The Historic Preservation Advisory Board spent its May 20 meeting working through how to sequence three major projects that have become entangled in their development. Deputy Director Rebecca Harbage presented the challenge: the city is simultaneously creating a new local landmark program, updating design standards for the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District, and revising historic preservation code sections. Because these projects overlap significantly, staff needed board guidance on which pieces to tackle first.
The board ultimately endorsed a phased approach, dubbed Option 3A. The city will begin by defining what qualifies as a local landmark and how nominations would work, allowing the Lakota Group to continue updating NCOD design standards in parallel. Code revisions addressing demolition will be prioritized for earlier action. Consultant Adrienne Burke of the Community Planning Collaborative walked the board through draft landmark criteria, emphasizing that flexibility is essential—programs requiring sites to meet multiple criteria tend to exclude deserving properties. The board tested these criteria against hypothetical examples, including Peet's Hill as a potential landscape landmark and clusters of historic homes identified during walking tours.
Commissioners and board members also raised questions about how landmark designations would interact with underlying zoning and whether simplified local inventory forms could document character-defining features. Chair Chelsea Holling stressed the importance of thorough documentation. The board lost quorum partway through the discussion but indicated staff had received sufficient direction to move forward.