Concerned Citizens of Woodberry held a meeting with residents and CHAP to discuss what CHAP is, where the Woodberry and Brick Hill districts are in the process, what affect CHAP has on the community, and what CHAP plans on doing next.
Eric Holcomb from CHAP can be reached at 443-984-2728 or eholcomb@baltimorecity.gov
Eric Holcomb from CHAP reported that the CHAP commission is reviewing the districts. Some actions they might take include doing a direct mailing to homes with petitions that property owners would send back in favor or opposition to the districts. They may look at revising boundaries of the districts, since a few residents wondered why the boundaries leave some areas out. At this point, it's up to the CHAP commission regarding how to proceed. Another option that was mentioned is pressuring City Council to create a Conservation district, which would be less restrictive than a regular Local historic district (vinyl windows ok, etc), but would work to preserve the existing houses. This conservation district doesn't currently exist, but CHAP was suggesting we could put pressure on City politicians to create such a district. There were many vocal residents, both for and against the districts.
The Pro-CHAP arguments: The people for the districts pointed out that current zoning allows for much higher density construction, should a builder decide to demolish buildings and build something new in it's place. They pointed out Woodberry and Brick Hill are both R-6 and this allows anything from single family homes to multi-family apartment buildings up to 35' tall. They didn't want to see the houses next door to them change this dramatically or have the ability to do this kind of work. Some people pointed out that in 5-10 years, the CHAP district could have a positive change on the community, with properties becoming improved and more attractive.
The Anti-CHAP arguments: The people opposed to the districts pointed out that they didn't want to be restricted in what they did to their properties. They didn't like having to get approval for changes to the exterior, didn't want to necessarily make changes that kept the historic nature of the house, and were concerned about penalties for not complying with CHAP. Some residents were concerned on who would be on the local architectural review board doing the design review for the community. Some people expressed concern that a CHAP district might prevent people from making changes. They felt that zoning might be a better way to prevent dramatic changes. (note- the association looked into changing the zoning for Woodberry and Brick Hill, and according to the zoning analysis, it seems that Woodberry is at the lowest density zoning it qualifies for, and Brick Hill could only change from R-6 to R-5, which would only set properties back a little more from the property lines, and would still allow multi-family houses and townhouses)
Click here to see maps of the proposed districts.
The first public hearing was on July 18th. The Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation approved our districts. The Planning Commission sent the Woodberry and Brick Hill local historic districts back to the CHAP department for further review at the hearing on May 17th.
Both Woodberry and Brick Hill are listed as National Historic Register Districts, and would remain listed as such. A local historic district adds more protection than a National Historic District. Local Historic Districts provide protection from demolition and inappropriate development. This means it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for someone to come into the community and tear down a house without an extremely good reason. Local Historic Districts also provide protection and review when a district is affected by a State or Federal project. Finally, homes and buildings in Local Historic Districts that undergo major historic rehabs will have their property tax locked in at the pre-rehab rate for a number of years. Local Historic districts don't prevent people from building new houses, but protect existing houses.
Areas included in these local districts had a majority of property owners sign petitions in favor of creating a local district. The proposed districts will have 2 more public hearings and eventually go through City Council and if passed, become ordinances with the power of law.
Email us for more info on historic districts, or to get a petition, or call 410-905-1398