Members of the
Prospect Park-East River Road Improvement Association (PPERRIA) were in favor of historic status for their Minneapolis neighborhood--until they were against it.
It was in 2008 that Council Member Cam Gordon got city approval for the neighborhood's nomination for
local historic designation. But over the two years that the nomination was pending, Prospect Park residents had a change of heart as they experienced tougher-than-expected provisional enforcement of historic-district rules.
And so this month, at PPERRIA's urging, the city council rejected historic designation for Prospect Park.
"It sounds strange," admits Joe Ring, leader of the effort to get historic status. "Like most things in life, it isn't simple."
Residents supported rules on owners making changes to building facades, Ring says, but they weren't expecting restrictions on rear additions, temporary wheelchair ramps or lead-paint abatement work.
Did the neighborhood waste $55,000 on a report by historical-research firm
Hess Roise that determined it deserved national historic status? No, says Ring, because the city accepted the report, giving the neighborhood standing to object to demolitions like those that inspired the designation effort 15 years ago.
The
National Trust for Historic Preservation suggested PPERRIA might instead pursue designation as a conservation district, a status enjoyed by neighborhoods in cities such as Nashville, Tenn., Cambridge, Mass., and Boise, Idaho. A University of Minnesota study due this fall is surveying conservation districts across the country and may recommend language for lawmakers here to consider.
Ring says administration of conservation districts, compared to historic districts, can be more neighborhood-based or bottom-up. And it might give PPERRIA greater say over things like the scale of new student-housing projects or Xcel Energy's tree-trimming practices.
Source: Joe Ring, Prospect Park-East River Road Improvement Association
Writer: Chris Steller