Geneva won’t pursue new historic district

There won’t be a new historic district in Geneva any time soon.

The Geneva City Council is inclined to put the brakes on creating a South Historic District, after residents of the area protested the idea en masse this month.

At Monday’s committee-of-the-whole meeting, the council voted 7-0 to remove the idea from the city’s 2017 Strategic Plan — Aldermen Dorothy Flanagan, Richard Marks and Ron Singer were absent.

The vote means the city’s historic preservation and community development staff will stop work on it if the council follows through with the official vote June 6.

The area was proposed for a historic district by people who attended workshops in 2006 to develop the strategic plan. Last fall, the city began studying the issue.

Residents of the area were invited to an informational meeting May 5. Owners of 33 properties attended, and at least two-thirds did not like the idea, according to Community Development Director Dick Untch. And of 16 surveys and written comments received since then, only one resident has spoken in favor, he said. Generally, they feared historic designation would lower their properties’ values and make them difficult to improve or sell, Untch said. They also just didn’t want more government regulation, or believe it was needed.

There are more than 140 properties in the area, which is bounded by Cheever Avenue, the Fox River, Fargo Boulevard and Meadows Road. It is residential except for the Kane County Government Center, and located in the city’s 5th Ward.

Hawley Lane residents protested their inclusion, because Hawley is a private road and their properties already have covenants and restrictions governing appearance and what can be built.

“If you wanted to see the historic splendor of my home, you wouldn’t be able to see it” because of the private road, Bruce Dienst said.

Fifth Ward Alderman Craig Maladra questioned how many truly historical houses there were in the area, estimating it couldn’t be more than a dozen.

Homes as young as 35 years are eligible to be considered historically “significant” under Geneva law. A building’s significance (and that of a neighborhood) can be determined by its materials, architecture, architect, builder, occupation by persons important to local or other history and history of events at the property.

For example, a former Geneva mayor and state legislator distantly related to the founder of Wells Fargo built a house on Elizabeth Place in the Mission Revival style, quite different from the Italianate and Greek Revival styles favored elsewhere in Geneva at the time. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, at the request of its then-owners.

Residents speaking at Monday’s meeting supported individual, voluntary efforts such as that.

First Ward Alderman Chuck Brown noted the Downtown Historic District was a grass-roots movement initiated by residents of the area, unlike this one.

Maladra said that when a person moves in to an existing historic district, they know the extra burden they are assuming, such as having to get permission from the city for exterior work.

“But is our desire for preservation such that we can in good conscience force such a responsibility on a neighborhood? I think not,” he said.