The Newport City Commission had originally planned to discuss the adoption of Buena Vista as a historic District at its March 25 meeting, but ended up voting to table the item instead.
The city commission is the last body that needs to give the green light for the historic district; however, after possible legal challenges were raised during the meeting, the commission went into executive session to discuss whether they wanted to proceed and ultimately voted to table the item.
According to the city, the item must be brought back and heard within 60 days of approval by the historic preservation commission (that occurred on Feb. 28), which would be April 28.
The Newport Historic Preservation Commission approved the guidelines and historic designation on Feb. 28, and the city’s planning and zoning commission approved the overlay zone on March 19.
An attorney representing clients regarding the Buena Vista Historic District, Steve Megerle, addressed the commission to present alleged legal issues from both hearings at the historic preservation and planning and zoning commission meetings.
One of the things Megerle said the city violated was that the recommendation by the historic preservation commission chair was based on findings of fact that did not exist from the second hearing and/or an adequate staff report presented by the historic preservation officer.
“Administrative agencies’ findings of fact must be supported by the record before it and not by the facts beyond the record,” Megerle said.
He also said that the chair cannot make a motion to approve an item according to Robert’s Rules of Order, among other things.
Buena Vista consists of the areas between the north end of West 8th Street, the south part of West 12th Street, the west ends of Brighton and Lowell Streets, and the east side of Putnam and York Streets.
Because of the legal challenges Megerle noted to the commission, they postponed discussions.
During the meeting, Newport City Manager Tom Fromme clarified that the city was still in favor of pursuing the district.
“I’ll have legal staff review the issues brought up tonight, but the intention of the board and the staff is for this to come back for adoption at a meeting in the future,” he said.
Though the commission was not discussing the district they still allowed public comment on the item.
Executive Director of Cincinnati Preservation Association Beth Johnson spoke at the meeting in favor of creating the district. The Cincinnati Preservation Association is a Greater Cincinnati nonprofit that focuses on educational advocacy about historical preservation.
“Historic preservation is all over the Newport comprehensive plan,” Johnson said. “It’s over and over the history of Newport is important. Historic Preservation is one of the main goals in there. Historic preservation is more than just saving historic buildings. It’s about sustainability. It’s about economic development, and it’s about neighborhood stability.”
The neighborhood is already a National Historic District but needs local designation for complete protection. The local designation allows the city to guide homeowners in preservation efforts, prevent exterior changes outside the city’s guidelines and halt unnecessary demolitions that may threaten the neighborhood’s structural integrity.
Newport resident Brant Owens said he addressed the commission last year on behalf of the West Side Citizens Coalition, a neighborhood group that supports the district’s adoption. He addressed the commission once again in support.
“One way to look at it is if we leave things as they are, it’s maybe easy to do investing in the west side but it becomes maybe nearly impossible to protect the west side,” Owens said. “If we enact this legislation, investing can still happen on the west side, but now we have a powerful tool to still protect the west side.”
Newport west side resident Catherine McElwain also spoke at the meeting in support of the district.
“It’s something that many people have worked toward, and I think it will protect our community for the diversity that it has right now,” she said.
The removal of the item from the agenda subsequently removed two related items to Buena Vista. One of those was the creation of a facade grant program. Fromme said that will also be up for discussion when the historic district comes back to the commission.
“This is not a defeat tonight,” Fromme said. “It’s just a regrouping thing, and it will definitely come back for everyone here that supports the district. The intention is to move forward with the historic district.”
