Janesville commission reviews rewrite of zoning code sections that affect historic districts

The City of Janesville Historic Commission discussed a draft rewrite of the city's zoning and subdivision ordinances at its Sept. 16 meeting, focusing on how local historic-preservation regulations would be reorganized and updated.

Brian (Planning Division staff) said the city has engaged a consulting firm, Grama, and is preparing a new zoning chapter (proposed chapter 46) with a table of contents and draft provisions. "We did talk about this a little bit at your last meeting. But just to kind of recap, the city is in the process of rewriting the sub, excuse me, zoning and subdivision ordinances," Brian said, describing where historic-preservation provisions would be placed under the new code.

Under the draft, provisions now in the Historic Overlay District would be split across several places in the code. Some commission-related provisions would move to chapter 2 (administration), which would include a renamed body, the Historic Preservation Commission, and basic provisions about membership and qualifications. Provisions addressing designation of historic districts, structures and sites and the process for review of certificates of historic appropriateness are proposed for a separate article (Article 4). A separate draft (Article 5 in the materials presented to the commission) addresses a historic-preservation overlay district.

Brian told the commission the materials provided for the meeting included the current Historic Overlay District text and the draft overlay text so members could compare them. He said the draft also lists six locally regulated historic properties that would retain overlay status, and includes 12 other National Register of Historic Places districts that are currently not regulated by local overlay zoning. "We felt it beneficial to list those specifically in the ordinance," he said, noting that listing the National Register districts is intended to help property owners and prospective buyers understand which places are locally regulated and which are not.

The draft also adds explicit property-maintenance provisions for properties inside the historic district to give the building and housing divisions another tool to ensure upkeep. Brian said much of the current zoning ordinance dates to 1981 and the rewrite is an opportunity to incorporate best practices from other communities. He cautioned that the draft remains a work in progress: it will undergo Plan Commission and City Council review and the staff expects to hold public open houses before final action.

The commission discussed the proposed structure and asked staff for additional context, including whether the 12 National Register districts were created at the same time and whether the materials could show designation dates for those places. Brian said the dates shown for Courthouse Hill reflect the date the overlay district zoning designation was applied (May 14, 1990) and that for the other 12 the materials might show National Register listing dates instead.

The commission and staff agreed to continue reviewing the draft provisions and to expect further materials and presentations at upcoming commission and Plan Commission meetings in October. No formal action was taken on the draft ordinance at the Sept. 16 meeting.