Is the Historic District Council doing a good job of protecting Fernandina Beach's historic districts?

fjr

Appearing before the HDC has become intimidating.  This is the result of inconsistencies in decisions.  The current "no exceptions" policy has come as a result of the debacle at 6th and Broome where a perfectly good historic house was destroyed with the concurrence of the HDC.  Every neighbor knew when that house was granted permission to be moved that it would fall apart.  That was a nonsensical request granted.  Now sensible requests for perfectly good materials to be used in renovation get denied.  The argument that such materials will "cause the loss of our historic designation"  doesn't hold water.  What will cause the loss of our historic district will be the neglect of properties because of intimidation by the HDC. 

Protect it from what?

The HDC is consistent... it consistently follows the staff report. In my case, the staff did not do the research. Within the district hardiboard has been routinely approved for historic renovations and the reason why is simple... the guidelines do not prohibit hardiboard. Previous planners have recognized this fact and advised accordingly. My home is barely 20% original. The windows, doors, roof, porch, and siding are not original but these facts were not included in the staff report. Three public hearings were held and not one person objected to my plans and still it all boiled down to the staff report.

Tax credits might be a good idea but how long do you think it would take to implement?

Our HDC does not exist in a vacuum. Historic districts all over the country are reconciling many things. Historic Palm Beach, FLorida's oldest residential structure, the Sea Gull Cottage, was approved last May to be completely re-sided using hardiboard. Outside our nation's capitol in Georgetown hardiboard is encouraged for historic renovations. The National Park Service is using hardiboard on some historic structures within it's system. Miami, Ft Myers, Atlanta, Baltimore, just to name a few towns with historic districts who encourage preservation with hardiboard.

This experience has been incredibly dis-heartening for me and my family.

I got my hardiboard! 

I'm the 20th home in the HD to be approved for hardiboard! 

Last fall the board couldn't remember anyone being approved.  We learned at the April meeting that CDD staff members are not qualified to recommend anything related to historic structures.  Some members of the board stated that they admired my perserverance.  No apology for the extremely unfair treatment delivered by the entire board to me and my family, for ignoring our civil rights.  They should all be ashamed of themselves.  Why would anyone want to be downtown if reasonable repairs and maintenance  may require a lawyer, experts, and a financial affidavit.  

Many thanks to Mary Mercer for her prompt, professional, and timely responsiveness to all of my public records requests...  To my neighbors for sitting thru hours of public hearings... the many kind words of support from people I've known and complete strangers.  Thank you.

When I woke up on Friday I felt like I'd had a tumor removed... A tumor called the HDC.  Thank you Clinch Kavanaugh.  Clinch spent at least 100 hours on this case.  Preservation law is very vague.  He purchased books and researched the topic very thoroughly, attempted to educate some board members.  He is a resource for the city as well as property owners on the topic.  

Amy Hubbard 

The Hubbard family is to be commended for standing up for their constitutionally guaranteed rights.  Preservation is a commendable plan but has to be done with changes of technology in mind and the fact that houses are only of use if someone can live in them and that includes affordability. 

The temptation is always there in government to simply impose the will for some noble purpose but the founding fathers knew better than to allow local bureaucrats the ultimate power to make decisions.  Thus was born our Bill of Rights.