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Uh, that applies in every municipal. Look up your own code for all the things that apply to you, even if it's "your house".
If you read the article, "he bought the house to tear it down and had no interest in restoring it".
In other words, he knowingly bought a historic house, in which historic preservation laws apply ... and thinks he's exempt from those said laws that exist so that history could persevere? That's the buyer's fault, not the municipal's.
As for the graffiti, municipals can legally send out cleaning/painting crews and bill the owner (or lien the property) for the said work.
Well I did read the article but it seems you missed the part where it said the house was not declared historic when he bought it.
We are certainly only getting one side of the story. I wonder it the town agrees it wasn't on the register.
If someone applies for a demolition permit on any of the 250 or so homes in historic areas of Davenport he must show that he has a financial hardship or that defects make it impossible for the home to be restored. If not it automatically gets nominated for historic status.
It seems with burst water pipes, leaking roof etc, it would make it a financial hardship to attempt to bring it back to original or what they consider acceptable.
Even an Alderman has a problem with how the ordinance is written. This is in regards to a different property.
Quote:
"I went down with my wife and walked around that property, and that block, on either side, doesn't look real historic to me," 2nd Ward Alderman Bill Edmond said. "I'm having trouble understanding why, just because someone important lived there 100 years ago, should it not be torn down?"
The nine aldermen present all told the commission members they appreciate the work they do and understand the importance of valuing and protecting Davenport's unique history. But they also had many suggestions for improving the system.
Edit: That quote was actually in regards to the same home. This has been going on a while. Lets look at what is one block down.
"Flynn noted that according to the State of Iowa Historic Preservation Office, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on Nov. 1, 1984, as part of the McClellan Heights District designation. The city confirmed that Wisor didn’t ask for any historic designation"
I have no idea who is right and who is wrong (and maybe neither is the answer). But this guy left himself open by not getting something is writing before he bought the house.
I work a lot with Historic Homes here in my area. You have a Historic District and a Historic Register. These are different things. If you live in a Historic District you can have a conforming participating, conforming non-participating, or non-conforming non-participating property. When an Historic District is formed the residents have to vote to participate and a certain number of properties have to be conforming participating for the district to form.
Being on the National Historic Register is a different application. Those rules are stringent. You can't remodel the interior or exterior without permission from the state Historic people. There is a property tax deferral program for people on the Historic Register so that they can do the needed work to preserve the property. Essentially the way the program works is that money that you would spend on property taxes goes to restoration instead. You can get on that program twice.
Since the house was placed on the Register in 1984, he bought a house already on the register. Out here a house on the historical register has to be disclosed. If that wasn't disclosed by the seller, then he might have recourse via damages that way. It seems to me that would be a better route rather than spray painting the house. We also have investors that move houses. It seems that might have been a better option was to negotiate the moving of the house to another location. Investors buy them for $1, pay moving costs and then restore them.
The house, based on the video, looks like it could be a cool house restored.
At its May 12 meeting, the Davenport Historic Preservation Commission nominated the Peter C. Bruchmann House, 1125 Jersey Ridge Road, to be listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties.
The commission used this historical information to justify the nomination:
• The home was owned by the Peter C. Bruchmann family, which ran The Epicurean and Sample Room business in the 2000 block of Eddy Street (later renamed 11th Street) in the late 1800s. As the business, which served wine, sandwiches and desserts made by Mrs. Bruchmann, gained success, Peter Bruchmann purchased the home at 1125 Jersey Ridge for a personal residence in 1914. The Bruchmann family lived in the home for half a century.
• A descendant is Jack Bruchmann, owner of the McClellan Stockade on 11th Street, another Village of East Davenport business.
• The home is a “fairly good example” of the Queen Anne architectural style, the commission notes.
• In 1897, when 1125 Jersey Ridge was constructed, the Queen Anne style was at the peak of its popularity. Features of the style present on the Davenport property include the hipped roof and gables, a wrap-around porch, the use of patterned wood shingles on the gables, the bay windows and the ornamental detailing on the porch gable and porch.
I am not saying the owner is right but I don't see much in this besides the house being old that gives it historical significance. Don't get me wrong, I love historical homes but we need to look at owners rights also.
I am not saying the owner is right but I don't see much in this besides the house being old that gives it historical significance. Don't get me wrong, I love historical homes but we need to look at owners rights also.
Okay so it isn't on the National Register, just the local register...This makes no sense. Even in Oregon the owner has to fill out the application for the Salem register. You just can't impose requirements on someone else's property. Too weird.
Okay so it isn't on the National Register, just the local register...This makes no sense. Even in Oregon the owner has to fill out the application for the Salem register. You just can't impose requirements on someone else's property. Too weird.
I thought he was on the National Register.
I checked the National Register under Davenport, IA, East Davenport, IA, Village of East Davenport and under the name of the house and could not find it.
Currently, if any of the 251 homes in the city's dozen or so designated historical districts is proposed for demolition, the commission must grant permission. Davenport's ordinance requires that a homeowner seeking to demolish a home in a historic district either provide proof of financial hardship or structural defects to the property that make it impossible for the building to be rehabilitated. If that is not the case, the structure must, by ordinance, immediately be nominated for local landmark status, which places even more restrictions and regulations on the property.
Several aldermen said that process seems backward.
Alderman Bill Lynn, 5th Ward, said he would support the commission placing what it determines to be historically valid and potentially vulnerable properties on the local landmark registry beforehand. Too often, he said, the council hears nothing about them until they are faced with the wrecking ball, and then the aldermen have to make a snap judgement.
Someone get Flynn in here. He needs to explain himself.
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