Historic Commission reviews revised preservation plan, requests local examples and signage guidance

The Middletown City Historic Commission on June 19 heard a presentation from consultant Liz Fields of McBride Bridal Clarion on a revised draft Historic Preservation and Revitalization Plan and offered detailed edits and policy-focused feedback.

"It's been quite the journey, but we're glad that we're getting close to the end," Liz Fields said as she summarized structural edits and new material in the draft, including a reorganized introduction, a clearer description of the certificate of appropriateness (COA) process, an expanded section on national and local designation, and a new implementation table. "We got a nice draft document, but we're always open to comments," she added.

Commissioners pressed for both editorial and substantive changes. Commissioner Roger Daniel asked for a more professional introductory paragraph with a separate callout box to summarize key points for casual readers, saying the plan should avoid requiring readers to "go fetch from the Internet" for central standards. Commissioner Gabe Scheinlein and other commissioners recommended the plan explicitly note historic assets already lost and include local "before-and-after"…