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Mooresville staff seek local landmark designation for Mount Morne Plantation
Summary
Town planning staff asked the Board of Commissioners to schedule a public hearing and consider an ordinance to landmark the 1831 Mount Morne Plantation at 104 Leslie Loop, citing National Register status and prior county-level designation.
Town of Mooresville planning officials asked the Board of Commissioners to schedule a public hearing and consider an ordinance to designate the Mount Morne Plantation as a local landmark.
Erica Martin, Mooresville planning director, told the board the plantation house at 104 Leslie Loop was built in 1831 by Rufus Reid and that the 3.5-acre site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and locally designated by the Iredell County Historic Preservation Commission in 1978. The property’s owner is Patricia Crooks, Martin said.
Martin said the town may proceed because the property now lies in the town’s extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction and that local landmarking follows the town’s Unified Development Ordinance and is reviewed by the State Historic Preservation Office. She said the State Historic Preservation Office and the former Iredell County commission had found the site to retain significant historic elements and architectural integrity.
Commissioners asked about incentives and the effect of landmarking on taxes and alterations. A speaker identified as Parviz Musavi said the property already uses available tax credits and he did not believe additional tax credits would be triggered by local landmarking. Martin said any exterior changes would be subject to the town’s certificate of appropriateness process through the historic board.
The board did not vote on the request during the meeting; staff presented the application and recommended the board set a public hearing and consider the ordinance at a future meeting.
The planning director noted the site contributes to local understanding of transitional Federal–Greek Revival architecture and said the Iredell County Historic Preservation Commission (dissolved about 20 years ago) and the State Historic Preservation Office had recommended approval when the application was reviewed at the county level.
If the board sets a public hearing, that hearing will determine whether the town adopts a local landmark ordinance for Mount Morne Plantation.
