La Grande Landmarks Commission hosts walking tour event
Oct. 15—LA GRANDE — The La Grande Landmarks Commission will be hosting a walking tour through the city's historic district that is open to public participation on Tuesday, Oct. 19.
Community members are invited to take part as the commission reexamines the district's design standards and moves forward with its district standards amendments in the near future.
The walking tour begins at 5:15 p.m. at Max Square on Adams Avenue and will maneuver through the downtown district. Upon completion of the walking tour, the commission and its visiting consultants will be holding a meet and greet to take input from those in attendance and answer any questions. The group hopes to engage local citizens in a personable atmosphere, rather than through online meetings or phone calls.
The historic district was created in 1999 and its guidelines for applicants have morphed into a set of standards over the years. Community Development Director Mike Boquist stated that some of the details are still subjective and create inconsistencies from one unique project to another. The main purpose of the walking tour is to garner public input on the upcoming updates to the historic district's design standards, which the city hopes will make the process more cut and dry for local businesses as well as the commission.
"What we've found is that it's been frustrating for not only our landmarks commissioners to be consistent in decision making, but also for the applicants who might have difficulty putting an application together and knowing how that decision is going to go," Boquist said. "Ideally you want it to be a predictable process."
Peter Meijer Architect consultants, a firm from Portland, will be collecting feedback from local businesses and those in the community to draft a set of design standards for the historic district. The walking tour is the first step of that process.
"Our goal is to have a robust public involvement process," Boquist said.
The La Grande Landmarks Commission requires that those who participate in the walk wear a face mask and recommends comfortable walking shoes and weather-proof attire.
Beyond the walking tour, there will be other ways for the public to learn about and comment on the city's changes to the district's standards. The landmarks commission's page on the city of La Grande's website — www.cityoflagrande.org/landmarks-commission — will post updates on the process. The webpage also provides a link to a survey — those who participate in the survey will be part of a drawing for a $25 gift card from a downtown merchant.
As the landmarks commission begins working with its consultants to update the historic district design standards, the city hopes residents will take advantage of the chance to learn more about the history of buildings in downtown La Grande.
"A great opportunity that goes with the walking tour is highlighting the great architecture in our community," Boquist said.
