A Broken Preservation Ordinance - Board Membership

Ordinance 51-05 - Ashland, Ohio

“BOARD MEMBERSHIP

The Historic Preservation Board shall consist of five (5) members as follows:

One architect, to the extend he/she is available in the community.

One preservation related professional member, to the extent he/she is available in the community (this shall include history, planning, archaeology or related disciplines).

Two property owners from within the district and also, to the extent possible, from within the community.

One resident of the City, generally.

Members shall be appointed by the Mayor and approved by Council and shall serve for four-year terms, except that the initial appointments shall be one for one year, one for two years, one for three years and two for four years.”

During the Revolutionary War colonists protested taxes being levied without the consent of those governed.  Taxation without representation was a fundamental cause for the break between England and 13 of her American colonies.  Today, I see the similar issues as only two of the members of the Historic Preservation Board in Ashland are property owners within the district.  When the Board was first created, one other position was held by a homeowner, but the mayor has not reappointed this man back to the Board, even though that person is more qualified than anyone who has held that position since.  Chris Buchanan not only has an appropriate university degree, but ran his own restoration/rehabilitation business.  Chris currently currently works as a Restoration Project Coordinator for the Ohio History Connection, formerly the Ohio Historical Society.  Chris recently coordinated the restoration of the Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio and had many other projects in the works.  Even I have a B.A. in History but I doubt the mayor will appoint me to the board because I have been too vocal about Ordinance issues. With a mayor appointing members to the Historic Preservation Board, he or she can project their influence without any check to their power by the citizens of the historic district.  So, the mayor could appoint individuals with little desire or interest in preservation and that Board will make decisions for the Center Street Historic District, even though less than half the members of the board actually live in the district.  The citizens in the Historic District deserve the right to vote for their representatives.  We deserve to have our own residents on the Historic Preservation Board.  Just as residents in Ashland would not want the people of Mansfield or any other community making decisions for our city, the citizens of the Center Street Historic District deserve to create our own path.  If other property owners in the city opt into the guidelines of the preservation ordinance, then they too deserve their representation.