Small good news on the home front. This little waterfront community never was what you'd call an economic powerhouse even before last year's hurricane. Since the storm, people are somewhat more focused on the need to get jobs back, even apparently to the point of being willing to think clearly about what gums up the works.
A couple of weeks ago the local newspaper, which often eschews controversial topics, surprised me by splashing a story onto the front page about a coffee shop that everyone had thought was about to open in the central business district. Locals were disappointed to read that a last-minute problem had developed during the final inspection. The business owners had obtained a city building permit and thought they were on track, having spent months and a great deal of money getting ready to open. During the final inspection, the Heritage District Commission abruptly turned them down, apparently because their building was (admittedly) utilitarian and charmless. This coffee shop was not opening in the part of the Heritage District that most of us here think of as actually having any charm; it was on the fringes, a decidedly mingy area.
I assumed that would be the last of the coffee shop, but to my amazement someone staged a coup at this week's city council meeting and suspended the Heritage District Commission's powers, turning them over instead to the ordinary municipal planning/zoning staff. If the story is accurate, the Commission was taken completely by surprise. A number of residents appeared to testify about their horrendous experiences being strung along and generally dissed by the Commission. Unless the reporting and the reaction on local Facebook groups is misleading, there is a public groundswell of revulsion against the Heritage District arcana and highhandedness, and of support for fledgling businesses.
I much prefer quaint old shopping districts, myself. Even so, I can live without them if the price tag is capricious and unpredictable super-zoning overlays. Those people get right up my nose.
12 comments:
Having grown up in an old house- parts are now ~240/150/80 years old, with friends having a 300 year old house, I have ambivalent feelings about old houses. Yes, they have character, but there is always something breaking down. And I mean ALWAYS.
In Texas, the Historical District stuff amuses me. Shotgun houses built in the 1930s are to be preserved? Tear down the whippersnappers if you can make something better, I say. Though it must be said that the shotgun design with porch was a better design for dealing with summer heat than many current house designs.
On occasion,you can find Texas Hysterical Commission signs- such as Texas Histerical [sic] Commission Marker: On this very location, on April 12, 1881, absolutely nothing happened.
Savannah’s historic district — the largest in the US — is well worth preserving, but even there repairs and maintenance are constantly necessary. Not everything is equally worthy.
Those heritage commissions are a pox everywhere. Just a bunch of small petty people who all of a sudden have the power to say no, and would rather have a burnt out abandoned shell of "quaintness " than an functioning downtown. As if small rural towns did not have enough problems already.
Got to clear out the goon squads every once in awhile. They are like rat colonies, they proliferate and game the system after X time. Resetting isn't going to prevent people from gaming the system but it does keep them on their toes.
I much prefer quaint old shopping districts, myself.
I'm indifferent to them. Shopping costs money (which actually biases me a bit against them. I have to pay a premium for the quaint). I just want to get in, get what's on my list, and get out. I have stuff to do.
Eric Hines
@ E Hines - that is the stereotypical male response described by comedians, relating it to hunter-gatherer strategies. Men: Pants(antelope). Follow signs to Aisle 4. Tag matches my size. Pay. Leave. Women: Scarf (berries). Head to section that might have scarves. If we look around the corner there might be more. Remember the berries in the last field we looked at? Do we like these berries better, or those? There didn't used to be that many berries here, there are more this year.
As for historical districts, everyone wants them up in New England. Every town has a historical society and some odd museum. They acquire a sameness, as there are particular eras that are favored, and most towns don't have anything left from more than 120 years ago. Quite a contrast after going to school at William and Mary. I like local history, but it has gotten to be a bit much.
Rockport is a tourist town, where people like to browse in adorable art and curio shops. It's even more pleasant if the shops are in nice "old" buildings (very little here gets to be more than 100 years old before a hurricane knocks it down, and not much is that old anyway, considering that Europeans didn't settle the place until well into the 19th century). Tourist destinations work better when they're quaint, even if the utilitarian Walmart is the store of choice if you just want to grab some batteries and a cooler.
Glitz and chic can work well for a coastal tourist town, too, and maybe we'll have some of that someday. But it makes sense to me to put some effort into preserving the quaint old buildings--unless the Historical Commission becomes an ossified power-mad little group of fascists, as so often seems to happen. At least here their territory was severely restricted to a tiny little historic district.
that is the stereotypical male response described by comedians
Yeah, and? Doesn't make it wrong. Even simulated comics get something right on occasion.
I don't doubt the occasional economic utility of quaint. The money spent by touri is just as green as anyone else's. Plano has its own "Olde Town," but the narrow, brick-surfaced streets are suitable only for touri. And the quaint "architecture" is ate up with cute only a tourist could love.
Eric Hines
"Those heritage commissions are a pox everywhere. Just a bunch of small petty people who all of a sudden have the power to say no, and would rather have a burnt out abandoned shell of "quaintness " than an functioning downtown."
Bingo.
We once had a client who wanted to add onto their house and it was in what had been designated a historical overlay zone because the developer was 'historic' for some reason. I couldn't for the life of me see the significance, and very few of the houses in the area were original to that development, but whatever- they got to set parameters you had to meet for development. Those restrictions ended up killing that job, as I'm sure they do many others, and as I'm equally sure they're really intended too.
My experience with these things is limited, but I'd say in L.A., the city bureau people are o.k., it's the civilian board members that are the problem.
"A European thinks a hundred miles is a long way, and an American thinks a hundred years is a long time."
Well, the acid test here has been whether the little "historic" district could survive. It's been dying for years. The even tinier adjacent town is smaller and frumpier, but more business friendly, and keeps adding successful bars and restaurants. I would have supported the Historic District Commission in principle if they'd managed to preserve some of the (semi) old character without strangling business development, but they were complacent and arrogant and seemed to relish their role as a bottleneck. If you're going to be a bottleneck, you'd better make sure no one knows how to wire around you. The city abruptly decided it could get on very well without these people.
You wouldn't believe the nonsense that gets talked about "business development" here. It's all about focus groups and synergies, nothing about why a business would want to invest here.
@ E Hines. Nothing wrong with it at all. It's what I do myself. I only note that while antelope is good to eat, so are berries.
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