What Local Historic District DOES NOT do: · Does not regulate paint colors · Does not require repairs or renovations to be made · Does not increase taxes beyond normal increases for the City or County · Does not prevent additions · Does not prevent non-contributing homes from being demolished · Does not require use of historic materials or historic building methods · Does not require that you open you home to the public · Does not restrict routine maintenance of properties
What Local Historic District DOES do:
· Recognizes that Oakhurst has a distinctive historic character important to the overall character of the City of Decatur
· Encourages creative and compatible development with historic areas
· Requires that a Certificate of Appropriateness be obtained for exterior changes to contributing properties, demolition of buildings, and new construction.
· Applies only to major renovations to the exterior of your home. Interior renovations are not restricted.
The Historic Preservation Commission will recommend a certain district for approval by the City Commission. If someone wants to be added later, they will have to follow the same public process that we are going through now. If it is a small, contiguous group of property owners that want to be included under the existing ordinances and guidelines, they would just go through the public hearing and notification process.
So, yes you can be, but there is a specific process to follow.
2 comments:
just wondering how they determined the properties to be included in the district. There are lots of properties beyond the commerical district that seem to fit in with the description of what you are tring to preserve.
This has been a long process and really was determined by resident interest. It is true that much of of the Oakhurst residential properties fall within the definition of contributing property as written in the proposed guidelines. In October of 2005 a meeting was held to discuss local historic district (merits and pitfalls) at the Solarium. From there effort was made to connect large groups of residents interested in pursuing a local historic district. Strong support and effort began to gravitate to the current proposed district. The proposed district represents a contiguous group of streets with a high percentage of contributing properties and a written history that binds them. There is an opportunity for non-contiguous streets to annex into the district once it is approved. However, I must point out that there is no plan or way to force annexation of the entire neighborhood. You can contact Amanda Thompson with the City Manager's office for additional information on this subject. Our group would be happy to help any resident that would like to be part of the local historic district. We chose the name Oakhurst Historic District to try and encourage one district in the neighborhood as opposed to several individual districts. I would like your street address so I can properly include your comment in the public record.
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