Historic Designation… Yay or Nay?

The monthly meeting for the Murray Hill Preservation Associating is being held tomorrow night, September 28 at the Murray Hill Presbyterian Church at 7:00 pm.  Tomorrow nights guest is scheduled to be Jim Overton, the City of Jacksonville Property Appraiser to discuss how a Historic Designation would affect the neighborhood of Murray Hill.  Local Historic designation is established and monitored by The City of Jacksonville Planning Department.  The City of Jacksonville Planning Department website discusses Historic Designation.

Historic Designation is the process by which a site, structure, or area is officially recognized as having historical, architectural, or archaeological significance.  It is the primary means for identifying and protecting Jacksonville’s historic resources.

Designation for Historic status is different for a structure opposed to an area such as Murray Hill.  For a neighborhood to be designated as Historical the following applies:

Historic District designations recognize multiple properties. Historic Districts must meet at least two of the criteria identified above and the following:

· Its character is a geographically definable area or neighborhood possessing a significant concentration, or continuity of sites, buildings, objects or structures united in past events, or united in culture, architectural style, or aesthetically by plan or physical development.

Currently there are three local areas that are considered Historic: Riverside / Avondale, Springfield, and the St. Johns Quarter, which borders Riverside / Avondale.  There are other areas though where Historic Designation can be obtained on a case by case basis, namely the Downtown District.  After an area has successfully gone through the review and approval process to become Historic it will forever be scrutinized when it comes to construction or demolition within its boundaries.  For any property owner to alter the exterior of their property or demolish any portions of the main structure (detached garages do not apply) it must obtain a COA (Certificate of Appropriateness) from The Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission at the Planning Department.  Most COA’s for minor repairs or improvements can be approved within three days of the application but anything more than minor will have to go before The Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission for a public hearing and review.  This process can take substantially more than three days.  The commission reviews the proposed projects to ensure that they are historically consistent with regards to architectural styles, details, guidelines, and standards.  These COA’s must be obtained by The Planning Department before a zoning administrator will even open your plans for a permit plan review.

Historic Designation doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom though.  In 1992 the State of Florida passed a bill that mandates that local governments provide a partial tax exemption to properties that are deemed Historic by the appropriate authorities.  The City of Jacksonville enacted this by approving an ad valorem tax exemption for locally historically designated properties that go through substantial renovations.  This tax exemption was designed to encourage people to become historically designated, purchase historic properties and improve them, as well as inspire existing owner’s to improve their historic property.  This tax exemption can be quite lucrative.  A property that is locally Historically Designated is eligible to deduct 100% of the ad valorem tax assessed by The City of Jacksonville for the portion of the improvements made to the property for the exemption period, which I believe is 10 years.  That could amount to tens of thousands of dollars.  All those crazy people in Springfield buying pieces and fixing them up don’t look so silly now huh?

The question though to be assessed by Jim Overton is would this be good for Murray Hill?  It is a yes and no.  My personal opinion is it would be good for the area south of Edgewood Avenue.  On that side of Murray Hill there seems to be more affluent home owners that would relish in “Living in a Historic Area” thereby making it that much more attractive to prospective buyers.  On the north side of Edgewood there is still quite a bit of renovating to be done.  This would be good for people seeking the tax exemption, but many owners and buyers could perceive the designation as more of a deterrent than attractor.  Before the housing market slow down in the past 4-6 months people in Murray Hill were flipping houses left and right with each one making their own little improvements.  This would not be nearly as easy with Historic designations requiring anyone who even wanted to paint the exterior of their house having to get a COA.  It would in my opinion slow the housing renovation drive in Murray Hill.  Not to mention all those who are improving their property without the require permits, but hey improve away as long as it does the same to my property values.  For me though, I like the idea.  I wouldn’t mind taking the extra time and care to navigate the COA and permitting process to improve my property, but I can’t speak for those around me who I hope are planning on improving theirs soon.  But long story short…..Imagine NO VINYL SIDING ALLOWED.  Sweet