Cape residents rework historic district proposal, get first approval

The plan for the Boulevard Local Historic District is back on track.

After faltering before the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission in February, residents pushing to win the designation for the neighborhood along the east side of West End Boulevard north of Broadway renewed their push. They reworked the proposal and circulated a new petition showing that a majority of residents approve the idea.

On Wednesday, the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission approved the application, which will send it to the planning and zoning commission at its Aug. 12 meeting. If it wins approval at that time, the district's plan will be sent to the Cape Girardeau City Council for final action.

A local historic district designation would retain the character of the neighborhood that abuts Southeast Missouri State University. But some elements that were originally part of the proposal, such as parking restrictions, have been dropped.

"I would love to see this become a model for other neighborhoods," said Patti House, secretary of the preservation commission. "The residents wanted it, they pushed it and they weren't going away."

The district includes houses on Park Avenue and the east side of West End Boulevard. Other streets included in the district are Normal Avenue and Rockwood Drive between Henderson Avenue and West End Boulevard along with Highland and Hillcrest drives.

"They did everything anybody would want them to do to make this pass," House said. "They went through the process, talked to staff and made their changes."

Key elements of the plan for the Boulevard Local Historic District are requirements that repairs or remodeling of homes stay in character with the surrounding neighborhood and a ban on new construction that is more than 15 percent taller than the average of the district's buildings.

New nomination

The commission approved another historic district Wednesday as well, endorsing the nomination of the 200 block of South Middle Street to the National Register of Historic Places.

The street has homes built between 1890 and 1931, a time when Cape Girardeau was growing rapidly, according to the application. The homes represent the architectural styles typical of the period for homes used by working and middle-class residents. Many of the homes have interesting architectural and stylistic features and the street retains much of the character of the time period, the application prepared by Julie Ann LaMouria of Lafser & Associates says.

The designation now goes to the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and, if approved there, to the National Register. If approved, property owners in the district would be eligible for state tax credits of up to 25 percent of their investment in restoring and renovating the homes.

The historic district designation will help preserve a piece of Cape Girardeau from redevelopment near an area targeted by Cape's DREAM Initiative master plan.

"We have lost a lot in Cape over the years to redevelopment or demolition or whatever," House said.

The commission also discussed proposed new zoning rules for historic districts and elected new officers. Scott House, formerly vice chairman, will become chairman, and Bill Eddleman, the chairman, will become vice chairman. Patti House will remain secretary.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

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