The Historic and Scenic Resources Preservation Commission on July 14 reviewed a draft outreach presentation for a proposed Historic Design Review Overlay and directed staff to remove meme-style images, simplify maps and produce one-sheet handouts ahead of community sessions.
The commission said the presentation should be clear for property owners and downtown businesses and avoid images that could be read as county endorsements of third-party memes.
Commissioners and staff discussed presentation tone and materials, and staff agreed to return to the commission with edited slides and simpler maps suitable for both on-screen and printed display.
"I made this, and then I know it's supposed to be kind of funny with, like, memes from Facebook, but people might get the wrong idea that we made or endorsed these memes and which we do not because they were not made by the county," said Paulina Pivak, senior planner, who prepared the draft presentation. Pivak proposed removing or replacing meme slides and narrowing examples that call out neighboring businesses.
Commissioners emphasized making outreach materials easy to understand. One commissioner suggested starting with examples of nearby towns without a historic overlay to show contrasts, and others recommended eliminating slides that single out local businesses.
Pivak said she would bring an edited version back to the commission: "I'll definitely just bring it back with those edits." She also said she will ask GIS to produce a simplified map of the overlay so that parcel boundaries are readable on smaller screens and on printed plots.
The commission discussed formats for outreach: a single-page handout summarizing the overlay and printable maps for a plotter so attendees can view maps in person. Commissioners recommended placing a one-page summary at the planning counter and using both printed maps and an on-screen presentation for various settings.
No formal vote was taken. The discussion resulted in direction to staff to edit the presentation, remove meme images, prepare a simplified one-page handout and refined GIS maps, and return the revised materials to the commission for further review.
The commission also noted outreach goals — to clarify where the overlay applies and to avoid creating a perception that the overlay would be punitive toward individual property owners — and agreed the edits should present preservation aims simply and accessibly.