This past weekend I had the pleasure of working the City of Elizabethton/Elizabethton Twins booth at the Covered Bridge Festival. I have worked our booth for the past three years and I must say, this year, the crowds really came out! The booth is a great opportunity to meet with you, our citizens, and find out what your needs and desires are for the future of Elizabethton.
This year, as I talked with passing festival goers, I came across ten different families and couples that were from out of state. It was great talking with them, finding out where they were from, and inviting them back to visit our little city. They came from states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, New York, and Kentucky. With them being from out of state, I took the opportunity to get their opinion about our community and the festival. Comments like, “The mountain are so beautiful!” and, “You have the most quaint downtown.” and, “The festival is great, but I wish it were bigger.” abounded.
Talking with others outside our city, county, and even the region, gives us locals a better idea of what our biggest assets are! Often times, driving by the same mountain, gorge, or downtown everyday desensitizes us to the real uniqueness of those features – the festival included! How many cities have a covered bridge in the middle of their city and, furthermore, have a festival centered around it? While many of the visitors were not staying in Elizabethton or Carter County, they took some time to find out about the festival and come and visit us for a few hours. One couple staying in Bristol even commented, “We’ve been coming to Bristol for years and had no idea this place even existed! We will definitely be staying closer to Elizabethton next year.”
While this small festival doesn’t draw large crowds from outside the area, it does serve as just one more tourism asset for our community and county. Yes, it may have its downfalls and negative aspects, but none-the-less it’s something that this community and county need to continue to support. Think of the snowball effect, the more support our community gives this festival, the more it will grow and develop and the more others will want to attend. It’s easy to complain that it’s no Blue Plum (or what Blue Plum used to be) or substitute any other large festival, but we must support it anyway or it will never become the festival we envision. Purchase a drink from a food vendor, but a small, inexpensive product from a craft vendor, and volunteer to help with the festival next year. It’s important to remember, at one-time Blue Plum was in the same position as the Covered Bridge Festival is today. The difference is, the community supported it. Let’s talk about it!
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
A Quick Lesson in Historic Preservation
In Elizabethton we have a historic preservation commission. The job of this Commission is to oversee the improvements and development of the historic districts in the city. I am aware of a lot of misinformation that exists about being in a historic district, so today I want to take some time to help you better understand how this process works.
In every request brought before the Historic Zoning Commission there are two major questions they ask about the proposed change. First, does the proposed change affect or impact historic or original materials. Historic or original materials means any type of material that would have been original to the building. Often times this is windows, doors, or exterior materials such as brick.
Once a determination is made, the Commission will move on to a second question – does the project affect or impact the defining characteristics of the building, its site, or the surrounding environment? In this question, defining characteristics include the most noticeable elements of a building, such as the windows or door types, roof line, roof materials, exterior materials, and porches or balconies. I often tell my board imagine driving by the building after the change has been made and ask yourself is it noticeable or does it stick out. If yes, then it’s probably a defining characteristic. Additionally, the Commission also has the authority to review changes to a site or it’s environment such as the installation of fencing or other permanent changes to a site.
If the answer to either of these questions is ‘Yes,’ then the Commission will review the project to ensure that it does not violate nine different historic standards. If the answer to both of these questions is ‘No,’ then the Commission will likely approve the changes or the project.
I frequently hear a rumor that property owners don’t want to be in a historic district because they have the authority to regulate paint color. I am here to tell you this is absolutely not the case! You could paint your house or building hot pink with lime green trim if you want to and there is absolutely nothing the Historic Commission can say or do about it. The one exception is if the building currently has unpainted brick, in which case, the brick cannot be painted, but painted trim can be any color desired.
Lastly, being in the historic district does not mean that you will immediately be required to take your building back to how it looked when it was first constructed. Additionally, since many of the downtown buildings have been revitalized at some point, the Historic Commission will probably not even require any changes you want to make to be 1920’s appropriate so long as the building has had a more recent face-lift completed to it. The Security Federal building is a prime example. The Commission would only require changes to the building to be appropriate to the last major renovation (which would’ve been the 1980’s) and not require the building look like a 1920’s downtown commercial building.
The Historic Commission is a little know body, but it has great powers. I will say, working with our local commission that they desire to work with the applicant to come up with an appropriate solution rather than forcing a drastic change on a property owner. If you are in a historic district, I will be more than happy to visit your building and discuss with you how we can best accommodate your desires while still achieving the goals of the commission. Let’s talk about it.
In every request brought before the Historic Zoning Commission there are two major questions they ask about the proposed change. First, does the proposed change affect or impact historic or original materials. Historic or original materials means any type of material that would have been original to the building. Often times this is windows, doors, or exterior materials such as brick.
Once a determination is made, the Commission will move on to a second question – does the project affect or impact the defining characteristics of the building, its site, or the surrounding environment? In this question, defining characteristics include the most noticeable elements of a building, such as the windows or door types, roof line, roof materials, exterior materials, and porches or balconies. I often tell my board imagine driving by the building after the change has been made and ask yourself is it noticeable or does it stick out. If yes, then it’s probably a defining characteristic. Additionally, the Commission also has the authority to review changes to a site or it’s environment such as the installation of fencing or other permanent changes to a site.
