City to Voice Concern About Historic Listing

Concerned about the prospect of Old Towne being in the National Register of Historic Places, the City Council has decided to draft a letter to the state.

But council members stopped short of asking the state’s Historic Resources Commission, which will decide whether to recommend Old Towne’s listing to the federal government, to delay a Feb. 14 hearing on the issue.

Residents learned earlier this month of the Old Towne Preservation Assn.’s application to put the mile-square historic district on the register. Should the National Park Service accept Old Towne for the listing, it would be the largest such district recognized by the state, state historian Maryln Bourne Lortie said.

That prospect did not sit well with owners of some of the 1,700 buildings in the historic district. But federal regulations explicitly deny local governments a vote in the matter. To veto the listing, 51% of the homeowners would have to send notarized letters of protest to the state commission.

Cut out of any authoritative role, the council members voted 3 to 1 Tuesday to detail their concerns in a formal letter. They said they fear that being listed might force the city to do more extensive environmental reviews when Old Towne homeowners want to tear down buildings.

“When you receive an honor, there’s also a responsibility,” Mayor Joanne Coontz said.

Councilman Michael Alvarez abstained from the discussion because of a conflict of interest. And Councilman Dan Slater, who voted against the plan, berated his colleagues on the council.

“There is a group in this city who have fought preservation every step of the way,” Slater said. “This is the point where we have to take a stand and say we are for preservation, we are for Old Towne or we are not. To do anything to stop this [nomination] would say we were not.”