Gaithersburg's mayor and council advised city officials to turn a longstanding city process for historic designation on its head Monday and replace it with a new one.

"Right now, it's just confusing," said Mayor Sidney A. Katz, who believes proposed changes will make the application process for historic designation and historic area work permits clearer.

Gaithersburg's unique arrangement of having the mayor and council members double as the city's Historic District Commission started 20 years ago, during the city's development heyday. City leaders wanted to define a historic district in Olde Towne and residents voiced concerns that elected officials should remain in charge of the process, said Katz, who said he believes the arrangement worked for a time but has now run its course.

The Maryland Association of Historic Districts visited Gaithersburg in June 2008 to see how the process worked. Six months later, the association called the city's policy "troubling" and recommended changing the makeup of the commission.

In a site visit report dated Dec. 17, 2008, Susan West Montgomery of the association pointed to "an apparent conflict of interest."

City leaders have a stake in seeing projects advance, she said, and questioned whether the mayor and five-member council could rule impartially on historic preservation and designation decisions.

City planners and the city's Historic Preservation Advisory Committee proposed Monday doing away with the advisory committee and changing the composition of the commission to appointed officials who have an interest in historic designation and preservation.

Current advisory committee members could serve as commissioners, said Clark Day, the committee's acting chair.

The new arrangement will reduce staff resources demanded by the process, limit the city's legal exposure and streamline lengthy processes, he said.

According to the proposal, a council liaison could give the Historic District Commission input, but have no vote, and the commission would have final say on historic area work permits. Residents could appeal decisions to the city's Board of Appeals. The commission would also make recommendations on historic designations to the city's Planning Commission and final decisions would be made by the mayor and council.

"This change really enhances the transparency of the process," said Councilman Jud Ashman, who along with Councilwoman Cathy Drzyzgula, said that the switch should lead to televised public hearings on historic designation of properties.

The new Historic District Commission should receive more resources, said Councilman Michael Sesma.

Judith Christensen, executive director of Montgomery Preservation Inc., a countywide nonprofit historic preservation and advocacy group that has criticized the city's process, alerted city leaders to potential pitfalls in the proposed process.

The proposal states that the mayor and council, Planning Commission or property owner could initiate historic designation applications. By contrast, anyone in Rockville can nominate a property for historic designation and the mayor and council are required to review staff recommendations on the nominations then decide whether to file an application, she said.

City planners are reworking various documents and promised to hold a public hearing on the proposal that will dovetail with ongoing reviews of historic properties.