Putting teeth in preservation

Proposed King William Historic District Expansion

By Scott Huddleston – Express-News

Efforts to expand the King William Historic District will resume this week, but with a smaller area affected downtown.
The area now targeted for extension of the district is roughly one-third the size it was in August, when condominium and business owners along South Flores Street balked at the proposal. Their frustration was fueled in part by a recent code change that shifted the burden of petition to those who oppose historic designation.

“The response was pretty scorching. The combined sentiment was that this was not welcome,” said Martha McCabe, a resident and condo owner west of Flores.

But McCabe said she’s happy that the city and the King William Association, which requested the expansion, removed her street. The houses and other properties that remain in the proposed area are a better fit for King William, she said.

A meeting on the proposal is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Development & Business Services Center, 1901 S. Alamo. Those opposing the expansion then will have 90 days to gather signatures from 51 percent of property owners to halt the process.

Before a code change adopted by the City Council in June, a designation process could be initiated only with signatures from 51 percent of homeowners who favored designation.

Dick Davis, King William Association president, said the group erred in asking the city to move the district’s western edge to San Pedro Creek in order to protect the area from high-rises, aluminum windows, chain-link fencing and other materials that diminish a historic neighborhood’s beauty and authenticity.

“It probably was a mistake,” he said, to target a large area, especially after the code change.

Although some have raised concerns about taxes and restrictions on exterior improvements, many of the nearly 100 property owners affected could receive a break on city taxes if the district is enlarged.

Rumors had circulated that the association wanted to enlarge the district so it could move part of the annual King William Fair. After surveying residents, “we decided to keep the fair pretty much as it is,” Davis said.

McCabe, a retired lawyer, suggested that the city use a mediator to negotiate with property owners before any future designation processes begin.

“When property owners face a fight-or-flight dilemma, most are going to stay and fight,” she said.

Shanon Wasielewski, the city’s historic preservation officer, said the city is encouraging neighborhoods “more strongly” to hold informal meetings on a designation before a formal process begins.

“There’s always going to be somebody at that first meeting wondering why they didn’t know about it earlier,” she said.