Hartford’s groundbreaking historic
preservation ordinance has been made permanent. Hartford
made preservation history when it passed Connecticut’s
first municipal preservation ordinance in 2005. The ordinance,
which took effect in December, 2006, requires that exterior changes or
demolition of properties that are listed on the
State or National Registers, either individually or as part of a district, gain
the approval of the Historic Preservation Commission before the owner can receive
a building or demolition permit. The commission must also approve new
construction within historic districts.
Since the new ordinance was the first of its kind in Connecticut and no
one knew how it would work out, it was written to expire after three years. This
fall, after three years’ experience, Hartford’s
City Council voted to make the ordinance permanent.
The ordinance currently applies to about 5,000 buildings
within the city. It uses the Secretary of the Interior’s standards as its basic
criteria but precludes imposing requirements that raise the cost of an
improvement by more than 20 percent.
The Hartford
Preservation Alliance actively promoted the ordinance, and the Connecticut
Circuit Rider program provided research and support during the process of
writing and enacting it (see CPN April/May 2004, July/August 2005). The
ordinance is significant not only for the protection it affords to historic
buildings and districts; more importantly, it establishes preservation as an
overall priority for the city and requires all city departments to consider
historic and architectural significance and preservation when making decisions
involving rehabilitation, demolition, and disposition.
