Perhaps the most interesting insight from a panel of four "experts" dealt with neighborhood conservation, a concept that has been used in Chapel Hill, Raleigh and other cities. It's obvious that Wilson is behind the curve on this concept. Why conserve a neighborhood when you can simply create a whole new one out of outlying farmland? That's been the deal the city has made with developers and home builders in years past. But the use of neighborhood conservation overlay districts in other cities has shown that saving neighborhoods is good for the residents, property owners and the city itself.
Too often in Wilson, neighborhoods have been considered expendable. Once-grand neighborhoods have been transformed into unattractive, low-income, dilapidated streetscapes. Enforcing historic preservation and neighborhood conservation appearance standards can forestall neighborhood deterioration. Limiting the extension of city services, including water and sewer lines, roads and electrical power to outlying undeveloped land would restrict the overbuilding of housing stock, which reduces the value of existing (i.e. older) homes. Creative ways of encouraging home ownership, such as property tax reductions for owners willing to restore dilapidated or abandoned housing, would further boost existing neighborhoods and clean up some of the city's residential eyesores.
Wilson's comprehensive plan will be a long time in the making, but a focus on neighborhoods looks like a good place to start.
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Unfortunately, this will go right into the already full bin marked "lip-service" because the developers/realtors have clout, and they continue to get more and more zoning OK's from City Hall to build new homes out into the NW quandrants of Wilson.
Enforcing historic preservation is not the panacea needed. There is a fine line to historic preservation success.
Wilson has too many rules and no one wants to invest their hard earned dollars in a home which they cannot fix up the way they want to.
We have been waiting for this historic preservation boom for what 30 years? Vance St, Bruton St, Grey St and Bragg St(examples) will NEVER be renovated until people(families) can come in there and tear down and fix up to their desire.
Check out Cavalier. A bevy of renovations. Check out the historic districts where the rules are. House are sitting 30+ years and very few are being aquired so they sit and rot. The ones that are just sit for their renters and the bare minimum upkeep.
Way too much red tape for people to WANT to live and invest in areas of too much regulation. My friends tell me they would NEVER buy a property in a historic district because of this.
I do not blame them.
I owned a house in the Old Wilson Historic District for 23 years. I never had a problem with the historic guidelines as I added fences, installed storm windows, added a bathroom, changed colors, changed landscaping, etc., etc. I did, however, have problems with neighbors who made detrimental changes to their homes without going through the certificate process or who didn't maintain their homes. Two houses on Vance Street have recently been beautifully restored. Another on Kenan Street (Broad-Kenan Historic District) has been renovated beautifully. The guidelines for historic preservation are national standards promulgated by the Department of the Interior. The claim that historic preservation guidelines discourage home ownership or appropriate renovations is a red herring. People who love and respect historic buildings appreciate the guidelines that prevent neighbors from ruining the neighborhood with inappropriate renovations.
Oh, I understand full what you mean. The person who 'decorated' that big old home behind the Sizzlin on the corner of grey and bruton did quite a job, eh
My point is people(investors) do not want to be told what they can and cannot do to their homes. Downtown Wilson residential needs some excitement. Like razing some of these older smaller nod distinctive homes and really nice new and modern (green and contempory) designs to blend in with some of the nicer homes. I could envision someone coming and and buying up a 4-6 lot plot and designing something that would be nice. This is the ONLY way we will bring in decent families with children when we get a way from this save all historic mentality. Infill is not all that bad.
Do not get me wrong. Some historic structures are savable BUT not all. Those(the older junk and rotten structures no one wants)give perception an investor/homeowner can come in and make a diff. Because they feel they will be told NO to change.
30+ years of these houses sitting and waiting is too long. Don't ya think?
Anonymous reveals his true attitude with his assertion that "decent" families will not live in a historic district. What arrogance! As for "investors," I've seen what investors have done to historic neighborhoods by buying older homes, breaking them up into apartments and letting them deteriorate until they are boarded up. Owner occupancy is the key, and it's beginning to work in Wilson's older neighborhoods. Infill is allowed in historic neighborhoods. The only restriction is that the new construction must be compatible (i.e., similarly designed) with existing homes. Wilson Habitat for Humanity has built infill homes compatible with surrounding homes in historic districts and has done it within budget. Preservation rules allow razing homes in historic districts. If the local board finds the structure is worth preserving, it can delay demolition for up to six months but cannot prohibit it.
People don't want to be told what they can do with their property? Then let's do away with all zoning laws and building codes. That will let owners do whatever they want with their properties, such a putting a toxin-spewing industry next to your new mansion or building a firetrap that is falling down as soon as it's occupied.
....arrogance huh?
Show me a 'decent' FAMILY, w/ children, that has done a complete renovation in one of the hostoric districts. Note the comment, w/ family.
'owned a house in HD for 23 years'
so then why did you move away?
Like I said and maybe you overlooked my comment there is a fine line between having/enforcing rules and regulations and working to encourage DECENT young vibrant familes to WANT to sink their funds in these regulated districts.
That is lacking today.
Just because it is politically correct to overlook the thugs on the street corners and all the shannigans tenents who jump from apartment to apartment every 3-6 months does not mean I am arrogant. Just realistic.
Families of decent caliber do not want to live in this environment. Somehow we need to tackle the REASON why we do not have DECENT families WANTING to invest in Wilson's historic district. And live here!
Wilson encourages that kind of "investment" by default. Just follow the money trail (guaranteed rents and tax write-offs); you will be surprised at who some of these slumlords actually are. And where they themselves prefer to live.
Hint: It isn't in the ghetto.
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