tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990818184521452285.post7883868210778925419..comments2023-10-22T08:07:49.340-05:00Comments on Oakhurst Historic District: To be honest and frank the more we learn about the historic district designation and speak to Oakhurst residents on either side of the proposal, iUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990818184521452285.post-16140951020205384312007-05-21T16:57:00.000-05:002007-05-21T16:57:00.000-05:00Why have you not included link to City Ordinance S...Why have you not included link to City Ordinance Section 58-157 on this blog and discussed that repairs may be required and penalties imposed if repairs not made?<BR/><BR/>Why do you state that property rights will not be restricted if Oakhurst becomes LHD when they certainly will be?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990818184521452285.post-84449347209104488072007-05-09T07:06:00.000-05:002007-05-09T07:06:00.000-05:00I really appreciate your comments. Many of the qu...I really appreciate your comments. Many of the questions you pose are addressed on the blog and have been discussed in community meetings and will continue to be discussed in future meetings. <BR/> <BR/>Throughout much of the early 2000s there has been conversation throughout Decatur regarding the loss of affordable housing and the appropriate zoning of residential housing in such a heavily populated urban environment. <BR/> <BR/>Much of this discussion culminated in a meeting with the City of Decatur and organized residents of Great Lakes Neighborhood, Winnona Park Neighborhood, and Oakhurst Neighborhood asking them to address many of the issues associated with in-fill that was not compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. The City of Decatur through a public meeting changed the zoning laws and assigned a task force to look into making future changes to the zoning laws. This meeting occurred in 11/2005.<BR/> <BR/>While those discussions were taking place there were a number of neighbors throughout the neighborhood who were worried about more than in-fill housing and building heights. On 11/16/2005 a meeting was held at the Solarium. The meeting was held with members of the Decatur Preservation Alliance and former board members of Historic Preservation Commission. It was a well attended meeting. Information was given on the process of local historic district and questions were fielded from the audience for nearly 2 hours. There were handouts discussing frequently asked questions about historic preservation as well as a multitude of other information. Communication continued on this subject throughout the neighborhood and banter on the subject occurred on the listserv.<BR/> <BR/>Articles appeared in the Leaflet regarding the subject, both for and against, in March 2006, April 2006, and September 2006. <BR/> <BR/>Another community meeting was held on April 10, 2006 to discuss National Historic Register and other historic preservation options with the community. It was another well attended meeting. It was decided by the neighborhood not to pursue the listing.<BR/> <BR/>There were still many neighbors concerned about preservation and wanted to look into other options. After some research we landed on local historic preservation. Six residents began a campaign of door to door conversations with the neighborhood to see if there was any interest in such a pursuit. It was clear there was a lot of interest in a couple of concentrated areas. There were also people who were intrigued, but wanted more information.<BR/> <BR/>Further research showed that there was a distinct historical thread for the current boundaries of the proposed local historic district. Meade Train Station spurred the development of the original City of Oakhurst that included Mead Road through Winter Avenue. The South Decatur Trolley Line spurred development between W. College and Oakview around the same time. Additionally, these boundaries still have some of the most intact homes from the period. Therefore, it was determined that we had pretty high interest for local historic district within these boundaries that represented an important time in history for our community and City. <BR/> <BR/>What is now considered Oakhurst is not the original boundaries of the City of Oakhurst. No one is implying that they should not be considered Oakhurst today, but that is the history of the area.<BR/> <BR/>Door-to-door efforts to discuss the pursuit of local historic district and give information about districts continued until January of 2007 when the application was first made. We knew at the time of the application that the education of the neighborhood had just begun and we knew that many meetings and lots of information would be necessary. <BR/> <BR/>The Historic Preservation Commission asked us to reconsider our boundaries for historic reasons and we did. The new boundaries were accepted in March 2007.<BR/> <BR/>Since that time we have had community meetings on 4/11/2007 to discuss the local historic district in general. Another meeting on 4/25/2007 to begin to discuss design guidelines. Future meetings include 5/9/2007 design guidelines meeting, 5/16/2007 design guidelines meeting, 5/23/2007 general meeting with City of Decatur and several meetings in June (schedule should be available today) with the Historic Preservation Commission. <BR/> <BR/>It is true that as neighbors we will not all agree on this issue. But, only the neighbors can decide if it will rip them apart or not. This neighborhood has endured conflict in the past and remained a healthy community. I hope the discussion regarding local historic district will continue to be healthy and not turn into an insurmountable conflict. Education will continue and meetings will continue. In the end the decision on whether or not to have a local historic district will rest with the residents. <BR/> <BR/>Thank you for your input. Take care.Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03526453135306309224noreply@blogger.com