More News

Infiltrate. Show up. Speak out. Shut down.

These were some of many calls for action from about 45 Frederick city residents and business owners who met Monday night at Volt restaurant in downtown Frederick. They vow to take action at City Hall, on the Internet and in this year's election against what they believe are unreasonable decisions made by the city's Historic Preservation Commission.

The group, called Citizens for Historic Preservation Reform, was formed by Hilda Staples, who co-owns the restaurant Volt, after debate arose in recent weeks about the restaurant's rift with the commission regarding a signage violation.

The commission cited Volt owners for removing historic gold lettering from a window at their downtown building. The owners say the lettering washed off over time. Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) intervened and instructed the city's code enforcement staff to not pursue $500 per-day fines against the restaurant. Hotlzinger's decision spurred an ethics complaint against him, and an invitation from the commission for a public explanation.

"Five hundred dollars a day fine pretty much says to me, ‘I don't want you here,' Staples told the group. "The reason we're all here in the historic district, and we spend money on our businesses and homes, is because we love it here."

The group held a kick-off meeting Monday at the same time that the commission was having its bi-weekly meeting at City Hall. Attendees came up with ways that they could serve collectively as watchdogs to oversee, and if need be, challenge, rulings made by the commission.

The group now plans to create a Web site that will be its trademark and sounding board. It will serve as a resource for new businesses, aggrieved businesses, city leaders and others.

For Shab Row and Everedy Square owner Bert Anderson, the meeting was a "McCarthy moment" — when enough people realized that there was something unchecked about a democratic entity and felt empowered enough to do something about it.

Anderson, famous for his revitalization of two city historic shopping districts, served on the historic commission years ago.

Matt Couri, who moved his business, Zoe's Chocolate, to Market Street in May, said that he was grateful that the group came together, especially as he prepares for his journey through the historic preservation process.

Couri already sees some issues with owning a business in the Historic District as he tries to get permission to hang a permanent sign for his business. He said that former building owners were able to hang signs there, but a statute in the Land Management Code could prevent his sign.

"The biggest reform I'd like to see on the HPC is precedent," Couri said, "that they should be bound by previous decisions, so that what was OK for one person is OK for the next."

Couri wasn't scared away by some of the stories he heard at the meeting, even as he prepares to work with historic planners next week.

"What I saw is that there is a large group of people who are very frustrated," he said. "The people there aren't against preservation; they're just against arbitrary decisions about what constitutes preservation."

That point should not be lost, said downtown business owner, Richard Bailey. Bailey, who has owned the downtown business Earthly Elements for two years, said that the group should not be seen as the commission's adversaries.

He believed that the next best steps would be to confront the problems, particularly having members of the group apply to join the commission, which has two open positions.

"… It's my belief that we need to get two business owners on that commission to start making some reasonable decisions," Bailey said. "We truly need people who will balance the economic viability with the detail of historic preservation."

Commission president Michael Spencer said that he embraced the idea of a citizen watchdog group.

"I have no doubt in my mind that when they start to track us, they will see that the charges levied against us are untrue," Spencer said.

"One of the problems is that people don't see what we do, they base their judgments on what they hear."

E-mail Erica L. Green at egreen@gazette.net.