Northwood shop owners resist historic designation
WEST PALM BEACH — The city is considering naming the boutique and cafe-clustered Northwood Road historic, but shop owners say it would be better to preserve the street’s charm without adding the property restrictions that go along with the designation.
Friederike Mittner, West Palm Beach historic preservation planner, on Monday put forth a case for designating the 400 and 500 blocks of Northwood Road as historic.
“The reason ... is because of its association with the second commercial corridor of West Palm Beach during the 1920s, its concentration of historically and architecturally significant buildings and just for good planning principles,” Mittner said at a work session with the mayor and city commissioners. “It has a sense of place, the authenticity is there, the walkability is there. It really has this charm and uniqueness that can’t necessarily be replicated with new construction.”
But Tim Skelly, who owns Stone Button Studio at 514 Northwood Road, said that blanketing the street with a historic designation unfairly restricts the property owners who helped build the district’s charm.
“It keeps the little guys like me from being able to do anything with my shop,” he said.
Someday, he would like to add a second story to his building with a little apartment above the shop, but having to go through the Historic Preservation Board for approvals, “I would have to jump through so many loops it would be incredible,” Skelly said.
L i k e w i s e , R o b e r t B o n o , co-owner of Nowlin Flower Shop at 457 Northwood Road, made it clear he and his partner “vehemently” oppose the plan. Bono said he sat in on a meeting of the preservation board and saw what it might be like.
“I witnessed first-hand what another propert y owner was having to go through to convince the board to allow him to make changes to his residence,” Bono said. “And they denied him everything he wanted and he had to go back to the drawing board.”
The owner wanted to put in hurricane windows but the board insisted he restore the 80-yearold windows on the home, an expensive project, Bono said.
“I saw all this going on and thought, ‘This is not for me,’” he said. “These people on the board are not paid, they’re passionate about historical preservation, most live in historic homes or properties. I don’t know if they can be objective about it.
“Although I love my building and think it has a unique charm, I’m very close to retirement age and when it comes time to sell my building, this is my nest egg and I do not want to have a prospective owner turned off to buying my property because of this historic designation.”
Some commissioners expressed concern that, without the designation, buildings could be demolished and the charm and small scale of the street would be lost.
But Cit y Commissioner Sylvia Moffett, who represents the Northwood neighborhood, urged Mittner to drop the plan and to use the zoning code rather than historic designation to help maintain the area’s charm. Commissioner Paula Ryan agreed, saying property owners should be able to individually opt in to historic designation and to be eligible for the tax breaks and other advantages that come with it.
Mayor Jeri Muoio instructed the cit y’s director of development services, Rick Greene, to look for ways to encourage preservation through the zoning code and to report back.