 The Boone Post Office is one of about 150 historical sites in the Boone area the Historic Preservation Committee hopes to protect. Photo by Casey Gahagan
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by JULIANNE OLSON
Intern News Reporter
The Historic Preservation Commission’s authority is under review by the Boone Town Council and the Planning Commission after existing for three years.
The initial goal of the five-person commission, made up of two town council members and three citizens, was to propose language to develop an inventory of historic places in Boone to be preserved.
“We have a photographic album of about 150 structures, properties and businesses in Boone we want to make historical landmarks and districts,” town council member Rennie Brantz said.
The Town of Boone
bought the downtown post office from the U.S. Postal Service for $1.25
million in September 2008 after the Historic Preservation Commission
recommended the purchase.
Part of
the post office’s space is rented by the post office and the rest is
used for town offices. That space may eventually be used as an office
for the Chamber of Commerce, a Boone visitor center or a small museum.
The
Historic Preservation Commission wants the authority to protect the
sites they deem historic, which they have begun by forming a language
outlining their powers and limitations.
The
proposed text was presented to town council and Planning Commission
members at the town council quarterly public hearing Monday.
The next
step is for the Planning Commission to approve, deny or alter language
of the proposed text by the Nov. 19 town council meeting, where members
will give the final decision on what the Historic Preservation
Commission’s authority will include.
“This is a major step or change in the right direction to preserve historic places in Boone,” Brantz said.
The
definition of a historic landmark or property has not been officially
defined because it has not yet been authorized. A definition will
follow the Nov. 19 meeting.
If the
proposed authority is granted to the Historic Preservation Commission,
two Boone citizens will be added to the commission member list.
Concerns with the new commission’s authority include what owners of property can do to their property if deemed as historical.
“A lot
of people think the university will be exempt from the rules and
regulations of historical preservation,” town council member Janet
Pepin said. “If the university decides they want to demolish or change
a piece of property that the commission considers of historic value,
they can appeal to the [North Carolina Historical Commission].”
Photo by Casey Gahagan | The Appalachian
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