Republicans in both houses of the Michigan Legislature recently introduced bills to amend existing laws governing the creation and administration of local historic preservation districts.
The new House and Senate bills would amend the 1970 law and create a higher bar to establish the districts, change how the historic district study committees are governed, and allow property owners to appeal to their local elected government about decisions made by local preservation districts.
Both bills are currently in committee.
“When I ran for office in 2014, one of the things I talked about was respect for private property rights,” said State Representative Chris Afendoulis, R-Grand Rapids Township.
Afendoulis said there are examples of historic preservation districts benefiting the communities they’re in, but he also cited examples of people being placed into historic districts without their consent. Others he spoke with expressed frustration about losing many of their property rights.
In an interview with Michigan Radio, Nancy Finegood, executive director of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network, said the legislation “would cost the local municipality a great deal of money.”
One MHPN criticism of the legislation is its mandate that local residents have a vote once every 10 years to determine whether or not to continue a historic preservation district. Some worry that forcing the historic preservation districts to be renewed every 10 years will essentially mean the end of many districts.
Afendoulis, who has met with Finegood on two occasions, called this claim a “misdirection.”
“It doesn’t say that districts automatically lapse and must be recreated. It asks for affirmation of the district,” Afendoulis said. “Now, if indeed the benefits of the historical districts are what everyone says they are, then why would anyone ever get rid of them. I think that’s a question you need to ask — you tell us how great they are, then what are you worried about.”
While Afendoulis’ bill is still in early stages of the legislative process and its language is still being worked out, Afendoulis said he’s already working with Gov. Rick Snyder’s legislative liaison.
While Hillsdale doesn’t have any local districts, much of its downtown is a National Register historic district, and thus the city has to comply with federal standards when it applies for federal grants. Hillsdale Director of Economic Development Mary Wolfram, said she sees benefits in preserving the original 1970 law as well as in amending it with the bills currently being considered.
While Wolfram noted that the destruction of many of the old mansions along Manning Street as an incentive for setting up historic preservation districts, she said she doesn’t like how much control over district property the current law gives to district boards.
“I am personally in favor of historic preservation, so to the degree that a local act and a local district encourages historic preservation, I would be very much in favor of that,” Wolfram said. “But if an individual has a property in that historic district, you have to get his approval to do what you want to with his property.”
Wolfram said she would favor the state legislature renewing historic district tax credits to encourage property owners to preserve their historic property without compelling them. The state used to offer this type of tax credit, she said, but it has since lapsed.
Afendoulis said there is nothing about tax credits in his legislation.
“We haven’t really done this with taxation in mind,” Afendoulis said.