Advocates seek Naperville council support for historic preservation plan

The Naperville City Council will have to decide if it wants to expand the city’s historic preservation efforts before pursuing recommendations from a local advocacy group, according to a city manager’s memo.

Earlier this year, Naperville Preservation Inc. put out a study that showed that Naperville is lagging behind similar communities when it comes to preserving its historic structures.

The report, called “Progress Through Preservation,” was shared with city staff and council members in the spring. Since then, the nonprofit has asked the city to adopt some of its recommendations, and the city’s Historic Preservation Commission has signaled it would like to formally review the report.

Now, Naperville Preservation plans on approaching the council on Wednesday with a formal request that it seriously consider the plan and direct the Historic Preservation Commission to officially review it.

“We feel that consideration of our plan, along with the proposed increase in staff time and training, will lead to enhanced protections of our historic buildings and places that we all in Naperville value,” Naperville Preservation President Bill Simon said.

One data point the study found was that when compared to 29 peer communities, Naperville had one of the lowest number of landmarked buildings. Currently, Naperville has six landmarked buildings while cities like Evanston, Aurora and St. Charles all had numbers in the double or triple digits.

To address the issue, the report laid out a number of recommendations. The first would be to increase staffing resources and training for historic preservation efforts.

“The response is always that we don’t have staff time,” Simon said. “The city doesn’t have staff time available to look at the plan, so that’s why we believe that the first step is to increase the staff time, and then also to make sure that the commissioners and the staff all have the benefit of training so that they can evaluate how to move forward.”

Currently, the city has one assistant planner in the Transportation, Engineering and Development (TED) department who dedicates 15% of their time to Historic Preservation Commission activities, the memo said. Naperville Preservation’s plan recommends that at least one full-time city employee dedicate 50% of their time to the topic.

The city plans on adding three new full-time employees to the TED department next year. While none of those positions are specifically for historic preservation, the possible addition of three new people could allow for the reallocation of more staff time to historic preservation.

However, the memo notes it would be at least 18 months before city staff can reassess their workload and determine if there is capacity to increase staffing resources for historic preservation — an answer Simon said was “disappointing.”

“The Thursday memo implies that it would take 18 months for this request to be acted upon,” he said. “Since we have been having a dialogue with staff for over a year, we hope that the council considers placing a higher priority on this so that the community can benefit from the enhancements in a reasonable time frame.”

The nonprofit is also suggesting that staff members and Historic Preservation Commission members receive training through the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions, which works with local groups and city workers across the country.

Other suggestions include creating financial incentives for the preservation of older structures and increasing penalties for the demolition of neglected buildings.

A preliminary assessment in the memo indicated that while some efforts like financial incentives would likely have high staffing and cost impacts for the city, others like penalty increases would not require as much demand. Some of the suggestions, like offering annual workshops on how to landmark buildings, could be undertaken by Naperville Preservation Inc.

While the council has not yet formally taken a stance on the recommendations, two council members at last week’s budget workshop meeting — Benny White and Patrick Kelly — signaled interest in at least increasing staffing levels to better support historic preservation.

“This is really about the plan and the fact that the (Historic Preservation Commission) wanted to see the plan,” Simon said. “They voted on it unanimously, so … we believe that the city council should consider their request and then get their recommendations, and then we can move forward from there.”

cstein@chicagotribune.com