It is great to see so much dialogue about Historic District Overlays from those in Virginia-Highland. Given that these are real changes to the ordinances, it’s important for everyone to be comfortable with the impact a Historic District Overlay would have on your part of Virginia-Highland, and the impact on you as a homeowner.
Historic District Overlays typically are addendums to existing zoning ordinances that regulate exterior construction. These might include the visual appearance of the front of your house, for instance, the slope/pitch of the roof, the size of dormers and eaves, exterior finishes (wood, siding, brick, etc.), wall-to-window ratios, and potentially even garages and carriage houses should they be visible from the street, which they typically are given that a driveway leads to them. Many of these design-related regulations are not black and white but subjective, meaning of course that two rational people might come to different views of the adherence of any proposed changes to the regulation, based upon their view of the intent of the Historic District Overlay and stylistic biases.
Homeowners in Historic District Overlay neighborhoods that seek to renovate, demolish and rebuild, or in any way alter the front exterior of their houses (perhaps except color) must submit plans that meet the approved district regulations, and defend the plans accordingly. The defense of the plans would most likely include – outside any variance – presentations to the District, the VHCA, and the Urban Design Commission. These additional plan submissions and defenses are above and beyond all the current zoning and building permitting requirements, and can add significant time and cost to the construction process. It is understood from builders working on owner-occupied houses that these reviews can add months to the already lengthy approval process and require additional design submissions that otherwise would not be necessary, and can add significant cost and hassle to the renovation.
Homeowners who elect to sell their homes should recognize that buyers looking to purchase houses in a neighborhood with Historic District Overlays are also challenged. They face the risk of buying a house that they’d like to expand/alter/re-build without the rights to fully do so without the above mentioned regulations and lengthy, and often subjective, review processes. They might consider buying a property nearby instead without such designation for the ease, or discount their purchase price to account for the risk they are taking.
For those homeowners that have houses that already maximize the allowed building envelope, property values should probably rise a bit faster than market. For those homeowners whose houses are not-so-big or not-so-renovated, home values and taxes may rise, but eventual sales prices may suffer due to the above challenges facing buyers.
In any scenario, homeowners within a Historic District Overlay neighborhood are surrendering some rights without necessarily receiving just benefit. Surrendering rights to renovate their houses in any style, rights for their future buyers to do the same, and also surrendering to others the review of renovation plans based upon subjective regulations and stylistic bias, regardless of changing architectural styles and lifestyle changes.
Everyone should also recognize that some issues, such as building height and lot coverage – which limit the overall size of houses (McMansions, for instance) - are already in the current zoning ordinance. It’s a failure of enforcement of the ordinances, rather than the need for new regulations, that has led to these large houses that many opine about. Addressing the enforcement of existing ordinances on building height and lot coverage alone would keep renovations in scale with the existing neighborhood. New Historic District guidelines are not needed for scale issues – just enforcement of the current ordinances.
Finally, depending on the by-laws established by the District, a homeowner would be required to adhere to the regulations even if they staunchly oppose the creation of the District. This is why everyone must be heard and a transparent decision making process developed to ensure that the many aren’t unwillingly surrendering rights to the few.
I encourage all to be involved in the process – there are real costs involved in these decisions.