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Director's Report December 11, 2006 1. The processing of Pineville Commercial block for historic landmark designation has produced two interesting legal results. a. The State Historic Preservation Office stated in its letter that it was not certain that the Historic Landmarks Commission has legal jurisdiction in Pineville, because no formal interlocal agreement has been established between the Commission and the Town. The Town has passed a resolution naming the Commission as its Historic Landmarks Commission, but apparently that resolution is not sufficient. Consequently, the Commission is going to have to extend its existing interlocal agreement between Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte to include the Towns of Pineville, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill, and Davidson. I have asked Pat Nystrom to work with Marvin Bethune to draft the paperwork to begin the process of making this happen. Click Here For Letter. b. The State Historic Preservation Office also questioned whether a historic landmark can contain multiple properties. Staff asked Richard Drucker of the Institute of Government to respond to this query. According to Mr. Drucker, a historic landmark can contain multiple properties. This means that the prospective designation of the Pineville Commercial Block can move forward once a interlocal agreement is in place. Click here to read his response. 2. The closing on the N.S. Alexander House occurred on December 8th. Emergency repairs to the house have begun. 3. Mary Ruffin Hanbury of the State Historic Preservation Office visited the Commission on November 29th and toured various projects the Commission has underway. We also discussed the process for forwarding Survey and Research Reports to Raleigh for comment. Overall it was a most positive visit. 4. The closing on the Oehler House is tentatively scheduled for December 20th. The Commission will be paying the County for the land based upon the purchase price the County paid for the land initially. 5. The City of Charlotte Real Estate Department has contacted the Commission about the possibility of the City's leasing White Oak Plantation as a place to house horses for the City's mounted police. The White Oak ad hoc committee is considering this matter. 6. The Town of Davidson has delayed voting on the four prospective historic landmarks recommended by the Historic Landmarks Commission. The Town first wants to assess its overall approach to historic preservation. 7. The owners of the historic First National Bank Building will be submitting an application to have the building considered for historic landmark designation. The Friends of Fourth Ward have also requested that four properties be processed for historic landmark designation. All of these items will come before the Survey Committee at its meeting in January.
8. The Commission has received drafts of Survey and Research Reports on the Wing Haven House and Gardens and the Myrtle Apartments. A Survey and Research Report is also being prepared on the Ada Jenkins School. 9. Mattson and Alexander will be doing the National Register Nomination for the N. S. Alexander House. 10. The covering of the windows at Grace A.M.E. Zion Church is scheduled for the near future. 11. Robert and Karl Schmitt will begin final upfit of the Sidney and Ethel Grier House once they complete their work on the N. S. Alexander House. 12. A UNCC intern has been working on scanning past minutes of the Commission. We will soon have minutes from 1993 until the present on the website. Respectfully submitted,
Dan L. Morrill, Consulting Director
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