Laserfiche WebLink
Jack O'Donnell: I have a question of staff. Do we have any data on house values, <br /> property values, when they are in historic districts? Is there national data on that kind of <br /> thing? We heard a statement today that real estate people said the overlay would make it <br /> worth less. <br /> Jan Meston: Studies nationwide show that values are equal to or greater than areas <br /> outside the overlay zones. <br /> Jack O'Donnell: It's interesting to follow real estate brochures. Anything in 98201 is <br /> advertised as historic. Everett is special. The Riverside Neighborhood is special. It <br /> definitely deserves this recognition and some kind of protection. There were two lovely <br /> homes from Riverside on the Historic Everett home tour. There are many more. I see an <br /> overlay like this as the City's gift to a neighborhood. There are only two other historic <br /> overlays in town. I think any neighborhood that could have it would be fortunate. <br /> One comment was made about what could happen across the street. In our existing two <br /> overlays, the lines are drawn down alleys so you keep both sides of the streetscape. <br /> There was an effort to do that here, too,with the line on the west side of Virginia. At 19th <br /> Street there is a neighborhood boundary with Delta Neighborhood. I would have <br /> included the south side of 20 Street between Fulton and Walnut as well to keep that <br /> streetscape intact. I think the houses on the south side of 21st Street are contributing. If I <br /> were drawing the boundaries, I would also have the line go over to the alley between <br /> McDougall and Broadway. McDougall and Rainier are just a beautiful as Virginia and <br /> Baker. <br /> I'm not sure how I feel about south of Everett Avenue. It is interesting that people are <br /> choosing not to be in this. I'm not sure what the motivation is there. But I would also be <br /> comfortable drawing the boundary along Everett Ave. <br /> Jim Staniford: I have noticed from a lot of comments that the overlay scares a lot of <br /> people, that they think this Commission is going to tell everybody what to do with their <br /> house. This body gives guidelines to help you put your house as close to original as it <br /> can be. There were concerns about houses that have been empty for quite a while and <br /> neighbors worrying that buyers would tear them down to build a big house. If you are in <br /> a historic overlay, you would have to come in front of this body to ask approval to <br /> demolish a contributing building. If we recommend against demolition, it still goes to the <br /> Planning Director for a decision. Our process is to help people who are in a historic <br /> overlay make improvements to their houses, not necessarily more expensively. We can <br /> sometimes give you guidelines on how to do it cheaper. <br /> A person spoke about worrying that she could afford to replace her front door with a <br /> correct door. Our guidelines are just to help avoid things that are out of character with <br /> the house and the neighborhood. Not necessarily more expensive. The guidelines are <br /> very helpful, and if you read them before you do a project, you may be able to save <br /> money. <br /> Paul Van Slyck: There have been comparisons made between this neighborhood and <br /> other historic neighborhoods in Everett with Greenlake and Capitol Hill in Seattle. What <br /> I have seen is that there were no controls in those historic Seattle neighborhoods, and <br /> 9 <br />