Yesterday we posted that last evening the City Council would hold a Committee of the Whole workshop to discuss the Historic Preservation Task Force recommendations.
The video of that meeting is below -- the topic is far reaching with very serious and important implications for future building and development in Park Ridge.
We strongly encourage PRU readers to give this topic their time and attention. Anyone interested can review the recommended ordinance here (.pdf).
29 comments:
Thanks for sharing, PRU. This IS important!
Forgive my ignorance but are there really that many historical structures in Park Ridge? This sounds to me like more of the Mayor's antidevelopment coming through.
If it's allright with everyone, I'm going to keep my property out of a Historic District.
Wait. I can't do that. My neighbors can vote me into one anyway.
Bad news for property rights.
Anon at 12:28, I believe the Pickwick Theatre is considered to be a historical structure...
OK...so that's one!!!
I truly believe there are many homes that should be considered historical.
gypsy,
there could be a few homes that have historical importance to Park Ridge but they aren't going to be of any real historical importance or there aren't going to be that many of them.
the problem i have with this is how anyone can sign a property up for being considered historical and worth preservation. then the property owner has to go through what? some historical preservation reeducation camp? this is crazy and i think this is just coming from people who don't like new construction and progress.
I am trying to think of homes that might be considered historical. I would think that many (not all) of these homes that some might want to be declared historical would become unsalable.
Many homes that fit this catagory need 6 figures worth of repairs and upgrades. Also, many of these homes have layouts (many small rooms) that most families do not want today.
Don't say that about the Mayor! You will be lucky if your property is selected to be a historical site.
Besides, the contractors and profiteers have had their way for too long. It's time to consider your property as part of a community.
Dave isn't paying attention at all during the presentation. Either he does not care, or the fix in.
up and down Prospect, Courtland, Grand, Meacham etc. ...there are MANY well kept up homes that don't need repairs in the "six figures" and they should be preserved!
I agree with Gypsy. We should step in and tell those owners what they can and can not do with their property or the developers will come in and build mcmansions.
3:04, what fix??!! Historic preservation doesn't fix anything except making it almost impossible to alter a piece of property. There's no money in that.
Besides, when Schmidt ran for office wasn't historic preservation of the character of Park Ridge one of his themes?
I'm not saying I'm in favor of this ordinance. I'm saying I don't have enough information yet and I hope the Aldermen really do their homework on this one.
I just think it's unfair to talk about fixes here, or acting surprised that Mayor Schmidt is for this because he always said he is.
I think we should all stop getting hysterical about historical. Lets let the government do what is best for us and our property.
Anon@4:40 and @3:19? --
The Crew is loving your hysterical sarcasm! We hope!
The fact that someone other than the owner of the property can request landmark status is just wrong! And scary!
it's like Chicken Little has taken over again. where does this paranoia come from?
Anonymous 550,
It comes from experience with government. I gotta tell you, I wish government wouldn't try helping me so much.
I have to agree with 5:24. I understand the desire to keep some of older homes. It does give PR a certain feel. Having said that, it does affect the value and ability to sell the given property. The idea that a neighbor could make such a request is crazy to me. I have heard people complain about older homes being torn down and when I look at the homes in question I see them as tear downs. I cannot wait to see the criteria of what exactly makes a house of historical value.
Neighbors: It seems to me that we are long overdue for a serious, public conversation about what we want Park Ridge to look like 20 years from now.
This is not about blue-ribbon commissions and visioning projects where a consultant leads the city council and city staff down a primrose path of vague language.
This is about how many primrose paths we want, how many national chain drugstores, how many local merchants, how many trees and parks -- and yes, how many historically preserved homes.
An alderman -- I don't remember which one -- said publicly a couple of years back that he wanted Uptown to resemble the Lincoln Park area of Chicago, with the same types of restaurants and businesses. I don't happen to agree, but at least he put a stake in the ground.
A related point is the discussion about how tax revenues generated from business development are supposed to keep residential property taxes lower. (Uptown has been in "business" for a while now and I don't see my property tax bill going down, folks.) Rather than seek revenue -- which is elusive anyway -- we should seek a consensus about what kind of community we want to have.
The zoning code re-write of the past year could have been such an opportunity, but frankly the city council disregards the code so frequently that it seems a poor substitute for a community model.
This is the kind of conversation we need to have; otherwise we will handle each situation individually with no clear path, primrose or paved. What do we want Park Ridge to look like 20 years from now?
Thank you Steve!
While some have argued in the past, that we need to "keep with the times and not stand in the way of progress" and NO time did I hear
"we need to completely transform our town into something unrecognzable".
I see nothing wrong with mixing old with new, but unless you do something to preserve the old in part with a historic designation, old could be translated into obsolete.
Although older (some historic) homes and or other buildings may not be everyone cup of tea, it does add to a communities character and often times value.
So Steve I agree, how much of our "charcter" would we like to see 20 years from now?!
ah, yes...a PLAN...
I probably have mixed feelings.
I feel a bit funny stopping indiviuals from doing what they want with thir property.
Though my concern with the teardowns is the demolished homes are being replaced with these huge ones, which not everyone may be able to afford especially in a town like Park Ridge, and I'm sure not everyone wishes to live in such huge structures.
So in that sense maybe there should ba at least some limitations on these tear downs.
In general I'm opposed to the gov't telling a homeowner what they can and cannot do. However, to correct some information, I know someone who lives in a historic home in another suburb. When he purchased it, it was in dire need of rehab. He had no problem gutting it. They only thing he couldn't do was change the outside of the original structure. I think this is the same in most towns, you can do what you want inside, it's the outside.
Neighbors should absolutely not be allowed to request that a home be made historic. Also,(and this is important folks), in most other towns, historic homes pay LESS in property taxes due to the 'historic' nature of their home and the benefit it brings to the community.
This is all like the Tree Ordinance as far as I'm concerned. The gov't getting their noses in places it doesn't belong with restrictions that are just plain crazy. Encourage people via tax credits or something similar, but don't forbid them regarding their own property. As far as the builders, further restrict the sizes of the homes and that takes care of that problem.
Off Topic Question:
Can someone tell me why when the city of park ridge has eliminated holiday lights, due to budget issues, that there are 4 trees lit up near the cab stand..now...already.
Is that the doing of the cab company, the train station...what?
12:24:
I do not know exactly what is going on with the 4 trees you reference. I do know that there is a group of citizens working toward putting up holiday lights through donations and volunteers.
1:13...
Yes..I'm aware of that effort..but next time you are near the Park Ridge train station at night...check out where the cabs are parked. 3 or 4 trees lit up.
304...I have been keeping abreast of the Task Force's discussions, so I was not hearing this information for the first time. That's why it may have appeared I was not paying attention at times. Nonetheless, it is my fault for giving that impression.
To those with concerns about private property rights, that issue was of paramount importance to many on the Task Force, and I believe if you take a close look at the provisions, private property rights are protected. You should also keep in mind that this is not a finished product. There will be much more discussion before there is an ordinance in place.
The Trees lit up by the train station are left over from the Taste of Park Ridge. They did the decorating.
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