Brookhaven officials and a state Department of Archives andHistory representative were scheduled to meet today to address afew topics of concern in a prospective ordinance to create ahistoric district downtown.

The city is considering the adoption of an ordinance that wouldmake Brookhaven a Certified Local Government Community and create aPreservation Commission. However, aldermen are concerned that someof the requirements may prove too cumbersome for those affected bythe ordinance, said City Attorney Joe Fernald.

In an attempt to address local concerns, the board madeadjustments to the initial ordinance provided by the U.S.Department of the Interior and the state Department of History andArchives. However, Fernald said the agencies are not pleased withthe changes.

“It places obligations and duties on the city and thiscommission. It’s a lot more complicated than being named aCertified Local Government Community and being able to do what wewant,” Fernald said.

Chief among the aldermen’s concerns, the attorney said, is theamount of control the city would retain over the commission. Underthe auspices of the ordinance, the commission would wieldconsiderable power through the creation of historic districts, hesaid.

Specific buildings cannot be specified as a district, asaldermen discussed previously when eying The Haven Theatre, theAlexander Teen Center, the Multi-Modal Facility and the Chamber ofCommerce building. A district would encompass an area.

Within the historic district, buildings could not be modified orrenovated without first getting the approval of the preservationcommission, the state Department of Archives and History and theU.S. Department of the Interior, Fernald said.

“The city has invested heavily in improvements in the downtownarea the past few years, and the merchants have also gone toconsiderable expense to improve the appearance of their buildings,”said Fernald, adding those efforts could be curtailed should theordinance mandate how they city could make improvements.

For example, Fernald said, his office was built in 1951. In pastyears, he has remodeled the exterior to match other buildings alongRailroad Avenue and added New Orleans-style doors and windows todress it up. Under the ordinance, he would have been required tolimit his improvements to making the building look as it did in1951.

“Just about every building on this block has been renovated,”Fernald said.

Control on the renovation of existing structures and theconstruction designs of new buildings gives the commissionconsiderable power in determining the future of the downtown area,Fernald said, and the board does not want to relinquish totalcontrol of the area.

Aldermen are concerned the preservation commission could becomeanother recreation department, which is nearly autonomous.

The city controls how money is allocated to the department eachyear, but it has no other control other than abolishment and theappointment of board members. The department can determine howmoney is spent and what programs it implements.

Although that has worked for the recreation department, Fernaldsaid, it does not seem feasible to relinquish the city’s heart toan autonomous commission.

“The board, in essence, wants to maintain some control of thiscommission,” he said.

In addition, the city wants to include a compromise that wouldenable businesses to “opt out” of being included in the historicdistrict, Fernald said. By opting out, the businesses would not beeligible to apply for any of the preservation grants offered by thestate or federal government, but would be able to retain control oftheir own renovations.

However, he said he is not sure that the state Department ofArchives and History or the U.S. Department of the Interior wouldapprove of the addition.

Interest in adopting the ordinance came with efforts to renovateThe Haven, which is owned by the Brookhaven Little Theatre. BLTrequested the city consider the ordinance so it could apply forhistoric preservation grants.

“The city looked at an ordinance very similar to this a fewyears ago and had to reject it,” Fernald said.