Athens City Council members might move to support fire-damaged West Union Street buildings as historic.
Three months after the fire on West Union Street displaced several uptown businesses, Athens City Council members talked of lending the owners of those affected buildings a hand.
At council’s Monday night meeting, Athens City Planner Paul Logue proposed the legislative body designate the fire-damaged area as a historic district.
That designation would give businesses a hand when it comes to making repairs, Logue said.
“One of the best potential ways to assist those property owners… is to apply for historic property tax credits,” Logue said.
The tax credits would cover “25 percent of work dollar-for-dollar match on preservation efforts,” Logue added.
Property owners can’t apply for these credits without the historic designation.
In order to be eligible, buildings applying for the designation have to be a minimum of 50 years old.
In 1982, when the city first applied for such designations, only the buildings housing Jack Neal Floral and Uptown Dog were eligible, and those buildings are on the federal registry for historic buildings.
Other buildings in the area were only 48 years old at the time, Logue said.
Some council members questioned about how the fire, which destroyed both the interior and roof of a few of the West Union Street buildings, would affect the area’s eligibility.
“How can you recognize a building that has been burnt to the ground as historic?” Councilman Jeff Risner, D-2nd Ward, said.
Logue pointed out that as long as the façade — or the front of the buildings — remains, the buildings still qualified as historic.
“One of the things we can do as city council is support the designation of this area” Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-4th Ward, said.
If council were to give its support, they would need to hold a public meeting before they could pass an ordinance awarding a local designation, Logue said.
All of this would need to take place before March 31, which is the deadline to apply for the tax credits.
“We’ve spoken to the property owners … and they all support it,” Logue said.
Council also discussed more implementations of the Essence of Athens program, including the possibility of a mural on the side of the county’s wastewater treatment plant’s primary clarifiers.
Councilwoman Jennifer Cochran, D-at large said the two clarifiers allow for more than 200 square feet of “canvas” for artists to utilize.
“The idea is that this can be a potential site for public art for the essence of Athens project,” Cochran said.
Athens Service Safety Director Paula Horan-Moseley estimated the project would cost about $15,000.
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