If the answer to either of these questions is ‘Yes,’ then the Commission will review the project to ensure that it does not violate nine different historic standards. If the answer to both of these questions is ‘No,’ then the Commission will likely approve the changes or the project.
I frequently hear a rumor that property owners don’t want to be in a historic district because they have the authority to regulate paint color. I am here to tell you this is absolutely not the case! You could paint your house or building hot pink with lime green trim if you want to and there is absolutely nothing the Historic Commission can say or do about it. The one exception is if the building currently has unpainted brick, in which case, the brick cannot be painted, but painted trim can be any color desired.
Lastly, being in the historic district does not mean that you will immediately be required to take your building back to how it looked when it was first constructed. Additionally, since many of the downtown buildings have been revitalized at some point, the Historic Commission will probably not even require any changes you want to make to be 1920’s appropriate so long as the building has had a more recent face-lift completed to it. The Security Federal building is a prime example. The Commission would only require changes to the building to be appropriate to the last major renovation (which would’ve been the 1980’s) and not require the building look like a 1920’s downtown commercial building.
The Historic Commission is a little know body, but it has great powers. I will say, working with our local commission that they desire to work with the applicant to come up with an appropriate solution rather than forcing a drastic change on a property owner. If you are in a historic district, I will be more than happy to visit your building and discuss with you how we can best accommodate your desires while still achieving the goals of the commission. Let’s talk about it.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Bonnie Kate -- A Next Step for Downtown Revitalization
I have only met a few people who have said in their opinion the purchase of the Bonnie Kate Theater by the community foundation was not a good idea. There are many valid reasons for putting the building into private hands – it could generate property taxes, the private sector takes on all of the risk, and, some would argue, the private sector could do a much better job of operating a business in that space.
While all of these benefits of the building being in the private sector may be true, we must equally weigh them against the benefits that the facility would provide when in the public sector hands. Some of these benefits include, bringing a new restaurant downtown, adding just one more destination to downtown, and creating a new asset for our community.
Talking with the foundation and the persons who have supported the preservation of the Bonnie Kate, they have already lined up a restaurateur to come and start a restaurant in the former café and bar spaces. I excited about this prospect because, while we already have many great restaurants downtown, we need more that will be open during evening hours.
The types of uses that have been discussed for the Bonnie Kate will make it another destination to our community and our downtown. This will serve as a revitalization tool to our downtown. One factor that we always consider in downtown revitalization is the number of destinations (think anchor tenants in a mall) in the downtown open during the day and during the evening. If the Bonnie Kate come to full realization, this will be a big addition to evening downtown destination.
Lastly, having the Bonnie Kate in the hands of the Foundation will create one more community asset to our city and county. The Foundation has intentions to bring in theatrical productions, musical concerts, and various other entertainment options. This provides something to this city and county that we have not had in the recent past. Community assets such as this bring people to our community from outside the area (like Johnson City, Bristol, and surrounding areas) and introduces them to our community. It also serves as a recruitment tool for people who are looking to move to East Tennessee and for business and industry.
Yes, the Bonnie Kate in the hands of the private sector could accomplish a lot with potentially similar outcomes. However, I would argue that with the vision and the building in private sector hands, it can become a permanent, historical institution to this community in the decades to come. Let’s talk about it.
While all of these benefits of the building being in the private sector may be true, we must equally weigh them against the benefits that the facility would provide when in the public sector hands. Some of these benefits include, bringing a new restaurant downtown, adding just one more destination to downtown, and creating a new asset for our community.
Talking with the foundation and the persons who have supported the preservation of the Bonnie Kate, they have already lined up a restaurateur to come and start a restaurant in the former café and bar spaces. I excited about this prospect because, while we already have many great restaurants downtown, we need more that will be open during evening hours.
The types of uses that have been discussed for the Bonnie Kate will make it another destination to our community and our downtown. This will serve as a revitalization tool to our downtown. One factor that we always consider in downtown revitalization is the number of destinations (think anchor tenants in a mall) in the downtown open during the day and during the evening. If the Bonnie Kate come to full realization, this will be a big addition to evening downtown destination.
Lastly, having the Bonnie Kate in the hands of the Foundation will create one more community asset to our city and county. The Foundation has intentions to bring in theatrical productions, musical concerts, and various other entertainment options. This provides something to this city and county that we have not had in the recent past. Community assets such as this bring people to our community from outside the area (like Johnson City, Bristol, and surrounding areas) and introduces them to our community. It also serves as a recruitment tool for people who are looking to move to East Tennessee and for business and industry.
Yes, the Bonnie Kate in the hands of the private sector could accomplish a lot with potentially similar outcomes. However, I would argue that with the vision and the building in private sector hands, it can become a permanent, historical institution to this community in the decades to come. Let’s talk about it.
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