Preservation Legislation

Will a new bill beautify or condo-tize Queen Village?

by Timothy J. McLaughlin

Development

You know the old saying, "Good fences make good neighbors"? Well, come June 11, Queen Village residents will be one step closer to telling their neighbors how their fences can look.

Back in 2004, the city passed a law enabling neighborhoods to establish "Neighborhood Conservation Districts" (NCDs). In an NCD, residents can set architectural guidelines on new construction or renovations.

Now, Councilman Frank DiCicco has introduced the bill that would make Queen Village the first neighborhood in the city to actually assume NCD status. For example, the Queen Village guidelines say no new home can have vinyl or stucco façades and most average-size new homes would not be able to have a garage door in front.

Michael Hauptman, a board member of the Queen Village Neighbors Association (QVNA), which worked on the bill, says an NCD will help preserve the neighborhood's character.

"In the last few years, things were being done in the neighborhood that were slowly wearing away at what we like," he says.

Opponents of the bill, however, fear that NCD status will effectively turn Queen Village into a condo development.

"There's fascinating new architecture going on all throughout the world," says Suzanne Schiller, a Queen Village resident. "There's no reason that Queen Village shouldn't be a part of [it]."

Folks like Schiller may have a tough time fighting the change. DiCicco's office seems confident in the bill, and if City Council is indeed intent on passing it, opponents will need to get 51 percent of property owners to register written protests with the legislative body to stop them. (Council can't pass zoning ordinances to which half of property owners in an area are opposed.)

So that they'd have the chance (and as required by law), City Council sent letters to each of Queen Village's approximately 3,000 property owners, informing them of the City Council Rules Committee's 10 a.m. June 11 hearing. If the bill passes there, Council would hold a final vote on June 19.

DiCicco's legislative assistant, Brian Abernathy, calls 51 percent the technical number needed to kill a bill like this, but says any strong opposition from residents would make DiCicco reconsider.

With an NCD in place, QVNA members can rest easy knowing they won't wake up to an architectural monstrosity next door. Or worse ... vinyl siding!