Although many enjoy the pleasures of travel to places where strong landmark controls exist, such as Charleston, New Orleans, and Nantucket, even those who appreciate such preservation efforts elsewhere are reluctant to see them imposed at home. A common reason for this, while erroneous, has been a belief that with landmark controls in place “you can’t do anything with your house” and, related to that concern, is that land-marking interferes with potential increase in market value due to limitations on the number of interested buyers, among other factors.

Now, many communities are seeing that the advantages of landmark designation outweigh the disadvantages. Among these advantages are the preservation of neighborhood character, and the protection of investment in restoring an historic house. In some places inappropriate development, both of scale and style, in older neighborhoods, has prompted a look at how such damage to the streetscape can be avoided. SPLIA has identified a number of communities which are either instituting landmark controls for the first time or increasing the effectiveness of existing laws.

The Village of Mineola adopted a historic preservation ordinance for the first time in 2000 and has just designated 3 individual buildings owned by the Village. Approximately 20 additional commercial buildings on Main Street and Second Street have been identified as potentially eligible. The new law contains several mechanisms which are considered important to an effective ordinance. These include hardship criteria, minimum maintenance standards and meaningful penalties for violations. The village is also drafting a tax incentive law to make landmark designation more attractive, particularly to commercial property owners. The Village of Plandome Manor adopted its first landmark preservation law in 1999, following the loss of Plandome Manor. The Village is in the process of identifying appropriate candidates for designation. There are a total of 287 dwellings in the village, the majority built in the early Twentieth century. The new law requires owner consent, but, as an incentive, provides for a freeze on assessment at present levels or reduced prospectively, subject to the approval of the Nassau County Board of Assessors.

The Village of Bellport, this past year, has adopted an historic preservation ordinance and has designated its first historic district, called the Bellport Lane Historic District consisting of 16 pre-Civil War dwellings built by the Bell shipbuilding family. The village has recently issued guidelines for owners in the district which were well received. The ordinance was based on the state’s model landmark ordinance with both the Town of East Hampton and the Village of Greenport also providing examples. The recommendation to create historic districts goes back to the 1987 Village Master Plan. Bellport is currently determining additional eligible properties for potential historic districts and has a moratorium in place preventing demolition or alteration of any structure over 50 years old.

Southold is also examining the effectiveness of its present landmark law originally adopted in 1983. The law has not worked well to preserve historic buildings in the Town due to its reliance on owner consent and resulting lack of application. Presently the Town is looking at more direct ways of addressing the number of demolitions which have occurred in recent years by controlling outright demolition as well as demolition by neglect. This law is in Code Committee, chaired by Councilman Bill Moore, and is expected to have a public hearing shortly.

North Hempstead is tightening its legal notice requirement to clarify who is responsible for carrying out notification of a pending designation. North Hempstead is also considering adding a provision which would impose a period of a year before reapplication, should a landmark be rejected by the Town Board for designation.

The Huntington Historic Preservation Commission is considering an update of its present ordinance, adopted in 1984, to conform to New York State Historic Preservation Office requirements, in order for the Town to receive designation as a Certified Local Government. Brookhaven has had an active landmark designation program since adopting its law in 1976. Recently it designated four new historic districts on the South Shore after intense lobbying from citizens groups led by Bertram Seides, an architect from East Moriches. These districts, the result of a decade of survey and coalition building, celebrate resources associated with the shorefront development of Moriches, Center Moriches, East Moriches and Eastport.

Due to perceived and actual threats to buildings which are part of the community’s heritage, its streetscape and its quality of life, towns and communities are taking steps to assure that the past will still have its place in the future, in spite of enormous real estate and development pressures. These steps include a multiplicity of measures, including more vigilance with respect to land use proposals and efforts to improve landmark protection ordinances so that they work when they are needed. Key to providing more protection are such provisions as demolition by neglect standards, meaningful penalties for violations, specific criteria for designation and alterations, and particularly, not requiring owner consent. CB