City Council's Planning Committee voted unanimously to approve a bill Monday that, if passed, would make the existing stay of demolition of historic structures up to three times as long as the current zoning ordinance allows.
Earlier this month, the Municipal Planning Commission voted in favor of increasing the 90-day stay of demolition of recognized historic structures to 180 days, on the condition that a status hearing be held after the first 90 days to determine if reasonable progress has been made in finding an alternative to demolition.
Planning Committee passed a committee substitute to that bill, which was introduced by Councilman Tom Lane.
The substitute would give the Charleston Historic Landmarks Commission the authority to impose up to three 90-day stays, with status hearings to be held at the conclusion of each.
"In no case will the stay of demolition exceed 270 days," the committee substitute says.
City Planning Director Dan Vriendt noted that the Planning Department was supportive of the change.
"We think it's consistent with the Imagine Charleston Comprehensive Plan, which strongly recommends preservation and adaptive reuse of buildings," Vriendt said.
Lane said the recent controversy surrounding the possible destruction of the Gilliland cabins, as well as the past demolition of Central Methodist Church on the West Side, motivated him to introduce the bill and committee substitute.
While the bill would have no bearing on Gilliland Cabins, which were recently included in a four-acre land purchase by developer J.D. Stricklen, Lane said the increased stay of demolition would give community members opposed to razing a historic structure adequate time to organize and raise funds to find another solution.
Terrell Ellis, who sits on the Historic Landmarks Committee, spoke in favor of the committee substitute.
"We recognize this has to be balanced; we don't want to hold up development," she said. "But on the other side, when some of these precious structures are gone, they're gone forever ... it takes more than 90 days to organize people, educate them, and raise money."
Planning Committee member Courtney Persinger said he doesn't think a 270-day stay of demolition will be necessary in most scenarios.
"You're not gonna do this for every building; this is going to be the absolute last resort," he said.
Also on Monday, the Planning Committee voted to approve a bill on behalf of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston to amend the city's zoning ordinance to rezone Charleston Catholic High School, at 1033 Virginia St. East, from a residential office district to a central business district.
The school plans to add a 10,000-square-foot addition in the future, and sought the zoning change in order to complete future construction without first needing a conditional use permit.
Both bills will go to City Council for a final vote.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow
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