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Planning Department highlights 2024 work and HPC strategic-plan progress
Summary
The Bowling Green Planning Department presented its 2024 annual report to the Historic Preservation Commission and reviewed the commission's 2022 strategic plan, noting progress on BoomTown/North Maple initiatives and items remaining to pursue.
The Bowling Green Planning Department presented a 40-page annual report to the Historic Preservation Commission and identified 2024 highlights for the commission2C including work on the sign project and the North Maple district.
The report matters because it frames the HPC27s workload and shows which strategic goals are advancing toward formal local and national recognition.
Heather, Planning Department staff, told the commission she had emailed the report and brought one copy for members to review and that zoning permits remain among the department27s largest tasks. She highlighted the HPC27s strategic-plan accomplishments, noting the sign project and work on the North Maple Street district. "I gave you, or highlights and pages where it talks about, the Historic Preservation Commission," Heather said, pointing members to page 24 for HPC actions and the strategic-plan items the department had tracked.
Commission members discussed specific strategic-plan goals: gaining mayoral endorsement for expanding the BoomTown historic area; listing city-owned buildings such as the police building and Wood County Courthouse; and pursuing additional local listings for individual historic houses. Commissioner John Sampen said the commission had listed two individual houses to date and that inventory work in BoomTown and Main Street remains a continuing task.
Members also considered whether to prioritize additional local designations or seek an amendment to the National Register boundary for the BoomTown area. Commissioners noted irregularities in the national-register map around West Wooster Street and discussed the possibility of new surveys to support an amendment. "You can amend the national register," one member said after recounting a session at Heritage Ohio that described the process and likely evidence needs.
The department and commission identified outreach and documentation tasks that remain, including hiring grant-funded workers for inventories (not yet accomplished) and continuing community workshops and publicity. Heather noted that plaques and signs installed in July 2024 were a visible result of the commission27s work.
Members asked to consider potential new local districts, with North Maple and other small areas named as candidates for follow-up research. The commission agreed to keep strategic-plan revision and next steps on future agendas.
Looking ahead, the commission set its next meeting for March 25 and agreed to continue coordinating with the Planning Department on surveys, nominations, and public outreach projects.
