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Planning Commission Talks Preservation Ordinance

By Dennis Phillips

dphillips@post-journal.com

For the second time in three months, the Jamestown Planning Commission discussed the proposed Local Preservation Ordinance.

Ellen Shadle, city principal planner, said the preservation ordinance, if enacted, would be very similar to the city’s zoning rules. She said the ordinance won’t prohibit homeowners or commercial building owners from improving their property, but might curtail what people will be allowed to do. She added that property owners shouldn’t have to worry about someone purchasing a neighboring property and just allow the house to sit there and deteriorate.

“One person’s restrictions is another person’s protections,” she said.

Shadle said an example of how a preservation ordinance might have been able to save a historic building is the Roosevelt Theater in Brooklyn Square that was demolished in the 1970s during the city’s Urban Renewal project. She said there are other examples of historic buildings in the downtown area of the city that were demolished to create parking lots.

“If there had been restrictions, those structures might still be standing,” she said.

A current example of how a preservation ordinance might assist the city is the former Key Bank building on North Main Street, Shadle said. Even though redevelopment has been attempted at the site, it’s up for sale and a potential buyer could purchase the building and demolish it, which city officials wouldn’t be able to stop from happening. She said that it’s disappointing there is a vacant building in the city’s downtown, but it would be worse if there was a vacant lot in that location.

“If there is a Local Preservation Ordinance in place, it would require the owner to go through a period of due diligence to explore all alternatives that might lead to the same outcome,” she said about how a building owner wouldn’t be able to just demolish a building without all options being analyzed first.

Michael Laurin, commission member, said he believes the draft of the preservation ordinance too regulatory.

“There is a lot of oversight that seems really negative to me,” he said. “It defines a lot of things that would be difficult to enforce.”

Laurin also believes there is a greater value put on the ordinance than people and their property.

“People need to come first,” he said.

There is another section of the ordinance that could lead someone to possibly being imprisoned if the property owner didn’t follow the statute, Laurin said.

“There is a lot in here that is very negative,” he said.

Jeff Nelson, commission member, said the ordinance shouldn’t be “so tight” that it doesn’t allow for new ideas in the long run.

Tom Nelson, Jamestown City Council Ward 6 member and commission liaison, said the ordinance is a good starting point for city officials. He said city officials need to find a fairness between protecting historic structures and assisting homeowners and commercial building owners with maintaining their property while not being too restrictive.

“You have to balance the needs of the city to try to preserve some of these treasurers,” Nelson said.

Shadle said the draft ordinance can be changed, with sections being removed and new ones that could be added. She asked each member of the commission to review the ordinance again and provide feedback on what they like and what they don’t.

“You can help us articulate goals and objectives of what the ordinance might preserve,” she said.

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