Action Item: 

The City of Bainbridge Island's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) is requesting approval to apply for a no-match grant, administered by the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP), to identify properties eligible for the Local Historic Register.

History:

Established by the National Historic Preservation Act, the Certified Local Government Program (CLG) aids local governments in encouraging, developing, and maintaining local preservation efforts through financial and technical assistance. In Washington, the CLG program is implemented and administered by the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP). Each year, DAHP is responsible for awarding funds from the Historic Preservation Fund to CLGs through a competitive grant process. As one of Washington’s 72 CLGs, the City of Bainbridge Island is eligible to apply for the grant.

One of the City’s most effective tools for preservation is the Local Historic Register and state law provisions that provide incentives to homeowners to preserve rather than replace their historic home. In 2016, the City Council adopted an Ordinance (Ord. 2016-11) updating the Historic Preservation Program to establish a process for identifying register eligible properties and a review process required when an applicant proposes to alter, reconstruct, relocate, remodel, or restore the exterior of a register eligible property.

In fiscal year 2017, the City’s Historic Preservation Commission received a grant to identify the first wave of register eligible properties. As a result, a total of 21 properties were notified and assigned register eligible status. Last month, one of these properties was nominated and added to the Local Historic Register. Given the success of the last survey and inventory of historic properties, the Commission would like to identify another wave of register eligible properties.

The Historic Preservation Commission proposes to use the funds to:

1) Identify properties eligible for the Local Historic Register.

The Commission is seeking grant funds to hire an architectural historian to assist in identifying these register eligible properties. The Commission intends to have the historian use a 1987 island-wide historic property study that was conducted by Boyle Wagoner Architects. The study resulted in the inventory of 147 properties and identified another 241 properties for future inventory (total 388 properties). The Commission will determine which buildings are still in existence, capture current photographs of those buildings, and hire an architectural historian to provide local eligibility recommendations for the properties. This project will assist the City in identifying and managing its historic properties. The Commission will then perform outreach to these property owners to encourage them to list their property on the Local Historic Register. 

The deadline for this grant application is April 27, 2018.