In April 2014, Councilman Kevin Roden approached HLC with a plea for more citizen input.

(HLC is made up of citizens, but he wondered if there more and varied input were possible. We decided to investigate.)

HLC representatives have backgrounds in history, law, architecture, real estate & historic preservation. We are highly motivated & dedicate time each month to serving Denton by attending conferences & training, researching & pursuing historic preservation initiatives. We are trained & versed in National (Dept of the Interior) State and City standards and guidelines.
However, there are potentially hundreds of people who live, work & own property in our 4 historic areas who are also stakeholders in our city. While any citizen is encouraged to attend HLC meetings and address the commission on any issue, could we forge a stronger line of contact with these stakeholders?

On one level, we have this covered. We are currently property owners and/or have close friends in all 4 of Denton's historic areas. But wouldn't it be great if our communication were at the highest, strongest possible frequency?

At the very same meeting in April, HLC decided to pursue a signage campaign similar to Planning & Zoning.

When a person applies for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) a sign with the proposed change will go in their yard, just like when P&Z receives a request for a change.

That sign will give information about the date of the HLC meeting, as well as phone and email contact information for the city. It will also contain a phrase reminding readers to contact their Neighborhood Task Force if they wish to get more information or give their opinion about the matter. They'll also be encouraged to give input on other matters affecting their neighborhoods, like the recent incident concerning placement of solar panels in the West Oak neighborhood.

When a person applies for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) a sign with the proposed change will go in their yard, just like when P&Z receives a request for a change.

That sign will give information about:
1. The date of the HLC meeting, 2. Phone and email contact for the city.
3. It will also contain a tagline to contact their Neighborhood Task Force leader for input or information.

Dallas (& other cities) have successful neighborhood task forces... we can do it, too.

Each of the 4 historic areas already has a contact through Denton Neighborhood Alliance or Downtown Development Group. The leader(s) can use email, social media and the grapevine to canvas input, also the city will forward calls/contacts from the yard sign.

The task force can be as large or small as it wants to be. It is an ad-hoc, informal group whose function is to inform HLC of the neighborhood's opinion on COAs and issues affecting the neighborhood within the scope of HLC.

So what does the Task Force Do?

It is institutional memory of the neighborhood.

Can compare past projects, even those before there was an HLC, to current proposed changes.

Neighbors & the applicant clarify questions, get clear answers, avoid misunderstandings and potential conflicts.

Inform HLC of the neighborhood's take on a COA. Will be able to present multiple ideas- the positives and negatives of the COA's potential effect.

Will present either in writing or in person, one or more than one person, before HLC makes a decision.

Won't this be a hassle?
No!

Voluntary.

Small volume of COA in each neighborhood. (3-4 a year in historic areas, a few more in Downtown area.)

Individuals can still address HLC.

This is already happening through the "grapevine" and we want to offer property owners a chance to legitimize their input and have more confidence that HLC has heard all sides of an issue before making decisions.

Examples of 2 Oak St. houses...

1. 900 block, neighbors aware of violations before city or HLC was.

2. 1000 block, window to be covered up... Peggy Capps gave historical evidence of this being a "normal" renovation for over 50 years, named 3 other houses that had done the same repair before there was an HLC, HLC voted to allow change to house based on her input, otherwise we may have voted NO, but her knowledge informed us of another perspective.

Summary.