The view south from 8th Street along North Jefferson Street (June 16, 2024)
A view of Jefferson Street (June 16, 2024)
A special meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) has been scheduled for next Monday at 5 p.m. in a City Hall conference room to consider a single matter: a proposal to designate about 125 acres in the east-central part of the city as a conservation area.
The HPC only has a recommendation to the City Council. The City Council will make the final decision on the establishment of a nature reserve.
The proposal calls for most of the Green Acres neighborhood to be designated as a conservation area.
At the regular HPC meeting last Thursday (August 8), the review of the application for inclusion in the conservation district on Monday gave rise to some discussion among HPC members.
The meeting scheduled for Monday is not marked as a special HPC meeting on the HPC calendar, but is marked “Green Acres Nomination HPC Vote.”
On Thursday, the idea that a vote should take place as early as Monday, just 14 days after the motion was submitted, was publicly criticized via the video conferencing platform Zoom.
Over the Zoom connection, Caylan Evans of Bloom Design + Build told commissioners he was speaking on behalf of three property owners in the proposed conservation area. Their main concern, Evans said, was the fact that the HPC is a votenot just a meeting to hear the proposal – although the city ordinance governing the conservation area application process gives the HPC 90 days to act.
From BMC 8.08.010: “The Commission shall make its recommendation within ninety days of receipt of a petition.”
“Why is an immediate vote for or against this district so urgent when we haven’t even had a dialogue or looked at the petition in depth at this point?” Evans asked. He continued, “Why is the (HPC) rushing to take a vote at the first meeting?”
The urgency arises from the desire of some HPC members to temporarily protect five houses on Jefferson Street from demolition before the August 14 demolition deadline for the houses expires.
When a demolition permit is requested for a “contributing” building on the Historic Resources Inventory, there is an automatic 90-day demolition delay to give the HPC an opportunity to assign a historic designation to the building. In the case of the Green Acres application, however, neighborhood residents have initiated the process to designate a much larger area than just the five houses.
For the five affected houses, the standard 90-day deadline has been extended by an additional 30 days, making August 14 the final day. The publication of the demolition delays – the HPC’s green light to demolish the houses – has been on the HPC’s agenda since late April, but has been postponed each time.
HPC staff’s recommendation for each of the homes is to allow their demolition. The homes are small, single-story residences built between the 1940s and early 1950s – minimalist bungalows or ranches with modest alterations that reflect the common mid-century home style.
If the HPC votes to recommend the conservation area to the City Council, it can place the houses under temporary protection until the City Council votes on the conservation area one way or another.
Last Thursday, the HPC also postponed approval of the demolition delays, but not before hearing from Bloomington resident Sarah Alexander, who spoke in favor of approving the demolition of the five houses.
Alexander said that if every building in Bloomington were consecrated simply because important people lived there, Bloomington would “cease to function as a living and growing entity serving the people of today and tomorrow, and instead ossify into little more than a temple complex for the ghosts of the past.”
On Thursday, HPC President John Saunders told Evans, speaking via Zoom link, that the property owners represented by Evans had the opportunity to attend one of the applicants’ three required neighborhood meetings to voice their concerns. Saunders also encouraged those represented by Evans to attend Monday’s meeting to voice their concerns.
Space for Monday’s meeting could be difficult because of high public interest and unavailability of City Council rooms – the Planning Commission is holding its regular monthly meeting at the same time. So the Hooker Room on the second floor was reserved for the event – it was the largest room available, said Historic Preservation Program Manager Noah Sandweiss.
The agenda for Monday’s meeting includes a link to a Zoom connection.
Last Thursday, Sandweiss briefed commissioners on some logistical issues, such as how many signatures the petition contains. The petition contains 73 signatures, including 25 from renters and 48 from homeowners, representing a total of 59 households, 38 of which are owner-occupied, Sandweiss said.
Based on The B Square’s manual count of points on a map, there are over 240 properties in the proposed conservation area.
Sandweiss’ report to the HPC is also included in the meeting documents. His recommendation is in favor of the nature conservation district, and the HPC should recommend a nature conservation district to the city council.
Sandweiss based his recommendation on criteria from the city ordinance.
According to Sandweiss, Green Acres meets the following three criteria:
1) Historical:
A) Has significant character, interest or value as part of the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the city, state or nation; or is associated with a person who has played a significant role in local, state or national history; or
…
C) Illustrates the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the community.
2) Architectural:
….
G) Illustrates the built environment in a period of history characterized by a distinctive architectural style
After three years, a conservation district is elevated to a historic district unless a majority of property owners object to the elevation. In a historic district, all exterior changes are subject to review by the city’s HPC. In a conservation district, only the moving or demolition of buildings or the construction of new buildings are subject to review by the HPC.
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