December 1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

had never even applied for a Certificate of Appropriateness. Any hardship they had suffered had other causes. Mr. Robert Shafer, who had drafted the petition for secession and submitted it to Councilman Soderberg, then spoke. He said he only wished to delete the two - block area between Leer and Vernon streets from the district; he had no interest in the rest of it. He compared the historical quality of these two blocks with that of the rest of the district. Citing Commission ratings from the summary report, he indicated the relatively low historical value of the houses, mostly of which were heavily altered. He cited two cases of hardship. Mr. Brink, he said, had spent an extra $5000 bringing the siding on his property up to standards. Mrs. Buss had been barred from demolishing a deteriorated greenhouse on her property. He mentioned a 1987 Supreme Court ruling which put into question the Commission's right, as a regulatory agency, to dictate to property -owners the kinds of repairs they can make. He said the Commission might find it easier to approve the secession than to argue the case in court. He questioned the worth and availability of tax credits and funding that come with membership in a historic district. Mr. Holycross stated that the entire district was eligible for tax credits. Mr. Shafer said no one in the district had applied for these benefits; no one wanted them. Homeowners could not get tax credits. Investors could but they were not interested. He repeated the arguments that: 1) historic alterations were expensive and 2) 17 of the 18 property -owners in the two -block area had signed the petition to secede. Mr. Oxian said only 8 certificates of appropriateness in this two -block area were on file; all had been granted. He had the list with him. A complete record of all C of A's had been kept, as was legally required. Further, any opinion Mr. Shafer had regarding the value of tax credits was opinion only, not fact. Mr. Brink claimed that owners neglected repairs because they were discouraged by the high cost of meeting standards. Mr. Oxian told Mr. Brink that he had been penalized for violating procedures; he had applied for neither a building permit nor a C of A when he contracted to side his building. Mr. Holycross then presented the staff report on the