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One speaker after another told the Montgomery County Council Tuesday night the changes proposed to the county's historic preservation law are a bad idea.

Some 33 speakers, including historic preservation professionals, homeowners and a carpenter, identified flaws with the amendment proposed by Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown. Two speakers testified in support — a woman who was unable to sell her parents' home in a timely manner after their deaths because neighbors nominated it for historic designation and an individual who said the needs of individual property owners deserve greater consideration, which is the intention of the amendment.

"The Planning Board unanimously and strongly recommends the council not adopt the amendment as drafted," Royce Hanson, chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board, said.

He pointed to problems with a provision in the proposal requiring four of the five Planning Board members to support a property's designation over the owner's objection and another that cedes zoning authority from the County Council to the Planning Board in cases where the Planning Board votes not to designate a property historic. He said that might violate state law.

"It would inhibit the ability to protect historic resources," said Gary Sith, deputy director of the county's Department of General Services, who represented the county executive.

The proposed amendment would make declaring a property historic over the owner's objections more difficult.

Under current law a property must meet one of nine criteria to be designated historic. Under the proposed amendment, if an owner objects to the designation, the property would have to meet three criteria to be declared historic and four Planning Board commissioners would have to approve its inclusion. The proposal would also eliminate high artistic value as a criterion for designation.

The proposed amendment is designed to bring clarity to the historic preservation process, said Knapp, who was not discouraged by the hearing.

"I get it, I understand it, I think it's very valuable," Knapp said, referring to his appreciation of historic resources. "The challenge is to get the balance."

He drafted the amendment in response to testimony he heard over a number of months from property owners who did not wish to be included in the Master Plan of Historic Preservation for the Damascus-Goshen area.

Knapp expected historic preservation advocates to turn out to testify on the bill, but not the private property owners the bill is intended to protect, who wish to stay out of the spotlight, he said.

Tuesday night's hearing was only the beginning of the process, Knapp said. The council will accept comments on the proposal through May 22. It will hold committee worksessions on the amendment in June.