A local group called Traverse City Community Design is working to expand the boundaries of Traverse City’s three historic districts – Central, Boardman, and Downtown – and establish new historic districts in Slabtown and Old Town. At least 51 percent of property owners must agree to become part of a historic district, a designation that puts constraints on home construction and design but also preserves neighborhood character and increases property values, the group says.

Architects Suzannah Tobin and Ken Richmond presented the proposal to the Central Neighborhood Association last night at a meeting at Crooked Tree Arts Center. The duo will also discuss the concept with the Historic Districts Commission (HDC) – a board on which they both previously served for many years – at the commission’s noon meeting today (Thursday) at the Governmental Center.

Traverse City has three existing historic districts (pictured, map), which the city’s ordinance defines as a designated area that “reflects elements of the city's cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history and is worthy of recognition and historical preservation.” Central’s boundaries are roughly defined by north of Fifth Street, Division Street, the alley between Eighth and Ninth streets, and Locust Street. Downtown covers much of downtown between Union, Washington, Boardman, and Grandview Parkway. Boardman covers an irregular mass between Boardman Avenue, south of Webster Street, Railroad Avenue, and north of State Street.

Both residential and commercial property owners in a historic district must go to the city HDC for approval if they wish to do certain work on their sites. That includes construction of a new building, moving or demolishing a structure, or exterior alterations or repairs that require a building permit. Changing paint colors or replacing window shutters wouldn’t require a review, for instance, but building a new porch or garage would. Seven members appointed by the city commission sit on the HDC, which must include among its members at least one registered architect and two members submitted by preservation societies or historical groups.

In Central and Boardman neighborhoods, the historic district boundaries are different than the neighborhood association boundaries – a distinction that's especially pronounced in Central. That’s one reason Tobin and Richmond are advocating for expanding Central’s historic district boundaries south to Griffin Street, mirroring the neighborhood association lines. “The neighborhood itself is very clearly defined,” says Tobin. “We feel it’s organic and distinct.” 

Tobin says she and Richmond also heard numerous complaints over the years on the HDC from people upset about the look or scale of new development downtown or in their neighborhoods and wondered how those projects were allowed to be built. “My answer was always the same: That building wasn’t in one of the historic districts,” Tobin says. Historic districts can help ensure the patterns of neighborhood streets – the scale and layout of their homes and buildings – remains consistent, she says. That creates predictability and a “sense of place,” the architects believe, which contributes to a sense of stability and improved property values.

Tobin says the city’s recently adopted master plan – which has a long-term goal of establishing building design standards for commercial developments – and resident feedback in the city’s new strategic action plan underway show that “people really care about being intentional about urban design and protecting the character of downtown and the neighborhoods.” Accordingly, “it feels like really good timing” to help neighborhoods understand their options for expanding their historic district boundaries or for creating new historic districts, Tobin says.

Still, not all owners want to voluntarily impose restrictions on their own properties or curtail their flexibility when it comes to renovation and design. The odd “gerrymandered” boundaries of the Downtown and Boardman historic districts reflect the previous rejection of some property owners of the designation, Tobin acknowledges. In Central Neighborhood, property owners outside the historic district lines have sometimes built modern homes and advocated for design diversity as an important value alongside preserving historic charm on certain streets. In addition, expanding or adding historic districts could put dozens or even hundreds of new properties in Traverse City under the purview of the HDC, consolidating power in the hands of seven rotating individuals whose review standards can sometimes fluctuate and be subjective or unclear – as Tobin herself will attest.

Still, Tobin believes the positives of historic districts outweigh the negatives – and says taking certain steps, like better defining the HDC’s review standards, could further improve the process. “We need to be more objective and less subjective on what’s expected,” she says. “There has to be a clear set of guidelines to follow.” As an architect, Tobin emphasizes that she’s not opposed to new development or trying to cling to a prescribed idea of the past. “I think people get turned off by the word ‘historic,’ and that it means we have to preserve everything exactly the way it is,” she says. “That’s not what we’re intending. I’m not afraid of growth, but I want that growth to be respectful. It needs to respect the context (of the neighborhood).”

Tobin says that while she and Richmond are holding community listening sessions and helping spearhead the exploration process for expansion, their goal is for neighborhoods to ultimately take the reins and lead the charge themselves with support from Traverse City Community Design. The city’s ordinance outlines the process those neighborhoods will have to follow, starting with a petition signed by at least 20 percent of property owners within the proposed new boundaries. That petition is followed by an HDC study of the expansion area, with a report submitted to the city planning commission, the Michigan Historical Commission, and the State Historical Advisory Council.

From there, signatures from at least 51 percent of property owners must be gathered affirming their consent to be in the historic district. The HDC must hold a public hearing within 60 days of receiving those signatures, then submit a final report to the city commission within a year of the hearing. A city commission vote is held to approve and adopt the historic district boundaries. All told, the process is estimated to take approximately two years based on the resources in the proposed district, according to Tobin and Richmond.