A portion of North Avondale is set to become Cincinnati's newest historic district.
City Council's Housing and Growth Committee voted 6-1 Tuesday to approve the new district. The measure will be up for a final vote at City Council's meeting Wednesday and is expected to pass unless some Council members change their vote.
Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, who lives in North Avondale, sponsored the proposal along with the North Avondale Neighborhood Association (NANA).
"This is a tool that the city has provided for neighborhoods to say 'we can have change, we can have development without ruining the look and feel of the neighborhood,' " Kearney said.
The designation would establish guidelines for new construction and exterior alterations to existing buildings, with required design review and approval by the Historic Conservation Office.
The district would not include the whole neighborhood. See a map of the boundary below (article continues after):
The rules would not apply to "non-contributing buildings" that do not contribute to the historic character of the district, usually because of being built after 1950. Thirty-three of the 370 properties within the boundary are considered "non-contributing."
Support and opposition
The planning department received feedback from 169 individuals representing 103 addresses in support of the historic designation, and 38 individuals representing 25 addresses opposed to it.
Opponents say they're concerned about increased costs associated with using specific materials for exterior renovations.
"I worked all my life, and I just don't have the finances to do this," said Marilyn McQueen, who says she has lived in North Avondale for over 60 years. "I should have had the opportunity to opt out."
Former NANA president Dawn Johnson has been involved in the work to establish a historic district for the last few years.
"We plan on supporting our neighbors in every way possible," Johnson said. "We've heard their concerns and we care about them."
Johnson says NANA has established a $5,000 fund to help eligible homeowners who may struggle to pay for expensive repairs.
Others say they don't understand the need for the designation.
"What problem are we actually trying to solve? Our neighborhood has remained remarkably unchanged for nearly a hundred years," said Gerard Sychay. "The response is often, 'We need to act now before it is too late.' But I don't believe permanent restrictions on hundreds of homeowners should be based on what might happen someday."
Council member Evan Nolan, who cast the only "no" vote Tuesday, expressed similar thoughts.
"I think the value of those properties suggests that someone would not come in and tear it down and build [new] homes ... and I guess I just don't see this as a necessary step," Nolan said. "We have empty plots of land along Reading Road where we can't get development going today. I don't see development as a perceived threat, it's something we are trying to incentivize."
Why a historic district?
Most of the properties in the proposed boundary are zoned for large-lot single-family residential, but they are also in the area of a transit corridor (Reading Road) as established in the Connected Communities zoning reform of a few years ago. That means small, multi-family housing of up to four units are allowed even in these single-family zones.
Vice Mayor Kearney has said the neighborhood council is working to mitigate the potential effects of that zoning reform.
"You don't care if there are two families living there, three families, four families — you just don't want something that stands out as some monstrous structure in the middle of all your beautiful architecture," she said at a Planning Commission meeting in April. "So have the density, but just keep the look and feel of the neighborhood."
At the Council committee meeting Tuesday, proponents said said City Council has failed to preserve historic structures in the recent past, like the Hoffman School in Evanston and the Schulte Mansion in West Price Hill.
Executive Director of Cincinnati Preservation Beth Johnson, also a member of the applicant team, says city officials encouraged communities to be more proactive.
"It was specifically told to us, 'Do not wait ... if historic preservation and these historic buildings are something that matters to your community, designate it before the development is there,' " Johnson said.
North Avondale developed between the 1890s and 1940s as an upper middle class enclave. It became home to notable Cincinnatians like grocer Barney H. Kroger and brewer Albert Lackman. Significant buildings in the district represent Queen Anne, Shingle, Richardsonian Romanesque, Prairie, Craftsman and a number of other historic architectural styles.
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