Ordinanace ----quote from SHPO
Lorraine Weckwert
Last night I referenced something I remembered reading in a SHPO communication. I found it this morning and will share it with you." A model ordinance is available on-line at http://www.michigan.gove/hal/0,1607-160-17449_18638_21884-599512--,00,html. I tell communities that a good ordinance is good to have on the books even if you don't establish a district immediately. A good ordinance gives local elected officials some powers to check development that would harm historic resources even without an established district. This is a good power for local officials to have if preservation is important to a community. Further, it should be noted that over 90% of Michigan's applications for work within local historic districts are
approved the first time they are submitted."
I am having copies made for the Above-Ground Survey Field Form and will see that each who has volunteered will get these in the next day or two. The form is for the most part self-explanatory. However, there are some areas that will probably need to be edited by me such as "historic name" and "date built". If you know, or can gather that information from your survey, great; if not I will add to your survey sheets when you turn them in.
"property type" will be "commercial" unless you come upon a residence in your survey areas. I will assign each of the surveyors with an area for which they will be responsible.
This assignment can only be done by walking, don't try to do this from the car, and Hey, the weather is lovely this week!!!
Lorraine |
Gary Wilson
In response to my questions about whether we should expand the proposed district boundaries to include the churches on the north end of Washington Street and the railroad district on the south end, Amy Arnold of the State Historic Preservation Office responded as included at the bottom of this message. NR Bulletin 21L is especially helpful in sorting out what to include and exclude from the district. The bulletin says, in part:
Select boundaries that define the limits of the eligible resources. Such resources usually include the immediate surroundings and encompass the appropriate setting. However, exclude additional, peripheral areas that do not directly contribute to the property's significance as buffer or as open space to separate the property from surrounding areas. Areas that have lost integrity because of changes in cultural features or setting should be excluded when they are at the periphery of the eligible resources. When such areas are small and surrounded by eligible resources, they may not be excluded, but are included as noncontributing resources of the property. That is, do not select boundaries which exclude a small noncontributing island surrounded by contributing resources; simply identify the noncontributing resources and include them within the boundaries of the property.
According to these guidelines, and after consulting with Janet Kreger, of the MHPN, I propose we consider the following north and south boundaries for the district.
The northern boundary should be extended to Williams Street, including the churches which are integral to the history of downtown. They are not eligible to employ the tax credits, but they are definitely contributing cultural features that enrich and help define the historic downtown area. These very significant historic churches should serve as the northern “anchors” of our district. Unfortunately, St. Johns, a block further on, is entirely isolated in a block of residential homes and one modern commercial building.
The southern boundary should stop at Comstock Street, as nothing remains of the old city between Comstock and the river, which serves as our natural boundary. Janet Kreger advises that districts almost never cross a river, and the SRI, train station and historic buildings south of the river should be established, if at all, as a separate district.--Gary
Gary Wilson
Director of Alumni and Donor Relations
Office of Advancement Services
University Advancement
Michigan State University
300 Spartan Way
East Lansing, MI 48824-1005
Voice 517-884-1047
Fax 517-432-1129
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From Amy Arnold, SHPO
Re boundaries, in 2002 the SHPO adopted rules which state that local historic district study committees must follow the criteria and guidelines developed for the National Register of Historic Places by the US Secretary of the Interior. Those rules say that you cannot exclude a "donut hole" of resources within a district for political reasons, because they are non-historic, whatever reason. You have to include them and call then non-contributing. The advantage is that the HDC reviews any work to those buildings. So if someone wanted to demolish and replace them, HDC would have to approve it. If they wanted to side them in vinyl, the HDC would have to approve. If they wanted to add ten stories to the buildings, HDC would have to approve it. What happens to that block of non-contributing buildings inside the distrit will affect the integrity of the district overall so it is important that the HDC have authority over any proposed projects just as they do over the historic resources in the district.
Re the RR station, it is more difficult to answer without seeing it, but if it is just one block then you could include it and call them non-contributing resources. It would be important to connect the history of the RR station to the development of downtown when writing the significance statement. If it is a larger area than one block, you could cosider doing a separate district fo the RR station resources if they meet the criteria for eligibility for the NR on there own merit.
Take a look at the publications which will explain how to assess boundaries: National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation on page 5-6 it disccuses district boundaries. NR Bulletin 16A: Guidelines for completing the NR Form see pages 56-57 for info on boundary selection. NR Bulletin 21L Defining Boundaries for NR Properties pp 1-4 THe NR bulletins are on line at http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/publications/bulletins.htm