Opinion: The benefits of historic preservation

Dear Editor,

The Village of Owego Historic Preservation Commission (OHPC) has served Owego for over 30 years. Recently, the Mayor and Village of Owego Board have initiated a change that would have negative implications for the Village. 

They initiated this change without discussing it with members of OHPC. They did not consult the Village Planning Board, Tioga County Planner, Tioga County Planning Board or the NYS Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) as mandated.

OHPC earned a Certified Local Government (CLG) designation in 1991 from SHPO. CLG designation is both an honor and an asset and would be lost with the adoption of Local Law # 3, “A Local Law abolishing the Historic Preservation Commission, replacing it with a Historic Preservation Committee, and amending Chapter 126 of the Code of the Village of Owego”. 

A municipality that has a CLG designation has significant advantages over ones that don’t. Access to State and Federal Historic tax credits are faster and assured in a municipality having a CLG. 

If this law passes, property owners seeking historic tax credits will need to apply to SHPO in Albany for approval instead of having a local CLG to assist them. The village and residents would lose access to a grant program exclusively for municipalities with CLG status and access to grants from the Preservation League of NY. 

All NYS grant applications are now processed through the NY Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) and are rated on a 100-point scale. An applicant in a municipality with a CLG can earn 25 points, which is a big leg up on other grant applicants. 

Some of the public projects that have benefited from Owego having a CLG are the Court Street Bridge, the Riverwalk, the Tioga County Courthouse, Evergreen Cemetery, the Coburn Free Library and the Owego Central Firehouse. Businesses that have benefitted from Owego having a CLG are the renovation of 231 Main St. into an attractive apartment and office complex, the renovation of the former Tioga County Sherriff’s Office and Jail into an apartment / office and restaurant, numerous renovations on Lake Street with the Tioga State Bank and Owego Kitchen being the latest examples. Two large projects now under construction that had the advantage of a CLG are the Parkview Hotel and Restaurant and the Gateway Project at 200-204 Front St. that will replace the burned down Cracker Barrel and Laughing Place stores.  

Historic Preservation benefits all of the Village of Owego in many ways. Some of them are helping to renovate and upgrade historic property, attract shoppers, investors and residents to Owego, but possibly the biggest benefit is fostering a respect for the residents, craftsman and designers of the past, not to mention the accolades that friends and relatives like your Aunt Mary heap on the beauty of Owego when they visit.

I don’t know the village board’s reason for a change in the historic preservation law, but I hope that it is not to reward building code violators and punish law-abiding property owners (past, present and future) by abolishing OHPC and losing CLG status.

I ask that the Mayor and Village Board reconsider Local Law # 3 and if any change is necessary to discuss that change with all appropriate bodies and also consider the negative long-term impacts that losing Certified Local Government designation would surely bring.

There is a Public Hearing on Public Law # 3 on Monday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. at 20 Elm St. in Owego.

Sincerely, 

Kevin Millar

Owego, N.Y.