Historic preservation in Geneva draws residents' rants
Historic preservation has been great for Geneva. Don't force us to do it.
That was the message speaker after speaker gave to Geneva aldermen Tuesday night as consideration of an updated historic-preservation ordinance began.
Comments lasted almost two hours.
Aldermen did not discuss the matter because they had agreed at the outset to adjourn the meeting at 10 p.m. and comments from people in person and in email ran until then. The discussion will continue at a special June 1 meeting.
The main objection from many speakers was what is not in the proposed revised ordinance: Requirements for property-owner consent to designate a property as a local landmark, and a neighborhood's consent to be designated as a historic district.
"Why is owner consent such a scary thing?" resident Christine Bourdage said. And if people are afraid owners are going to ruin properties with exterior changes, there is another solution: "The best way to extinguish this fear is for people to buy the properties," she said.
The proposed ordinance would automatically stop the formation of a historic or conservation district if 51 percent of the property owners in the district officially oppose it. Bourdage and the other speakers want that changed to require that 51 percent of owners agree before a historic district can be formed.
Larry Gies Jr. lives in an area that was once proposed to be designated a historic district. Neighbors protested that plan and it was dropped.
He said he sees the value of the current historic district, which encompasses much of the downtown, but he thinks owner consent should be required for any new districts.
Geneva homeowners have proved they can maintain beautiful old properties without the rules that come with a historic district.
"The risk of a property owner making a mistake is much less than the risk of us as a community forcing something upon someone," Gies said.
Geneva has had a historic-preservation ordinance, which doesn't require owner consent, since 1982. The law was last rewritten in 1995.
Mayor Kevin Burns said he and aldermen have received hundreds of postcards, as well as letters, emails and phone calls, on the topic.