BENTONVILLE -- City Council members discussed the building moving ordinance and brainstormed other ways the city could be involved in the preservation of historic structures Monday during a Committee of the Whole meeting.
Committee of the Whole meetings allow council members to discuss items on the agenda before voting on them. It also allows them to discuss other topics.
Council meeting
The Bentonville City Council will meetat 6 p.m. today in the Community Development Building at 305 SW A St.
Source: Staff report
Alderman James Smith brought up the city's building moving ordinance after discussion of agenda items was complete.
He said that 500 residents signed a petition in the spring asking for the city to discuss ways to preserve historic homes. The petition came after residents protested the demolition of the house at 703 W. Central Ave., which was home to the pioneer female aviator Louise Thaden.
Smith said homes in the historic districts along West Central Avenue and Southeast Third Street are registered with the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program and on the National Register of Historic Places. He suggested taking a look to see if an exemption could be made to the city's ordinance for the homes in those historic districts. The ordinance prohibits the moving a building within the limit.
"As land becomes more valuable close to the square, the structures on them become more disposable," he said.
Smith said there were 40 homes in the West Central Avenue Historic District when it was created, but there have been 10 homes demolished since.
It may be the ordinance is never used, but it would at least provide another option, he said.
Mayor Bob McCaslin said there's been a draft with amendments that has "floated around every department," but it wasn't necessary for the Thaden house since the most recent information given to the city has been the house will be dismantled to be placed in storage before at least part of it will be used on the Thaden School campus.
"Moving that house within the city has become a mute point," he said.
Smith said his request isn't specific to just the Thaden house and later asked for the draft to be sent to council members so they could discuss it.
A few aldermen asked if it would be appropriate to create criteria permitting any structures to be moved in the city, not just historical ones.
The city doesn't want to make it discretionary, said George Spence, city attorney.
"Right now, there are no criteria," he said. "You cannot move one (a home) to a location in the city, period. The question is whether we want to establish some criteria, and if so what those criteria would be."
The ordinance permits buildings to be moved outside the city. Those criteria could be used to move them in the city, said Alderman Octavio Sanchez.
"It's a can of worms," McCaslin said. "It's just a can of worms."
That could cause issues in the future, and the ordinance is sound, he said.
McCaslin said several times in the nearly hourlong discussion the city was never against preserving historic homes. He also said it wasn't the city's place to put restrictions on private investment in the free market.
"If you want to buy it and bulldoze it, go for it," he said. "It's America."
Alderman John Skaggs said part of the solution would be to find a way to encourage owners of historic homes to maintain their houses and keep them on their lots.
He mentioned creating an organization that could help with maintenance costs.
The organization would have to be a civic one, started by residents. Then the city could play a supporting role, Sanchez said.
McCaslin said the city would be happy to have an employee be part of that organization to be a liaison between the residents and city.
"The message I think we're tying to get across is that we have citizens that get upset when a building is torn down and want to blame the city for not having interfered," Skaggs said. "But those citizens need to get busy and get to work on an organization where they can deal with the issue instead of expecting the city to."
Alderwomen Stephanie Orman also suggested creating a historical preservation award that would highlight different homes in the historic districts. It would be similar to the landscaping award the city presents.
NW News on 08/23/2016