Preservation Master Plan meeting March 2nd

In what one could easily characterize as a kick-off meeting, the city’s Historic Architecture Review Board will meet next Monday to launch the work that will result with a “Preservation Master Plan” for the city, and Historic City News readers are encouraged to attend.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 2nd at 6:00 p.m. in The Alcazar Room of City Hall; on the ground floor facing the courtyard located at 75 King Street in St Augustine.

Since the city does not currently have such a master plan, it relies on other tools including the Land Development Code, Historic Preservation Element of the Comprehensive Plan, and the Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation to promote and protect the city’s historic and cultural resources.

A preservation master plan will create a single, comprehensive document that sets the city’s priorities and goals for historic preservation and may well open the door for changes to these codes.

Tackling the development of a master plan is a big job, so to help set the course for what is likely to be a process that will take several months and involve numerous public meetings, HARB will use this kickoff meeting to learn from others about the process.

Towards that end, this initial meeting will feature a presentation by Abigail Christman from the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions, a national non-profit committed to building strong local preservation programs through education, advocacy, and training.

Ms. Christman, from the Center of Preservation Research at the College of Architecture and Planning with the University of Colorado Denver, will address the group on the purpose and reason to have a preservation plan, suggest goals and methodologies that might meet specific needs in St. Augustine, and ways to engage the community in a full public involvement process. Ms. Christman has an extensive resume of architectural surveys and preservation outreach and education and has earned two master’s degrees which focus on architectural theory and history and public history and historic preservation.

After Monday’s presentation, input from the community and HARB will guide the board in directing the next phase of drafting the preservation plan which will include a number of additional public meetings and professional consultations.