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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 12-16-1997 - 9a 1 A 1 ORANGECOUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 16, 1997 Agenda Abstract Item# Cj -g _ SUBJECT: CEDAR GROVE RURAL CROSSROADS HISTORIC DISTRICT NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION, HP-1-97 DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections PUBLIC HEARING: Yes X No BUDGET AMENDMENT REQUIRED: Yes X No ATTACHMENTS: INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald R. Belk 1) November 4, 1997 letter from the SHPO Preservation Planner/X2594 2) CLG Information and Sample Comment Forms 3) Draft Minutes of November 25, 1997 HPC Meeting NUMBERS: 4) National Register Nomination(separate cover) Hillsborough 732-8181 Mebane 227-2031 Durham 688-7331 Chapel Hill 967-9251 PURPOSE: To consider a recommendation from the Historic Preservation Commission to recommend that the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District be submitted for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. BACKGROUND: The proposed Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District National Register nomination was presented at the quarterly public hearing held on August 25, 1997 Several citizens owning property within the boundary of the proposed district attended in support of the nomination. One family of property owners, the Thomas and Lela Oliver Heirs, previously submitted a letter of opposition to the Board of Commissioners. However, no persons at the public hearing spoke in opposition to the proposed nomination. The Historic Preservation Commission met on August 27, 1997 to consider the comments made at the public hearing. They voted unanimously to recommend forwarding the proposed Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District National Register nomination to the State Historic Preservation Office for review and approval. On September 16, the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to forward the proposed Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District National Register nomination to the State Historic Preservation Office for review and approval. 2 BACKGROUND: On November 4, 1997, the State Historic Preservation Office notified Marvin (continued) Collins, Planning Director, and the Orange County Historic Preservation Commission that the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District National Register nomination had been reviewed and approved (the SHPO-approved nomination is provided under separate cover as Attachment 4). A copy of that letter was also sent to the Chair of the Board of Commissioners (see Attachment 1). On November 25, the Historic Preservation Commission held a public information meeting at the Eno Presbyterian Church, in conjunction with its regular monthly meeting. The State Historic Preservation Office mailed notices to all property owners within the historic district, and the National Register Coordinator for the Division of Archives and History was present at the meeting to discuss the nomination and the National Register process. Following the presentation, the Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District be submitted for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (see Attachment 3). NEXT STEPS IN THE NOMINATION PROCESS If BOCC approves the Historic Preservation Commission's recommendation on December 16, the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads National Register nomination will proceed as follows: January 8, 1998 Nomination to be considered by National Register Advisory Committee (NRAC) at their meeting at the Museum of History in Raleigh. If approved by the NRAC, the nomination will be considered by the National Park Service and the Keeper of the National Register. If approved by the National Park Service, official listing on the National Register of Historic Places could occur in late March, 1998. A final recommendation form will be provided at the December 16 meeting for signature by the Chair of the Board of Commissioners, if the recommendation is approved. (A sample form is provided in Attachment 2.) RECOMMENDATION: Administration Recommendation The Administration recommends that the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District be submitted for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. 1 STAii 'rtrouw.W,,� North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources James B.Hunt Jr.,Governor Division of Archives and History Betty Ray McCain,Secretary kffrey J.Crow,Director November 4, 1997 Mr. Marvin Collins, Planning Director Orange County 306F Revere Rd. Hillsborough, NC 27278 RE: Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District, Cedar Grove Dear Mr. Collins: Enclosed is a copy of the nomination for Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District, which is scheduled for presentation to the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee on January 8, 1998. Copies of the notification letters sent to the property owners are enclosed for your information. As a Certified Local Government, you have sixty(60) days in which to comment on the proposed nomination. If you do not respond by January 8,1998 on the proposed nomination, approval of it will be assumed. Please note that the county is to provide an opportunity for public comment on this nomination according to the terms specified in the certification agreement the county signed with this office. A copy of your notice to the public should be forwarded to our office along with any comments you wish to make on the nomination to satisfy federal and state requirements. Please use the enclosed comment forms to send us your response. If you have any questions concerning this nomination, we will be happy to help. incerely, Jeffre4 Crow State Historic Preservation Officer JJC/hlb Enclosures . cc: The Honorable Moses Carey,Jr., Chair, Board of County Commissioners Attachment (1) 109 East Jones Street•Raleigh,North Carolina 27601-2807 W 4 c .:::::::..:..........:.:...:.:.:..::....:::..:Y w v::.:.:.:a..u::tL4...:xa.:. :i.::u.:<:.>:.::<.::::.: ::;::::;xar:.w.f.•:.. .,:>:�::,::.;.:.: .... .. .. ..:.:.