Will long-time preservation group be removed from Beaufort’s historic review board?

Who influences the building decisions in Beaufort’s 300-acre historic district for the next few decades could be changing and battle lines are being drawn.

The city’s Historic District Review Board (HRB) is charged with vetting applications for renovations and demolitions in the Beaufort National Historic Landmark District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

The Historic Beaufort Foundation, a not-for-profit and the leading preservation organization in the city, is allowed to nominate potential HRB members to fill one of the board’s five seats. The city granted that power in its city code in 2004. The foundation is the only group in the city allowed to submit nominations.

The City Council makes the final decision on the appointments.

But under a proposal by Curt Freese, director of Community Development, the city would no longer accept nominations from the foundation.

Freese’s recommendation came after the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce in April asked the city to consider accepting candidate nominations for the board from the business community, too. That request, in turn, triggered a larger discussion on whether any special interest group should be allowed to put forth candidates to serve on a city board with regulatory authority over development.

Freese says he’s never seen an independent group with nominating ability in other jurisdictions he’s worked in.

The proposal to end nominations from the Historic Beaufort Foundation has prompted strong reaction.

At a Tuesday work session, residents and developers and former local representatives packed into a first-floor conference room. Work sessions typically attract a handful of people. Much of the four-hour meeting was taken up by discussions of the HRB.

Opponents of ending Historic Beaufort Foundation nominations to the HRB argued it is critical for preservation interests to have a seat on a city panel whose aim is preservation.

“They don’t come to look at tall buildings, and they don’t come to look a big parking lots,” said Steve Harrison, the owner of the 200-year-old Rhett House Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in a former plantation house.

Harrison spoke in favor of keeping the Historic Beaufort Foundation nominees for the HRB, which he called a vital instrument and “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

Parker Moore, an environmental attorney and member of the city’s Design Review Board, another panel with a hand in development review, said giving the Chamber the ability to nominate members of the HRB would amount to giving decision-making power to registered lobbyists.

Cynthia Jenkins, Historic Beaufort Foundation’s executive director, said historic preservation is especially important in a national historic landmark district. And the foundation’s work in the city dates back decades. It was the foundation, Jenkins noted, that arranged for the funding to remove tin-can facades on Bay Street.

“We brought back what gives this place a sense of where you are,” Jenkins said of the group’s history-saving efforts.

Supporters of the city’s proposal questioned the fairness of allowing one organization to nominate HRB members. They also point to empty lots and run-down buildings in the historic district as evidence that something needs to change in how the review process works now.

Thriving businesses are a major contributor to the health and character of downtown Beaufort, said Ian Scott, president of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce. Business climate and investment should be weighed in equal measure with history, he says.

In a letter to the city, the chamber said it “will gladly identify, vet and recommend a qualified candidate for the City to consider.”

The discussion comes while the city is implementing reforms in its complicated development process which includes several boards with a hand in reviewing and approving developments. The goals are to simplify the process and produce buildings aligned with the Beaufort design style, Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray said.

That style has a specific look and includes architectural features that developed over hundreds of years based on the hot and humid environment and other factors. Common design features are big windows and doors, porches, raised first floors and southerly facing houses.

In recent years, however, new development has, at times, frustrated city officials and residents because it has not fit the city’s historic design aesthetic. At the same time, the length of the process to complete historic reviews also has frustrated developers and some homeowners who want to fix up their property. City planning staff says it takes years for some projects to get through the Historic District Review Board process.

“We heard from residents they think new development can be better,” Murray said. “As mayor, I certainly agree. So with this code and process review, that’s our intent, to produce higher quality development. But that will require changes in how we’ve been doing business.”

Looming over the debate over who serves on the HRB is a lawsuit filed by Historic Beaufort Foundation against the city appealing the Historic District Review Board’s OK of large development projects planned for downtown.

Graham Trask, who has also sued the city over the projects, said the city ending the Historic Beaufort Foundation nominations is a political response to the lawsuit.

“I think that this discussion is a kangaroo court,” Trask said.

City officials said the proposal is about fairness.

“How do you give 20% of a board to one organization and you don’t open that same opportunity for others?” Councilman Josh Scallate said.

Murray acknowledged his frustration with current direction of Historic Beaufort Foundation leadership. But he doesn’t think any special interest, whether it be the Historic Beaufort Foundation or the Chamber, should have a voice in nominations for a city board with power over development, he said.

“It’s about fairness and objectivity in local government,” Murray said.

Historic Beaufort Foundation will still be able to provide input on development projects, Murray said.

Two seats on the Historic District Review Board are currently up for reappointment. The City Council has been interviewing candidates in closed session over the last month.

The city is considering other proposals to tighten up its development standards that Murray argues will have bigger impacts than changing the makeup of the HRB.

One is a new stand-alone planning commission that would combine duties currently handled by two panels, the Metropolitan Planning Commission and the Design Review Board. Those panels would be disbanded. Standards for the historic district also are being tightened up including making it more difficult to demolish buildings.

“What were finding is it’s a disjointed process,” Murray said.

All of the proposals, including the HRB recommendation, will be heard by the Metropolitan Planning Commission in July for an advisory opinion. The City Council will hear the changes at its first meeting in August.