A house bill decried by preservationists around the state might drop some of its more controversial provisions this week. Sponsors have drafted a revised version that removes, among other things, a “sunset clause” that would have required a vote every 10 years to renew an historic district.
Representative Chris Afendoulis is the bill’s primary sponsor.
“We wanted to raise the bar in terms of creation of historic districts,” he says of his reasons for introducing the bill.
“And when I say raise the bar I mean make it a little bit more of a difficult process so that people really got an opportunity to have their say. And I think that is still part of the bill,” he says.
Afendoulis says he stands by a plan to let local governments hear appeals of decisions by historic district authorities. Right now those appeals go before a state board.
“It allows the resident and the taxpayer to have a connection of their appeal with one of their elected representatives. I really believe that’s important,” he says.
But City of Kalamazoo Historic Preservation Coordinator Sharon Ferraro says the state board is “impartial but skilled” in its approach to appeals. Ferraro says it’s widely believed that local historic boards are stingy with permits. She says the opposite is true.
“The approval rating is somewhere for most districts between 95 and 100 percent and most commissions are using and allowing alternative materials if they’re a visual match,” she says.
Afendoulis says the proposed revisions could get a hearing in the House local government committee Wednesday. He adds that he expects a parallel Senate bill to be revised in line with the House version.
