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Historic commission reviews draft preservation plan, seeks broader public input
Summary
Commissioners discussed an 88-page draft historic preservation plan, flagged omissions of National Register properties, and recommended broader public distribution and a public meeting; no formal vote was taken.
At its March 20, 2025 meeting, the Middletown City Historic Commission discussed a draft historic preservation plan and urged staff to widen public outreach and clarify content before finalizing the document.
Staff said commissioners were forwarded the draft and that Assistant Director Luis Rodriguez of the Community and Economic Development Department was present to answer questions. Commissioners raised that some properties individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places were omitted from the draft—for example, the Manchester Hotel and the Dan Snyder Ford building—and asked whether omissions were intentional or due to photo-selection and length constraints.
Commissioners said the draft currently emphasizes the most visually flattering photographs and reduced the number of featured buildings from an earlier draft of roughly 14—16 to about 10. Staff said the draft runs about 88 pages and needs revisions to definitions to match the development code, proper citations, and possibly a comprehensive list of National Register and locally recognized landmarks.
Members suggested wider distribution channels and easier access: posting on the city website, a dedicated page or public-survey-style page, a Dropbox or similar file service for the large document, printed copies or an addendum with a blank Certificate of Appropriateness form, and inclusion of a QR code to ease access. Suggested outreach targets included downtown historic districts, the Historical Society, Heritage Ohio (which has already reviewed the draft), the Chamber of Commerce for distribution to realtors and builders, Prism (organization), the Oakland District, South Main and the Highlands neighborhoods, and architects.
Commissioners discussed using a regular meeting as a public comment forum, with the draft circulated two weeks prior to that meeting. Staff said the updated draft had not yet been sent to all historic districts and asked commissioners for groups to include on the distribution list. No formal motion or vote was recorded; the exchange was recorded as discussion and direction to staff to collect comments and return a revised draft for further review.
