Courtesy / City of Portland
A city map shows the area of Munjoy Hill that would be designated a historic district.
March 12, 2020
Portland planning board to decide Munjoy Hill Historic District March 17
Photo / Maureen Milliken
Munjoy Hill, much of which was developed between 1850 and 1925, may become a historic district, a designation that would include 427 properties and about 49% of the neighborhood.
By Maureen Milliken
The Portland Planning Board will decide on whether a portion of Munjoy Hill will become a historic district — a move that would include more than 400 buildings — next week after three hours of board discussion and public testimony Tuesday night.
The decision will be taken up at a special meeting that was scheduled to also discuss the city's recode process. The board must decide if it agrees with the city's Historic Preservation Board that the neighborhood meets criteria for such a district, as well as if it conforms to the goals of the city's master plan for 2030. The city council has the final say.
Planning board member Sean Dundon Tuesday voiced the concerns of some of those opposed to the district, that it would "take the neighborhood off the market," and said the sense of place, unlike other districts in the city, is "vague."
He said he'd rather see the city establish design standards and address recoding before doing the district.
Members also tried to nail down what historic period and criteria go into designating a historic district, and how Munjoy Hill, a long-time working class neighborhood, would fit into that designation.
But Deb Andrews, the city's historic preservation program manager, said that historic districts can help spur housing, including affordable units.
"Historic districts are moving away from considering housing quality landmarks with a capital 'L' to recognize the cultural and social history" of an entire neighborhood, and looking at the area as a whole, she said.
She and Christine Grimando, the city's director of planning and urban development, also said that buildings designated historic can benefit from historic preservation tax credits — something 150 building renovations have so far in the city.
Details of the district
The designation, along with individual landmark designations for five buildings was approved by the city's Historic Preservation Board in November. Spurred by concerns about modern building development on the hill, accompanied by a spate of tear-downs several years ago, the proposed designation comes after a 2018 conservation overlay that slowed construction until issues could be worked out.
The zone would work with an overlay district that addresses standards for new construction in the neighborhood.
"[The overlay district] does not address changes to to existing building stock, and it's that building stock that gives character and sense of place to a neighborhood," Andrews said.
The proposed district includes 427 parcels, representing 49% of Munjoy Hill’s building stock, according to the city. Most of the properties in the R-6 residential zone, but it also includes 10 buildings within the neighborhood’s B-1 or B-1b business zones. (Two of the 10 buildings are previously-designated landmarks). Of the parcels, 376, or 88%, are classified as “contributing," and 51, or 12% are “noncontributing." Contributing means that they meet the criteria, through age and any alternations, to be considered historic.
Buildings that were built in the last 50 years, or have been altered to a degree that they've lost their historic characteristics, as well as open lots, wouldn't come under the rules of the district.
The designation is supported by preservation groups, including Greater Portland Landmarks, as well as the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Association. But it's opposed by a variety of property owners who are concerned about restrictions on repairing and renovating homes that are more than a century old, as well as the growing lack of affordable housing and other issues.
Proposed Munjoy Hill Historic District
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