Beaufort might add 54 properties to its famed historic district. But at what cost to owners?
The City of Beaufort is wrestling with whether to designate an additional 54 properties in its National Register Historic District as “contributing” structures, which would bring added protection but also carry costs for property owners.
The initiative comes as the city is losing historic properties to the wrecking ball or disrepair. It’s also raising concerns that the very rules meant to preserve the historic properties the city is known for make it too costly for some residents to rehabilitate them.
Preserving the city’s unique history and environment is one side of the argument for adding the properties, Councilman Josh Scallate said. But infringing upon private property rights and creating cost restrictions for property owners who don’t have a lot of money is the other side.
“I think finding a balance there is very important,” Scallate said.
Councilman Mitch Mitchell also expressed concerns.
“I would ask that there be an awareness of the burden that comes with that when folks want to do something with their properties,” Mitchell said.
As city officials consider the additions, a key decision will be whether to allow property owners the chance to make a case for opting out of the process and determining who has the final say, said Curt Freese, the city’s director of Community and Economic Development.
The properties, which are houses and commercial buildings, are already located within the boundaries of the Historic District. What’s proposed is designating them “contributing structures” for their historical and architectural importance.
Tax breaks are available for property owners of contributing structures who make investments ensuring they are protected, Freese said.
“If your property is in that district, it will have a higher standard,” Freese said. “You are honoring your building and place in Beaufort history.”
However, Freese added, owners of contributing structures also must go before the Historic Review Board for most kinds of work, from new windows to roofs to painting to demolition. That’s a major process and raises the cost of improvements. Owners of properties that are not labeled contributing structures do not necessarily need to go before the HRB, with planning staff members handling the review.
“It is a dramatic increase in restriction and potentially cost,” Freese said of contributing structure status.
The Historic Beaufort Foundation supports increasing the number of contributing properties but said it would like to see more development incentives to assist property owners with repairs.
“We are losing so much of our historic fabric, particularly in the Old Commons area and Northwest Quadrant,” said HBF assistant director Lise Sundrla, referring to Beaufort neighborhoods in the historic district.
Since 2001, the last time the contributing structure list was updated, 26 contributing structures have been demolished.
The 304-acre historic district in the state’s second-oldest town was established in 1969 and has more than 300 structures, including 170 officially designated as contributing structures for their historic and architectural importance. Its period of significance is 1710-1950.
The 54 properties that would be added range from the First Citizen’s Bank building at 921 Bay St. to the City Loft Hotel at 301 Carteret St. to a one-story frame house at 805 Congress St. that’s an example of “workman’s housing” to a two-story frame house with original fenestration with a front porch and brick chimney at 912 Greene St.
A critical piece of the most recent contributing structure survey is the addition of mid-century modern architecture style from 1950s to 1974, Sundrla said.
“This is an opportunity to protect that architectural style,” Sundrla said, “which is an important architectural style we have lost in the district.”
The city consulted with the State Historic Preservation Office about the 54 properties, Freese said. An officer recommended that the city not allow the 54 property owners to opt out of the process. But Freese disagrees. Property owners who purchased property before significant requirements were placed on them should be allowed to make a case for opting out, he said.
If the city proceeds with adding the properties, the Historic Review Board would conduct hearings and make recommendations whether to add the contributing structures to the district to the City Council.
Mayor Stephen Murray, who lives in a contributing structure, said the loss of many of the structures has come in the Northwest Quadrant where families of generational or heirs properties may not have the economic means to overcome the regulatory barriers that the city, with good intent, has put in place to preserve historic properties.
“Is the result they dilapidate and we bulldoze them?” Murray said. “And is that our intent?”
Murray suggested that the city and HBF use funds both sides are now spending on legal fees in HBF appeals of city approvals of development projects in the historic district to help homeowners fix up historic properties. The city, he said, has spent six figures in those cases so far.
“That would go a long way in making some progress in fixing some folks’ houses,” Murray said.
Scallate supports streamlining the city’s regulatory process to make it easier for people to get through the red tape.
Because of the significance of the issue, Freese is proposing extra public notice and public comment including three HRB meetings to review the 54 properties. Dates for those meetings have yet to be set.
In 2021, John Milner Architects Inc., Historic Beaufort Foundation and city started meeting about updating the contributing structures list. City code requires that the inventory of the district’s historic properties be periodically updated.
Freese is seeking additional information from Milner, the consultant, about the characteristics of the 54 properties before asking City Council members if they want to continue with the process.
This story was originally published March 12, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
