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TH E ALLIANCE REVIEW r W , T Y . AYf Information from the National Trust for Historic Preservation Forum listserv. Q •' lin with zoning munity, it will be easier. If you use an overlay district to enact Our local Historic District is strugg g' and subdivision issues . ` Currently our Planning and Zoning your Historic District regulations , you may be, able to amend Department does all subdivision review and approval - includ- the overlay to require appropriate lot sizes , but you should ing for the Historic District. The HDC has no say in the check your enabling legislation. process , but has threatened to deny building permits to any home that does not fit HD guidelines - including too many However, if you are investigating HDC input into the subdivi- houses too close together. They believe they are empowered by Sion process , you will need to check your state law to see how the State legislation and precedent. The County P&Z, on the it delegates powers with regard to subdivision review, I antici- attorney pate that it places the authority quite firmly with the Planning other hand, has solicited an opinion from the county which states that the HDC cannot deny an owner the ability to Commission and its staff. With regard to our subdivision build on a lot approved by P&Z during the subdivision process * review, if it meets the quantifiable standards for subdivision as Ile t from the cit- set forth in the local ordinances , the subdivision must be Our HDC is appointed by the elected governmen izenry and, as a whole, the commission has little or no planning approved. So, if you want to pursue the route of HDC input in ake the subdivision process , you will want to make sure that the experience or background and are not likely able to m sound subdivision decisions . P&Z, which oversees the HDC, HDC has standards on which to base their recommendation to this issue. We the Planning Commission or Administrator and that their rec- and the HDC are very very contentious about have many, many lots that can still be subdivided- so we are at ommendation is required in the ordinance. Then, the HDC the beginning of a stage that can significantly alter the charac- could be another sign-off in the process , such as the Fire Marshall or Traffic Engineer and their veto, based on Historic ter of the HD . District standards , could potentially deny the subdivision. Does anyone else have experience with subdivision process in local historic districts ? Is it done by the HDC or the local I hope this helps . Planning office? Does your HDC have any input? Does your subdivision regulations for the HDC differ at all from the sub- Krista M. Hampton division regs for the rest of your local jurisdiction? khampton@columbiasc. net Thanks . This sounds like a problem where there is a perceived (if not Mary Catherine Cochran real) overlap between the powers of the Historic District koontz@home. com Commission and the Planning & Zoning Commission . I've run into this problem before, if that is indeed the case . In my situ- ation, I found that commission members and other city officials AN • confused the functions of the two groups . Everyone seems to Mary Catherine, Administrator have a basic understanding of zoning issues and what purpose Here in Columbia, SC, our Planning & Zoning subdivisions and does so with- they serve, but few understand how zoning is different from also has the authority to review out the input of the Design Review Commission. The standards design review and the regulations that are supposed to be are tied to the zoning classification (single or multi-family) , but enforced by a historic district commission. are the same citywide. State law is pretty specific here about who reviews subdivisions . The main problem that I encountered was whenever the two commissions had to pass judgement on the same issue (i . e . , The most comprehensive solution to the problem would be to building height,- setbacks , etc.) , but for different reasons . Going change the required lot size in the district to be more in line back to the ordinances and enabling legislation for each com- with the historic structures . Easier said than done, however, mission, we had to explain that the P & Z commission especially if some of the folks with the large lots are counting reviewed building heights , setbacks , etc . because they were on the cash someday to send Jr. to college. If you have some zoning issues (public health and quality of life issues) , while sort of established and adopted plan that enumerates how the historic district commission reviewed the same aspects of a restricting subdivisions will benefit the district and the comm proj ct because they posed a potential impact to the district' s e 8