TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The past few weeks, the Terre Haute City Council has been discussing an ordinance aimed at establishing formal historic preservation districts, along with a commission.
If passed, the commission will oversee the identification, restoration, and protection of historic city areas.
However, some Farrington’s Grove Historic District residents, like Mike Latta, see this as an intrusion on their independence.
“The commission can decide what things can get a certificate of appropriateness which includes everything from your landscaping, to your light fixtures, to the color of you house if you try to paint it or put siding on it”, Latta said.
The board of Farrington’s Grove Historic District Inc. supports the ordinance being passed. President Keri Yousif said the committee can be used to preserve and promote Terre Haute’s historic buildings.
“A lot of the data across Indiana shows that historic preservation ordinances increase development, they stabilize neighborhoods, and they promote tourism”, Yousif said. “People are looking to visit unique places, so we see it as a way for the city to really move forward while taking into account our really rich past.”
Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun spoke out at the most recent city council meeting, pointing to the current issue of housing in the city.
“Historic preservation ordinances were really started in the 1960s in states like New York and California”, Sakbun said. “These ordinances were used to slow down development, that drove up the price of housing. Would I love for five homes to be from 1920, preserved and held, I would love for that. I want that to happen, but what I don’t want is an ordinance created that stops 50 homes from being built next year and just helps five.”
Latta said many homeowners were blindsided by this ordinance and he feels a happy medium could be found between preservation and homeowner creativity.
“I talked to a lot of my neighbors on this block, just going through to make sure they knew about it too, and they were just as surprised as we were”, Latta said. “It just feels like we need to slow down and I would be the first to tell you, I can understand and appreciate what they’re trying to do, but this is not the answer.”
The Historic Preservation Ordinance will be discussed at the second committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. on August 20th.
