PRESS RELEASE

November 12, 2007

This past May, the City of Hoquiam broke new ground in our region of the state by becoming the first city in either Grays Harbor or Pacific Counties to adopt an Historic Preservation Ordinance. Modeled after successfully-implemented ordinances used by dozens of cities statewide, Hoquiam’s new ordinance offers important aesthetic protections as well as financial incentives for property owners of historically significant buildings in our town.

Commission Appointed

Since passage of the ordinance, Mayor Jack Durney put the call out for potential commissioners and appointed Christi Boora, John Larson, Jim Larson, Greg McHugh, Tom Rieger, Jim Silverthorn, and Barb Smith in July. Silverthorn, a retired architect, and Rieger, with Street, Lundgren, and Foster Architects serve as the commission’s two professional members and Alissa Thurman, Hoquiam’s Planner, is the city’s designated staff person assigned to assist the commission. Members met throughout August and September to discuss bylaws, application criteria, and historic property inventory work before convening in October for their first official meeting.

The commission’s primary mission is to establish and maintain the Hoquiam Register of Historic Places. For individual property owners, participation on the historic register is voluntary and is done to ensure for the long term that their structures will not be altered in an historically detrimental fashion. Once listed, a property’s title retains register status from owner to owner. Historical integrity is ensured through the building permit process since the commission reviews proposed changes to local register properties and certifies the changes as not adversely affecting the historic characteristics of the property which contribute to its designation.

Any building, structure, site, or object may be designated for inclusion in the Hoquiam Register of Historic Places if it is significantly associated with the history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or cultural heritage of the community. Register properties must also be at least fifty years old and embody the distinctive architectural characteristics of a type, period, style, or method of design or construction. Application forms are now available at the city’s building department and are also downloadable on the city website at www.cityofhoquiam.com/register.pdf. Nominations can be submitted by anyone but must include the written consent of the property owner.

Incentives for Participation

Individuals who choose to list their property on Hoquiam’s register can benefit financially through a unique property-tax incentive called “Special Valuation.” If a property owner invests more than 25% of the assessed value of their building in historically-sensitive restoration costs over a two-year period – before or after work has been completed – that owner can receive a 10-year tax abatement for the amount spent. For example, if a home is assessed at $100,000 when a restoration begins and $50,000 is invested in a new roof, siding, flooring, paint, electrical upgrades – virtually anything that goes into such projects – then, that investment of $50,000 is subtracted from the assessed property value for a period of ten years leading to a reduced property tax.

Hoquiam's Americorps Contributions

In addition to maintaining an historic register, Hoquiam’s Historic Preservation Commission is charged with actively keeping an inventory of historic properties within the city. Back in 1988, the city completed an inventory which covered nearly four hundred residential and commercial properties throughout town. Through Hoquiam’s Americorps program, the commission now has a full-time worker assigned to the task of updating and expanding this inventory. Brandi Callaghan has been busy since September transferring written records to a new computer database and will soon begin taking current photographs of buildings throughout town that will be included in the inventory.

Since adopting our new ordinance, Hoquiam has also applied to the National Park Service to become a “Certified Local Government.” This is a unique nationwide program of financial and technical assistance established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. In Washington, it is implemented and administered by the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and is designed to help local governments like ours to actively participate in preserving Washington’s irreplaceable historic and cultural resources as assets for the future. Hoquiam’s Certification is scheduled to be official by the end of 2007.

For more information about Hoquiam’s Historic Register, please contact Alissa Thurman at 360.532.5700 x211 or John Larson at 360.533.5862.

John Larson is the Director and Curator of the Polson Museum and is the newly-elected Chairman of Hoquiam’s Historic Preservation Commission.