Thomaston commission to review peer-community ordinances as it considers updates to local preservation law

The Thomaston Historic Preservation Commission discussed a proposed review and potential updates to the City of Thomaston Historic Preservation Ordinance at its March 9 meeting, with staff asking commissioners to identify comparable 'peer communities' for benchmarking.

Economic Development Director Taylor Smith said he compiled a list from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) of Georgia local governments that have local preservation ordinances and urged commissioners to examine ordinances from communities such as Bainbridge, Dahlonega, Douglas, Dublin, Fitzgerald and Monroe. Smith said he will provide copies of the local ordinances commissioners request and distributed the Georgia Historic Preservation Act and a sample local ordinance from DCA as reference materials.

The commission briefly compared the role of a local historic-preservation ordinance with the separate Downtown Design Guidelines, noting that the ordinance establishes how preservation is managed locally while design guidelines specify work that should or should not take place inside the locally recognized historic district. Commissioners did not take formal action to change ordinance language at the meeting; the minutes record continued discussion and a request that members identify jurisdictions for comparison.

Next steps recorded in the minutes call for commissioners to identify peer communities and for staff to provide the selected ordinances before the next meeting.