he 2000 General Plan included a Historic Preservation policy/action
called "Development Impacts." This action called for the adoption "of a
list of properties from the Historic Sites Inventory that have
additional development potential and should be subject to the historic
sites guidelines of the Subdivision and Land Development Regulations."
PHC was pleased to partner with Planning and Zoning to create this list.
Targeting the first 500 sites on the Historic Sites Inventory, more than one dozen
volunteers extracted data from the Maryland State Tax records, trekked
throughout the County to find and identify the sites listed on the
Historic Inventory, photographed the sites, compiled the data, and
created a final report detailing the 120 sites listed in Council
Resolution 5-2001.
"Don't ever doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change
the world. Indeed, it is all that ever does."
- Margaret Meade
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On March 5, the County Council voted 3-1 in favor of Council Resolution 5-2001.
Councilman Mary Lorsung, who was absent, also supported the Resolution.
Councilmen Guy Guzzone, Vernon Gray, and Allan Kittleman voted for the Resolution,
while Councilman Chris Merdon voted against - citing constituent complaints and concern
about potentially more restrictive guidelines in the future.
With the passage of CR-2001, the 120 sites in the list will now be subject to existing
subdivision guidelines that seek to preserve the integrity of the
historical sites when these sites enter the subdivision process.
There was a large turnout at the public hearing on January 16.
Vision: Howard County, The Howard County Historical Society, and
Preservation Howard County spoke in favor of the Resolution. Several
property owners on the list also spoke in favor of the resolution or asked questions
about the process. Four property owners spoke against the Resolution,
citing fears that their property rights might be restricted by the new
guidelines.
The Council studied the Resolution at the January 23 work session and tabled the Resolution at the
February 5 Council Meeting.
PHC thanks the volunteers who helped with this important initiative. It is an excellent example of how a non-profit can work in partnership
with the County towards a mutually agreeable goal.
The next steps are to identify sites from the remainder of the
Historic Sites Inventory, revise and update the existing Inventory -
including adding additional historic properties, and begin work with
the County on the next General Plan initiative: drafting a countywide
Historic Preservation Plan.
