PUBLISHED 8-1-2007

People who live in historic neighborhoods are sometimes reluctant to have their streets officially designated as such. They fear every home improvement project will be subjected to critical review.

People with those concerns, who otherwise may be proud of the distinctive character and history of their residential district, should like  a proposed historic preservation ordinance the Bakersfield City Council will consider this month.

The proposal being advanced by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission would create a designation for “areas of historic interest” — a classification without all the potential restrictions of a local, state or federal historic preservation area.

The commission’s plan, which would entail adding language to the city’s existing historic preservation ordinance, has no real teeth, other than to let people know, “Hey, we like our neighborhood.”

 It would encourage neighborhoods to promote their distinctiveness with landmark-type signage, if that’s what enough neighbors want. But it would otherwise do little except reinforce neighborhood identity and pride — and, hopefully, property values.

Potential “areas of historic interest” might include the Westchester and Oleander districts, the so-called “tree” streets immediately south of 24th Street, and the “flower” neighborhoods of Old Town Kern. In some cases, a worthy area of interest might encompass just a block or two. It could even be a single building.

To a great extent, houses within those respective neighborhoods share a certain history and architecture. Most were built at about the same time and continue to enjoy a collective pride of ownership that makes them desirable places to live.

Someone who owns a home in one of the city’s “areas of historic interest” could still paint his house orange and purple, or strip off the Victorian trim and replace it with a faux-futuristic glass-and-steel outer layer — aesthetic sins that would be barred in neighborhoods with more rigid historic preservation designations. But the “area of historic interest” designation will likely dissuade such abuses.

“It’s a softer way of recognizing these areas,” said Donna Kunz of the city’s redevelopment agency, which supports the proposal.

She notes that other cities have recognized unique areas with distinctive signage indicating, for example, that a well-known person grew up in a specific neighborhood, or that a historically noteworthy occurrence took place there.

The Economic and Community Development Department has proposed updating the city’s walking-tour maps to include the new areas of historic interest, and city staff is developing an architectural design manual for property owners, to encourage — but not require — adherence to neighborhood standards in keeping with an area’s characteristics and charm.

Approving specific neighborhoods for “historic interest” status would be the duty of the Historic Preservation Commission.

The ordinance deserves the support of the City Council and community.