Historic board debates role, district boundaries

July 14, 2009

The City of Belen Historic Properties Review Board, which had members appointed by the mayor several months ago, met last night to consider its role in assessing and designating historically significant areas and properties in Belen.

“I hope the committee brings to the citizens a certain expertise that they don’t have access to, that we can work with people to see that their properties are maintained or developed in a manner that’s in keeping with the community’s aesthetics,” said Board Chair Donald Woodman, a local artist who lives in the renovated Belen Hotel on Becker Avenue.

Aside from determining its basic organizational structure, the board has been tasked with quickly determining what areas of Belen will first receive support for things like historic preservation, renovation and guidelines for constructing new homes and businesses that reflect the character of Belen.

The board will consider guidelines and advise the city council about them, since the board has little authority to act without approval from the council.

The board has considered, but not yet detailed, a possible historic district to include Becker and Dalies avenues, Reinken Avenue near Anna Becker Park, as well as some homes near the park.

Albert Chavez, a resident of Tafoya Road, said he’s concerned the board’s district is limiting the impact the board can have on the community by focusing its attention on the same area — the “Heart of Belen” — that other committees, such as Belen’s MainStreet program committee, are already focusing on.

The board, Woodman said, won’t only create one central district but is also empowered to form smaller districts and designate historic landmarks outside of the districts.

“We need to keep it somewhat limited, especially from the start,” said Board Member Maggie Fitzgerald.

She explained that the residences and businesses within the district will be required to come before the board when the owner wants to “tear down a garage or put up a fence or, you know, change their shutters.” That could become burdensome for the board if the district is too large, she said.

“Pick the areas carefully. Start with a small area,” said local developer Tom Greer, who participated in preservation activities in Michigan. “Very quickly you’ll need to develop an architectural standard by which you can weigh the things people ask to do or want to do, because when somebody wants to come and put up a fence, you’re going to have to have the guidelines of what a fence is supposed to look like.”

Once the district is designated, the board intends to provide residents and other property owners with guidelines for maintaining the character of their neighborhoods.

“We’re facilitators. We’re not dictators,” Woodman said. “We may not always all agree on the same solution, but the idea is to come to a common solution and move ahead, not drag back.”

He said he prefers the board concentrates on new guidelines and guidance not new ordinances and enforcement.

The board’s August meeting will flush out the details of the district.

Belen’s mayor has had the authority to form the board under city ordinance since around 1980. Any previous efforts to do so didn’t last, which is why a new board has been formed by Mayor Ronnie Torres.

“It’s only in the last year that the mayor and city council stepped forward and created it,” Woodman said.

Board members include Chair Donald Woodman, Vice Chair Maggie McDonald, Matt Baca, Maggie Fitzgerald, and Richard Melzer. All have some background in historic preservation or historical knowledge of the Belen area.

The Mid-Region Council of Governments’ regional planner, Joe Quintana, has been assisting the board as it creates its organizational structure.

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