Hinsdale Demolition Ban In Works

HINSDALE, IL — Hindale has yet to enact a moratorium on demolitions of historic houses, but the village president said this week that he wants such a proposed measure to be retroactive to mid-March. Village officials are considering a six-month moratorium while they draft regulations on teardowns.

On March 16, the Village Board directed the Plan Commission to hold a public hearing on a moratorium. As far as the mayor is concerned, the moratorium would be retroactive to March 16. He said he wanted to avoid a rush of applications for demolitions from those seeking to beat the moratorium.

Any applications submitted before the board's March 16 meeting would continue as normal, Cauley said, "even though it pains us to see some of the beautiful homes in the queue being torn down."

He said the board would have to approve the retroactive provision in any moratorium, but he said the village is already notifying applicants of the possibility.

During public input at Tuesday's meeting, Rob Miller, who was connected remotely, called himself a historic preservationist, noting his family renovated the house at 231 E. Third St.

"It most likely would have been demolished if my family and I had not invested significantly more on saving the house than we could likely sell it for," Miller said.

The renovation, he said, took place from 2013 to 2015, before the pandemic brought uncertainty to the real estate market.

Despite his support for historic preservation, Miller said he believed a moratorium could threaten property values and the courts would deem such a measure an illegal taking by a municipal government. "Instead of just throwing rocks," he said he had suggestions for discouraging demolitions.

For one, he said, the village should speed up the permitting process and waive fees for anyone attempting to preserve historic houses. Second, he said the village should reduce redundancies with multiple committees overseeing renovation proposals, noting the process for his house took seven months. And finally, he recommended the village should do all it could to help people access programs that incentivize historic home renovations.

"As long as the marketplace demands new homes and the cost of renovations cannot be recouped in sales prices, I just think historic homes will crumble in place if a teardown ban is established," Miller said. "I would like to establish incentives for those who love architecture."

Cauley responded that he was thinking along the same lines in providing incentives, which he said he preferred over penalizing property owners.

"The last thing we want to do is have homes that aren't being renovated because no one wants to buy them and they are deteriorating because they can't be sold and renovated," he said.

In early March, Cauley recommended a six-month moratorium on teardowns in the Robbins Historic District. Others board members suggested expanding the moratorium to other neighborhoods. Cauley's suggestion came after historic preservationists lamented proposed demolitions at 716 S. Oak St., 419 S. Oak St. and 641 S. Elm St.

Most officials at Tuesday's board meeting were connected remotely. Cauley was one of the few who attended.