City commissioners advanced a new historic preservation ordinance on first reading Tuesday after a workshop that detailed how Harlingen would identify and protect buildings deemed historically significant.

Francisco Martinez, a city grant coordinator, told commissioners the Texas Historical Commission awarded the city $40,000 through the Texas Preservation Trust Fund "to conduct a historic resources survey," a study he said would help the city identify and properly protect properties. Martinez outlined three survey levels—windshield, reconnaissance and intensive—saying an intensive survey can recommend properties eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Supporters said the ordinance is designed to be narrowly tailored. In the workshop, staff presented the ordinance’s core components: a historic preservation officer, a local preservation council with appointment terms and staggered openings, a clear designation and review process, and an H zoning overlay that would apply only after a property or district is formally designated. Staff emphasized the ordinance would not regulate interior work or land use and would not automatically create historic districts.

Alexis Riojas, downtown improvement district director, and guest Gabriel Azuna of the Hidalgo County Historical Commission highlighted incentives other Texas cities use to encourage rehabilitation, including façade grants, tax-credit assistance and property-tax abatements. Azuna described the tax-credit structure the state and federal programs make available: "they can get 20% of their investment back from the IRS ... and an additional 25% state tax credit," he said, noting federal credits generally require income-producing properties while some state credits allow nonprofit eligibility.

Commissioners asked for clarifications on enforcement, the scope of incentives and terms for the preservation council. Staff proposed minor scrivener corrections and a replacement reference for enforcement language (court enforcement division in place of a different division number) and said detailed incentive policy—such as clawbacks or compliance hooks tied to tax assistance—would return to the commission for separate policy adoption.

The ordinance passed on first reading with commissioners asking staff to make the technical edits discussed at the meeting. The commission’s action establishes a local review process that staff and volunteers would use to evaluate properties and offers a framework intended to make Harlingen eligible for preservation grants and tax-credit programs. Next steps: staff will finalize the drafting corrections and return the ordinance for second reading and final adoption, at which point specific incentive programs and any related contractual language would be presented for formal policy approval.