Members of the Nicholasville Historical Preservation Commission (NHPC) presented city officials with their proposed list of guidelines during the Aug. 27 city-commission meeting.
“From the previous administration, we were given a 40-something page list of guidelines,” chairperson Wini Yunker said. “In doing that, we weren’t trying to make up rules; we were just trying to go by the guidelines.”
For the past couple years, the NHPC has whittled the 46-page document down to 14 pages, which it presented to the city leaders during the meeting.
Examples of the revised guidelines include:
• Avoid removing or altering historic materials or distinctive architectural features. If the element is original and in fairly good shape, every reasonable effort should be made to keep it.
• Original architectural materials such as brick and stone, wood siding and trim, cast and wrought iron, and sheer metal, should be repaired, restored and reused whenever possible. Original materials should not be removed or covered. Where necessary, missing or deteriorated materials should be replaced with appropriate recycled or new materials that match the original as closely as possible.
• New additions should be consistent with the original architectural style. They should be compatible with the building and its relationship to it neighbors. Skylights shall not be disallowed so long as they do not jeopardize the integrity, asthetics and overall appearence of the structure.
• Existing architectural elements or portions of the original features should be retained, repaired or replicated.
The historic district runs from Oak to Chestnut streets and includes the old jail and the two churches on York Street.
The district encompasses portions of York up to West Maple and 1st streets, near the Metcalf House to Walnut Street. The historic district also includes Court Row by the courthouse and portions of 2nd Street up to Walnut Street.
Yunker also told the commission that some of the property owners opted out of being included in the historic district.
Those properties include the old Walker Hotel, 309 W. Maple St., and 105 S. 1st St.
“Our aim was to please everybody, but we found that didn’t work either,” Yunker said. “So for the past two years, we’ve worked on the document. It’s now 14 pages; we worked on the map, and some people wanted to be included and some people wanted to be excluded.”
The next step is for Nicholasville planning director Greg Bohnett to draft up different ordinances for the historical district.
“There’s various ordinances that have to be done and some of this would have to go before the planning commission before it would be brought back to the city commission because there would have to be some amendments to the zoning regulations,” Bohnett said. “The planning commission would have to hold hearings regarding the regulation changes.”
