Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Delaware City historic preservation commission seeks grant to overhaul architectural standards
Summary
The commission reported it applied for a grant that would fund a comprehensive update of the historic districtarchitectural standards, outreach about the COA process, and an ordinance revision to make the commission a standing body; a funding decision is expected within about two weeks.
The Delaware City Historic Preservation Commission discussed a pending grant this meeting that would fund a comprehensive update to the cityarchitectural standards for the historic district, Speaker 1 (applicant) said. "We will not have to provide any leverage or matching funds for that," Speaker 1 said, and added a funding decision should be announced in about two weeks.
The grant, Speaker 1 said, includes an education requirement to increase public outreach about the historic district and the Certificate of Appropriateness process. The speaker said outreach would target the Board of Realtors, landlords and businesses in the historic district and could be coordinated through Main Street Delaware.
Staff (Speaker 3, staff member) told commissioners the ordinance that originally established the Historic Preservation Commission contains dated, one-time implementation language and does not function as an ongoing regulatory ordinance. "It was written to establish those things so it doesn't really function as a continual, a continually operating ordinance," Speaker 3 said. Staff proposed updating the ordinance and incorporating the commission into the regular procedures chapter for consistency.
Speaker 3 outlined the scope staff expects a consultant to undertake if the city receives the grant: a review of the historic district boundaries with recommendations on properties to add or remove, followed by a comprehensive overhaul of the architectural standards that have only received piecemeal changes since adoption. If funded, staff said the next step would be to release a request for proposals for a consultant and that the work would be collaborative between staff, the consultant and the commission.
Commissioners were told that the commission would likely meet more frequently than its usual once-every-four-months schedule while working through the grant-funded project. Staff also said there were no applications for the planned November meeting at the current deadline and that applicants who submit by Nov. 19 would be scheduled for the December meeting.
If the grant is awarded, staff said they would begin procurement for consulting services and engage the commission in outreach and standards revision over the subsequent months.
