Term Paper on "Historic Preservation"

Term Paper 12 pages (3395 words) Sources: 8 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Historic preservation is a significant land use issue in various states throughout the country. For many years, the preservation of historic sites has taken place in many areas of the nation. The purpose of this discussion is to examine "historic preservation" as a major land use program -reviewing historic district regulation & historic landmark protection (which are the 2 major local regulatory programs), as well as the use of 'development rights transfers' as an historic preservation technique. The research will also investigate landmark court cases pertaining to historic preservation and the rights if owners and cities. The research will also discuss the transfer of development rights as it relates to historic sites. Let us begin our discussion with a brief overview of the National Historic Preservation Act.

The National Historic preservation Act

The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) became law in 1966. Via this law Congress declared that "the spirit and direction of the Nation are founded upon and reflected in its historic heritage...the historical and cultural foundations of the Nation should be preserved as a living part of our community life and development in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people (National Historic Preservation Act of 1966)."

This act asserted that a number of America's historic sights were being destroyed or significantly altered. As a result of this situation congress believed it necessary to preserve these sites for the purposes of education and enrichment for the next generations of Americans.

At the time congress believed that the rapid growth of urban areas was beginning to overwhelm the preservation of historic sites. As such the federal government created certain regulations as it relates to the preservation of historic sites. Congress also wanted to ensure that both private and public organizations would have the resources necessary to preserves these historic sites (National Historic Preservation Act of 1966).

Ross (2005) explain that starting in the 1970's the NHPA inspired the passing of city based historic preservation ordinances throughout the country and supplied the basic regulations for state enacted legislation (Ross, 2005). In addition, legislation at the State level was created with a similar structure and purpose as the national level. In addition the state laws had the authority to pass local enabling laws (Ross, 2005). The author further explains that These enabling laws granted the necessary police power to regulate historic preservation through preservation ordinances. Review boards or commissions review any private actions under the preservation ordinance in either an advisory or a binding capacity. Though governments at all levels may control growth, the majority of issues and ultimate cases that pertain to historic preservation evolve from local concerns (Ross, 2005)."

As a result of the aforementioned efforts, there are currently thousands of historic sites throughout the United States.

In some locales historic preservation has become a form of major land use. The next section of this discussion will focus on historic preservation and land use.

Historic preservation" as a major land use program

There are several land use programs that localities can adopt. For the most part the type of land use adopted is determined by the availability of land and the presence of historic sites. For many cities, land use is associated with historic preservation; this is particularly true of areas of the country that were British colonies or otherwise instrumental in the forming in the United States of America as it is known today. Indeed, the preservation of historic sites is a legitimate and necessary form of land use.

As it relates to historic district regulations, the federal law is designed to give states the authority to decide on specific regulations. In addition many states give individual districts the authority to create regulations. For the purposes of this discussion we will focus on historic district regulations as it relates to Nashville, Tennessee.

Article XIII provides the regulations for both Historic and Landmark districts. Section 13-105.3 describes the "Criteria for Designation of Historic and Landmark Districts." According to this criteria, at least one of five factors must be present for a structure, building, site or neighborhood to be considered for nomination as an historic district or landmark. These five factors are as follows:

The site is linked to an event which has played an important role in local, state or national history.

The site includes structures associated with the lives of persons significant in local, state or national history;

3. The site must have within it structures or groups of structures the characteristics of a type, period or style of construction, or that symbolize the work of a master, or that cotain substantial artistic values, or reflect an important and obvious entity whose components may not posses unique characteristics.

4. The site must yield or have the potential to yield archaeological information concerning historical events

The site is a part of the National Register of Historic Places ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...")

The nomination is then review and recommendations are made by the Historic Zoning Commission. According to the law, the decision to designate a site as historic or not must be made within a 60 day period Places ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark..."). Both a resolution and a written report will be presented to the Hendersonville Regional Planning Commission for review as required by Subsection 13-105.9, and to the Board of Aldermen for final considerations Places ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...").

Once a site has been designated as a historic landmark there are also certain regulations that govern the manner in which the site is preserved. Section 13-104 provides various definitions concerning preservation. These definitions are as follows:

Alteration -- Any act or procedure that modifies one or more of the external architectural features of a structure, including, the construction, reconstruction, or elimination of any structure ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...").

Construction -- the process of creating an addition to a structure or the construction of a new main or secondary structure on a lot or property ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...").

Demolition -- Any procedure that eliminates any or all of a landmark or a structure that belongs to an historic district ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...").

Design Guideline -- a criterion of suitable activity that will protect the historic and architectural disposition of a site ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...").

Exterior Architectural Appearance -- the architectural quality and general makeup of the exterior of a structure, including the type, color, and quality of the building material and the style, design, and character of light fixtures, windows, doors, signs and appurtenant elements ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...").

Ordinary Repair and Maintenance -- All work performed for the purposes of remedying deterioration, or damage to a historic site and to repair the same, as closely as possible, to the condition it was in before the deterioration took place, utilizing materials identical or similar to the original materials ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...").

In addition to the aforementioned definitions, the law also points out the various statutes that limit the manner in which an historic site can be preserves. For instance the law asserts that the height of any possible alteration or construction should be consistent with the design and character of the landmark and the surrounding buildings within an historic district. In addition, factors such as roof shape, scale and landscaping are governed by certain guidelines Places ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark..."). There are also guidelines associated with directional expression. These guidelines assert that facades in historic districts should be consistent with other structures as it relates to directional expression. That is, structures that are a part of an historic district should be identical to the most common horizontal or vertical expression of surrounding structures Places ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark..."). Also the directional expression of a landmark subsequent to modifications, construction, or fractional demolition should be consistent with its original architectural style Places ("ARTICLE XIII: Historic and Landmark...").

Overall the research seems to indicate the regulations concerning historic preservation is extremely detailed. It appears that at all levels pf govern special efforts have been taken to ensure that historic sites will be taken care of properly, so that future generations can enjoy these sites. Now that we have garnered a greater understanding of these regulations let us discuss historic landmark protection.

Historic landmark protection

In addition to the regulations that govern the preservation of historic sites, there also exist protections for historic landmarks. According to the National Park Service Historic landmarks are sites of historic significance that are designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they contain extraordinary worth in demonstrating the heritage of the United States (National Historic Landmarks). There are currently less than 2,500 historic sited that have the national distinction of Historic Landmark (National Historic Landmarks). In collaborations with citizens around America, the National Historic Landmarks Program utilizes the knowledge of National Park Service staff responsible for nominating new landmarks and assists established landmarks (National Historic Landmarks).

The National Parks service reports that the National Historical Landmarks Program began as… READ MORE

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