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CONSIDERATION OF SUBMISSION OF THE CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (CLG) PROGRAM 2014-2015 APPLICATION FOR FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,000 TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE OKLAHOMA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE
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BACKGROUND: On April 14, 1998, Council approved Contract K-9798-108 with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) making Norman a member city in the Certified Local Governments (CLG) Program. The CLG Program is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior's national program for development and support of local historic preservation programs. Since its initial participation in 1999, the City of Norman has received an annual average allocation of $11,400 in CLG grant funds. Over the 15 years that the city has participated in the CLG program, the City has received nearly $164,000 in funding. In February SHPO notified the City of Norman's Historic Preservation Officer that the City was eligible to apply for up to $15,000 in CLG funding for the 2014-2015 program year.
Designation as a CLG city recognizes Norman's historic preservation efforts and entitles the City to apply for a portion of the education/outreach funding set aside by the SHPO out of each year's budget. Funding is intended to be used for historic research and public education and outreach programs. Over the past 15 years, Norman's CLG funding has been used to create public information and educational materials about historic preservation, to conduct historic and architectural surveys, and to host free, hands-on training programs in historic wood window repair, wood floor repair and the repair of historic masonry.
DISCUSSION: On March 3, 2014, the Historic District Commission voted unanimously to apply for funding to undertake the project described below for the FY15 CLG Program. The program requires a 60/40 in-kind match. Matching funds are derived by in-kind contributions of staff time. In order to receive $15,000 in CLG grant funds, the City must document a minimum of $10,000 in matching funds or in-kind contributions of staff time.
The proposed 2014-2015 CLG project and budget includes the following project and project cost:
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Intensive Level Architectural/Historical Survey of the Southridge Addition of Norman - $15,000
In 2001 the City commissioned an Intensive Historic/Architectural Survey of the Southridge Neighborhood to determine if the area was appropriate to consider for designation as a local historic district. The 2001 survey recommended local historic district designation but neighborhood property owners were not ready to move forward with this designation. Because of the implications for private property owners, designation of local historic districts is only undertaken at the initiation of the property owners and when a strong majority of those owners support the designation.
In June 2013 at the invitation of residents, city staff and the Ward 4 City Council representative met with Southridge neighbors to discuss the process of designating a local historic district. Staff explained that a first requirement for local designation was having a current Intensive Historic/Architectural Survey. SHPO defines a current historic survey as one that is less than five years old. Staff explained to participants that a common usage of CLG funding was for the development of historic surveys. Meeting participants expressed strong interest in considering local designation and requested that City staff propose to the Historic District Commission using the City's FY2014 CLG funds to carry out an update of the 2001 Southridge historic survey.
Southridge residents have come to believe that their neighborhood could be vulnerable to incompatible changes in light of recent discussions of high density residential land uses in the area. These concerns led residents to request that they be considered as the next Core Area Neighborhood for which staff would develop a neighborhood plan. Beginning with a neighborhood meeting held October 16, 2013, City staff has begun work on a Southridge Neighborhood Plan. While the plan is still under development, preliminary findings recognize that the neighborhood has a significant concentration of historic resources.
It is the Southridge neighborhood's decision whether or not to pursue local historic district designation and such action could only be undertaken at neighborhood expense and with a strong majority support of property owners. However the development of an intensive level historic/architectural survey is a first step that the City can fund through the use of a CLG grant. Historic surveys provide cities with a variety of useful baseline information about neighborhoods and the funding of historic surveys is one of the primary uses of CLG funding throughout the country.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff has reviewed the proposed CLG 2014-2015 Application for Certified Local Government Funding and recommends authorizing the submission of the CLG Program application to the State Historic Preservation Office in the amount of $15,000. Upon notification of the funding award, staff will forward any associated contract documents to the City Council for approval, including a request to appropriate the approved contract amount. CLG funds will be available July 1, 2014.