Zoning Board seeks more input on new historic preservation rules
STAMFORD — New guidelines for protecting historic buildings in Stamford have been in the works for more than a year. They will be in the works a little while lon-ger
Zoning Board members this week decided to allow for more comment on the changes after hearing from business owners, community organizations and residents.
These proposed changes — to section 7.3 of the Zoning Code — would strengthen the city’s Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, allow individuals to help define historic properties, and add an extensive review process for changes to historic sites.
The changes would formalize the advisory committee’s role in the review process for any proposed alterations to historic structures or districts.
They also would create new tools for identifying potentially historic buildings — and those that are not.
Commentors this week urged zoning officials to take care with the proposed changes.
“The changes to our zoning regulations such as those in section 7.3 have the potential for tremendous impact on large, commercial businesses all the way down to individual property owners in the city, of which I am one,” said Josh Fedeli, on behalf of a new nonprofit called Catalyst for CT, which advocates for “smart growth policies that benefit Southwestern Connecticut and its local taxpayers.”
Fedeli also leads Stamford’s Democratic City Committee. He argued that the Zoning Board had to solicit more feedback on the changes from the general public and “key stakeholders.” He homed in on the proposed creation of a Cultural Resources Inventory as an example of something that needs more thought.
The inventory would expand upon the already established roster of historic structures and sites in Stamford, including those on the national and state Registers of Historic Places. It would allow individuals to petition to add other properties at least 50 years old to the city’s historic list.
“I’m a homeowner in the city. I live in a home that was the first house built on Vine Road,” Fedeli said. “It’s close to 80 years old, and while I think it’s a historic structure … I’m just hesitant to introduce this idea of community inventory and having a super local organization that would deem that part of the community inventory without the same level of oversight that you would see from state historic or even national historic preservation.”
The changes would also establish a Historic Preservation White List, which would identify properties of that age with no historic value. Owners would be free to modify those structures as they see fit without oversight from the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee.
Catalyst for Connecticut isn’t the only group hoping that the Zoning Board moves with caution on the policy changes. Community members, particularly business owners and developers, have peppered the last two zoning meetings with requests for more time.
“I hate to see where underenforcement may lead to some overregulation and be a little bit more than we need,” said Rick Redniss, a land-use consultant from land surveying firm Redniss & Mead. Redniss, along with historic preservationist Renee Kahn, proposed the city’s original rules for historic buildings.
Historic preservationists, however, have endorsed the amendments wholeheartedly. Both Historic Neighborhood Preservation President Judy Norinsky and Elena Kalman — a Stamford-based architect and member of the HPAC — lauded the changes at the board’s Nov. 16 meeting.
The Zoning Board opted to continue the discussion of section 7.3 until its next meeting, slated for Mon. Dec. 21. Interested parties can send written comments to Land Use Bureau staff on the text changes until Dec. 14.
After the that meeting, the public will have yet another opportunity to provide written comments to the Land Use Bureau, leading up to the Zoning Board’s Jan. 11 meeting. The board will accept comments on the proposal until Jan. 4.
“If you need any light reading for Christmas, you’ll have a revised 7.3,” said Zoning Board Chair David Stein.