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Z — Residents lose,2nd request to leave historical district By DON PORTER Tribune Staff Writer SOUTH BEND — To use a. re- cently popular phrase, it was deja vu all over again this week for members of the Common Council. In addition to having to deal with resurrected requests for a medical. clinic near Michiana Community Hospital and for the city to buy the Opelika Building in the East Race area, the legislators again were asked to aid secession efforts by. some residents of the Lincoln Way East Historic District. However, on an 8-1 vote, the council rejected the request of 17 of the 18 property owners between Leer and Vernon Streets to be al- lowed to opt out of the historical area. Only, Ann Puzzello, DAth, sup- ported the request. . The denial follows a similar un- successful secession effort in 1988 by property owners in the eastern- most end of the district. They said they never wanted to be a part of it in the first place. This week's rejection came after representatives of the Area Plan Commission of St. Joseph County and the city's Historic Preserva- tion Commission urged that the dis- trict be kept intact. Letting some residents along Lincoln Way out of their district could have serious repercussions for the other historical districts in the city, cautioned John Byorni, senior planner with the APC. The 17 properties represent half the homes in the district, which was established in 1984. The Lincoln Way district is the only one in the city currently eligi- ble for inclusion on the National Register :of Historic Sites, said Fred Holycross, the HPC director. If the district boundaries were changed, the remaining property owners would lose possible federal tax credits for renovating their buildings, he said. A new request would have to be submitted to have the revised district recertified, he added. . The homes in the Lincoln Way district, which runs along the south side of the highway from Miami Street to Vernon Street, were built between 1890 and 1925 and are a significant example of middle-class houses .of that period, Holycross said. "It would seriously compromise things if districts can be changed at the whim of the moment," Holy - cross said. "It would be a disser- vice to the remaining property owners." Instead of seceding, the disaf- fected property owners should seek to have guidelines for homes in the district modified, Holycross said. Each district can establish its own guidelines for remodeling and other improvements, he added. It also may be possible to set up differing standards for different portions of the district, added Council President Stephen J. Luecke, D -1st. "The residents obviously don't want to be part of the district," - Puzzello said. Puzzello cast the lone vote to let them leave it. None of the residents attended this week's council meeting to elab- orate on why they want to secede. Voting against letting them go were Luecke; Cleophus Washing- ton, D -2nd; Roland Kelly; D -3rd; Lincs "Lee", Slavinskas, R -5th; Thomas Zakrzewski, D -6th; and Sean Coleman, Loretta Duda and Eugene Ladewski, all D -at large. De Cu: von opl Cof tIR the 5 C f the cis rec Fit Pal the fes vel hog not Th( tior PC S T ti F Z