The Laurelhurst Historic District petition campaign is forging ahead. During December and January, many dozens of Laurelhurst residents spoke to their friends and neighbors, distributed flyers and information sheets, and manned tables at neighborhood events. Several hundred of your neighbors have already signed our Declaration of Support! If you want to learn more about how Historic District will protect Laurelhurst from RIP and demolitions, and preserve our neighborhood's beauty and historic character, there's lots of information in the articles as well as the pages on RIP and on WHYHISTORIC. If you want to sign the petition, add your voice, and help persuade the LNA to protect our neighb
New Rules For Historic Districts: No Historic Review Of Projects Until Neighborhood-Specific Guideli
This is breaking news of an important change in Oregon's historic protection rules. On January 27, the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) adopted new rules on protections for a National Register-listed historic district. The new rules will become effective in about 90 days. This will result in an important change in how the city of Portland protects newly-created National Register historic districts. Historic resource review will not automatically apply to these new historic districts. Instead, the city must conduct a public hearing process to determine what additional protections, beyond demolition protections, will apply to the new historic district. Since his
Can you have solar energy in a Historic District? Here's the quick answer. Yes, there will be a way. On your roof via solar panels: sometimes. On your roof through solar roof shingles: always. Through community solar: always. Okay, here's the details. Let's assume your house has a pitched roof, since most Laurelhurst houses do. Portland's historic code says that, in a historic district, rooftop "solar panels" are automatically permitted if they are on the rear facing part of the pitched roof, the panels are at the same angle as the roof and don't stick up more than 1 foot from the roof or come closer than 3 feet to the edges of the roof. The idea, of course, is that such a solar panel inst
A common argument made against Historic District is that the protections for historic homes could discourage homeowners from maintaining or remodeling their houses. We’re already seeing these claims being made by those who don’t want Laurelhurst to be protected as a Historic District. Some of them have a financial interest in the remodeling business. For example, this post by a contractor on NextDoor Laurelhurst: “I am a general contractor in Portland. I specialize in residential remodeling. In the past 30 years have worked on over 600 projects from kitchen, bathrooms, garages and entire second story remodels. Irvington and Ladds addition are two east side Historical Districts. I use to do