�:: :MMUM................................. The federal and state guidelines for the Certified Local Government Program require that the CLGs participate in the process of nominating properties to the National Register of Historic Places. This participation involves the review of nominations within the jurisdiction of the CLG by the CLG Commission and the chief elected local official. Opportunity for public comment must be provided during the 60-day comment period. The commission and the chief elected official are required to submit comments to the State Historic Preservation Office and the owner of the property relaying their findings as to the eligibility of the property under consideration for listing in the National Register. The attached forms are provided for you to facilitate your review of nominations and your submittal of comments to the State Historic Preservation Office. A copy of the criteria for listing in the National Register is also enclosed for your reference and use. Although the federal regulations governing the CLG program call for the chief elected local official to provide comments on proposed National Register nominations within the CLG jurisdiction, North Carolina law stipulates that the mayor or chairman of the board of county commissioners may act only in an administrative capacity on behalf of the local governing board. If a certified local government has doubts about the legality of the chief elected official assuming sole responsibility for comments on proposed National Register nominations, it may wish to consider two alternatives: 1) having the governing board review the nominations or 2) having the governing board pass a resolution granting the chief elected local official the authority to furnish comments on behalf of the governing board. (Attachment 2) 5 i In order to fulfill the required comment procedures, please complete the information below and the appropriate comment paragraph which is attached after you have reviewed the nomination. This information should be returned to Linda Harris Edmisten, National Register Coordinator; Survey and Planning Branch, North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office; 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27611-2807. COMMENTS ARE DUE IN THE STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE BY: January 8, 1998 1. Name of Certified Local Government: County of Orange 2. Name of CLG Commission: Historic Preservation Commission 3. Property being reviewed for nomination: Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District 4. Please attach documentation of the measures taken to provide for public comment during the nomination review and a record of any comments received, as per your certification agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office. 5. In approving local governments for certification,the SHPO may have stipulated that the Commission obtain the services of professional historians,architectural historians, or archaeologists when reviewing National Register nominations, if those disciplines are not represented in the Commission membership. If this stipulation applies to you,please note the name of the professional you consulted below and his/her appropriate field. If you have any questions about the applicability of this stipulation to you commission, contact Melinda Coleman,Preservation Planner at the State Historic Preservation Office [(919) 733- 6545]. Attachment (2) 6 i THE CLG COMMISSION SHOULD COMPLETE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS: A. We, the CW c0111/f11won , have reviewed and discussed the nomination for the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District and find that the property meets the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as stated in Section 8 of the report. We therefore, recommend that the property be submitted for listing in the Register. Commission chair's signature and date B.- We,the CLG Comm;uWn ,have reviewed and discussed the nomination for the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District and find that the property does not meet the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as stated in Section 8 of the report. We therefore, do not recommend that the property be submitted for listing in the Register. The reasons for our findings concerning this nomination are stated below(use additional sheet if necessary). Commission chair's signature and date Attachment (2) 7 THE CHIEF ELECTED LOCAL OFFICIAL OR THE LOCAL GOVERNING BOARD SHOULD COMPLETE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING COMMENT PARAGRAPHS: C. We, the Chicf o LAW offic , or We,the L, W Commmg a,,,d, have reviewed the nomination for the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District and find that the property meets the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as stated in Section 8 of the report. We therefore, recommend that the property be submitted for listing in the Register. Additional Comments: Chief Local Elected Official's signature and date the _ Cbwf EkcW i od oewd , or We, the°- LoW cam`BoWq have reviewed ih-- nomination for the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District and-find that the property does not meet the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as stated in Section 8 of the report. We'therefore, do not recommend that the property be submitted for listing in the Register. The reasons for my (or our) findings concerning this nomination are stated below(use additional sheet if necessary). Additional comments: Chief Local Elected Official's signature and date Attachment (2) DRAFT 8 r MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION November 25, 1997 Members Present: Tom Allison Carl Lloyd Bob Rich Patricia Samford Cynthia Satterfield Members Absent: Jean Anderson Todd Dickinson Staff Present: Don Belk Emily Cameron AGENDA ITEM#1: CALL TO ORDER Chairman Allison called the meeting to order at approximately 7:00 p.m. AGENDA ITEM#2: CONSIDERATIONS OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA None. AGENDA ITEM#3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. September 24, 1997. MOTION: Rich moved to approve the minutes of September 24, 1997. Seconded by Satterfield. VOTE: Unanimous. AGENDA ITEM#4: CHAIR COMMENTS Allison thanked the people of Eno Presbyterian Church for hosting the meeting. He also apologized to the members of the Commission for being absent at the October meeting. Attachment (3) 9 AGENDA ITEM#5: PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING: NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION OF THE CEDAR GROVE RURAL CROSSROADS HISTORIC DISTRICT Linda Edmisten,National Register Coordinator,NC Division of Archives and History, address the Commission. Ms. Edmisten summarized the areas of significance under which a district is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Cedar Grove is significant in that it represents historical patterns of agricultural land use. In Cedar Grove, areas of cultivation have remained relatively unchanged since the 19th century. This is extremely rare in North