Matthew Cornell, NA resident and volunteer leading the historic designation initiative, prepared this progress report for the NA Historic District process.
We have selected a vendor approved by the NANA board. The general body voted to approve the vendor at the September monthly meeting. The vendor is Beth Sullebarger. She may be familiar to some as she has given architectural tours in the neighborhood some time ago for Cincinnati Preservation. She also wrote a very detailed tax credit application for Chalfonte Place Apartments.
Additionally, NANA approved a motion to provide matching funds as we start the process to raise money for contracting with Sullebarger. She will provide the documentation necessary for the application to the city and meet with the community several times to craft guidelines. We will reach out to this group in the near future to help bring in the estimated $8,000 needed to see us through this process.
I confirmed with the Urban Conservator that the $1500 application fee will be waived as Vice Mayor Kearney is our co-applicant. If you see the Vice Mayor, let her know you appreciate the support to waive the fee.
I have close to ten emails and verbal promises to support this process financially, but I’d love to get a few dozen commitments to minimize the burden to just a few. If you have an interest in contributing any amount, feel free to reply to me and I’ll put you on the list.
I’m compiling data from several spreadsheets of properties within the boundary. We are slowly inching toward having replies from the majority of those we’ve reached out to. If you are walking and talking to your neighbors on these beautiful autumn evenings, please remember to ask if they’ve read the posts about historic designation on the website and perhaps, nudge them to fill out the online survey. The more folks who reply online, the less our small group of volunteers need to go knocking door-to-door.
If you know anything about your home’s history such as its date of construction, original owner’s name or perhaps the architect please forward along. Some of this info will go into the submission. If you know the architectural type of your home, that is helpful too. Our consultant will review these facts during the process.
So far, we have almost 80 “Yes” responses with only 5 opposed.
We still have hundreds of property owners remaining to give us feedback or we haven’t been able to reach them yet, so there’s still plenty to do.
Thanks to all for your support.
Matthew Cornell
Photography: J. Miles Wolf