Submitted by Jon H. Decker, AIA
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has started the final phase of assembling the necessary information for the designation of Montlake as a Historic District, under the provisions of Section 106 of the National Preservation Act. This phase is estimated to be completed in 2015 and will include a detailed review of over one thousand properties, within the district, to confirm their status as “contributing” to the national designation for the district and also their eligibility as individual buildings. Also included will be public meetings for the community, with WSDOT, to review and discuss related issues, including discussions with owners of properties that are eligible, to confirm their interest in being included in national registration. Section 106, stipulates that approval from owners must be obtained.
Also, the law stipulates that, if designated, there are no “controls: granted to the State that would prevent owners of designated properties from making either minor or major alterations to their homes.”
The above process is under the direction of Steve Archer, Cultural Resources Manager for WSDOT, along with two retained consultants; Connie Walker Gray and Mimi Sheridan, both historic preservation consultants. They will be working directly with selected representatives from the Montlake Community. Currently that includes Julee Newhart, MCC President, myself, and Craig Soper, who together assembled the necessary information for preliminary designation approval. If there are any residents of the community who are interested in being involved in the process or have questions or comments, please contact me: jdecker@deckerarchitects.com.
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