to provide a good basis for community preservation.

Historic preservation efforts can often be significantly enhanced when a preservation ordinance is closely coordinated with other land use laws and regulations such as those governing comprehensive planning, zoning and subdivision regulations, as well as other government programmes such as transportation and housing. Many communities throughout the USA have developed formal written preservation

This street in Cambridge, Massachusetts shows the city's dedication to preservation as well as commerce.

plans, reconciling in one document all of the policies and procedures regarding the community's historic resources. While it is important to have a stand-alone local preservation plan to articulate the preservation goals and objectives of the community, it is even more important that those goals and objectives are incorporated in broader community planning. This helps ensure consideration by other programmes such as land use, transportation, and development.

Georgia was one of the first states to adopt growth management legislation with the passage of the Georgia Planning Act of 1989. This law requires each local government in the state to prepare a long-range comprehensive plan. The plan is intended to identify community goals and objectives as well as determine how the local government proposes to achieve them. Ideally it is to be used in government decision-making on a daily basis. Failure to have an approved plan can result in the loss of state funding for a range of activities. While the scope of growth management is much broader than historic preservation, almost all such legislation includes historic preservation as a goal and/or a required planning element.

An historic district of Savannah, Georgia

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