Carolina. Cedar Grove is also significant in that it represents the vernacular architecture of the 19th century rural Piedmont. Ms. Edmisten further explained the National Register listing process. National Register listing is an incentive program,not a regulatory one. Listing bears no restrictions on land uses or the actions of private property owners to modify their structure in any way. National Register listing also makes property owners eligible for federal and state income tax credits for rehabilitation work. These credits apply to both non-residential and residential properties. Effective January 1, 1998,North Carolina will allow a 30% state income tax credit for qualified rehabilitations. Combined with a federal income tax credit for rehabilitation,North Carolina now has one of the most attractive historic preservation incentive programs in the nation. National Register listing also ensures a state environmental review of any federally-funded project that could affect a National Register property or district. The next step in the National Register process will be a consideration of the Cedar Grove nomination at the meeting of the National Register Advisory Committee at the Museum of History in Raleigh on January 8, 1998. Then,the nomination will forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register,National Park Service. We could expect to hear of the listing by early April, 1998. Ms. Kaye Graybeal presented some slides of the Cedar Grove district and reviewed the "statement of significance" from the nomination document. Several areas of significance for Cedar Grove were illustrated by the slides. The Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District is eligible for National Register listing under Criteria A and C. Criterion A of the National Register evaluation process states that "property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. " Cedar Grove has significance in four areas under Criterion A: Exploration and Settlement. Cedar Grove exhibits the historical pattern of development in North Carolina's rural agricultural communities which manifested in the emergence of commercial and social centers along the intersections of primary roads. The district embodies the characteristics of a once-prevalent rural agrarian landscape that evolved as a result of human activity and use. Of the half-dozen or so rural crossroads communities that evolved during the nineteenth century in Orange County, Cedar Grove is among the most intact and least altered examples among this disappearing genre. 2 Attachment (3) 10 Agriculture. The land has been continuously farmed throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and existing field patterns in the area deviate little from those evident during the early to mid-twentieth century. These continuing patterns of cultivation are testimony to the prevalence of farming over the course of the community's development. Social History. Cedar Grove's physical development represents an era in North Carolina's history that virtually disappeared after the advent of the automobile and the construction of the interstate highway system. Ethnic Heritage. Cedar Grove was a mecca for African-American string band musicians and the square dances they accompanied between the years of 1930 and 1947. Criterion C of the National Register evaluation process states that the "property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type,period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction." Significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture, the community's enduring vitality is exhibited in a notable and varietal collection of late nineteenth and early-twentieth century residential and commercial buildings which provide the visual framework for a community that has remained virtually free of modern intrusions. A sense of continuity is lent in that many descendants of Cedar Grove's early founders reside in the community today and maintain substantial family homeplaces. Mr. Allison thanked Kaye Graybeal and Linda Edmisten and the citziens of Cedar Grove for the care they've taken for the district. AGENDA ITEM 46: ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION a. Final Recommendation on the National Register nomination of the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District MOTION: Rich moved to recommend that the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District be forwarded to the National Register Advisory Committee. Motion seconded by Satterfield. VOTE: Unanimous. b. FY1998-99 Historic Preservation Goals of the Board of County Commissioners c. 1998 CLG Grant Application The Commission discussed the goals statement that was included in the agenda materials. The details of the manuscript publication were discussed. Funding for local designations was also discussed. Some concerns were expressed about the viability of a proposed historic district for The Oaks. There was a consensus among the Commission to re-apply for a CLG grant for the St. Mary's Road Corridor. 3 Attachment (3) 11 MOTION: Satterfield moved to recommended the goals statement for presentation to the Board of Commissioners, with the change noted for the CLG grant application from a National Register nomination for The Oaks to one for the St. Mary's Road Corridor. Seconded by Rich. VOTE: Unanimous. d. State Grants Program MOTION: Samford moved to apply for a 1998 State Grant to produce the Orange County Architectural History manuscript. Motion seconded by Satterfield. VOTE: Unanimous. e. Designation Priority List: Identifying NRSL Sites for National Register/Local Designations Belk asked all members to return to the January 28 meeting with their"Top 10"list of sites for local designations. After a priority list is determined, owners can be notified, and the process of selecting consultants to perform National Register nominations and survey/research reports can begin. f. Landmark Designations Belk indicated that letters of acceptance had been received from the owners of Bingham School, Rigsbee's Rock House, and Chatwood. A letter was sent to the manager of Moorefields and the Planning Department is awaiting a reply. Belk hopes to have the survey research reports ready for the Commission's review and acceptance at the January 28 meeting. AGENDA ITEM#7: INFORMATIONAL ITEMS a. The Preservation Commission Reporter, SHPO Newsletter,December 1997 Belk mentioned that Lloyd Childers,CLG Coordinator for the SHPO,was resigning her position to take a job a site manager for the Currituck Lighthouse. AGENDA ITEM#8: ADJOURNMENT Allison adjourned the meeting at approximately 8:35 p.m. 4 Attachment (3)