http://wnymedia.net/wnymedia/buffalopundit/2006/12/hotel-at-elmwood-franklin/ Buffalo and Western New York's online news resource Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:19:00 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 http://wnymedia.net/wnymedia/buffalopundit/2006/12/hotel-at-elmwood-franklin/comment-page-1/#comment-7527 Punaro.com » Blog Archive » Don’t cry for the Atwater rubble Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:21:50 +0000 http://buffalopundit.wnymedia.net/archives/4509#comment-7527 [...] That leads me to missed opportunity #3. When this issue first arose, my response to it was, “It’s too late for this house. If people are truly interested in the preservation of Elmwood as it exists today, they need to work on establishing a preservation district.” This is the “right way” to approach preservation, and missed opportunity #3 - give yourself grounds to stand on. All preservationists in Buffalo understand that there are far too many buildings to save individually. The only conceivable way to address preservation en masse is to establish preservation districts, or restrictive zoning areas that limit what can or can’t be done with particular buildings within that zone. This ensures that if you are purchasing a property within a certain area, you know going into it what you will and won’t be allowed to do with it. This is a fair balance between private property rights and community well-being. It’s a step beyond simple land-use zoning. What are the Elmwoodies going to do when someone wants to tear down another house, start the battle all over again? It will end up with the same result. The hotel project died due to the fact that there was a legal restriction on the property, defining what it could not be used for. The power of law was clearly illustrated. If Elmwood wants to preserve itself as a street of old houses to house “trendy” boutiques, then it needs to establish itself as a preservation district. It’s clear that many of the actual property owners on Elmwood don’t agree with that philosophy, and in the end they’re the ones holding the cards. The people that love Elmwood are either going to have to start buying up the properties themselves, or get the ball rolling on building support from the property owners to establish such a district. If they believe that the current character is key to the future success of the strip, they need to be willing to back up those beliefs with action, not reaction. There was time to start working towards that end when the Atwater case first arose, and much progress could have been made by now, possibly even influencing the outcome. Nothing was done, and to my knowledge nothing is still being done. No action will certainly mean that we will be having this debate again in the future. [...] [...] That leads me to missed opportunity #3. When this issue first arose, my response to it was, “It’s too late for this house. If people are truly interested in the preservation of Elmwood as it exists today, they need to work on establishing a preservation district.” This is the “right way” to approach preservation, and missed opportunity #3 – give yourself grounds to stand on. All preservationists in Buffalo understand that there are far too many buildings to save individually. The only conceivable way to address preservation en masse is to establish preservation districts, or restrictive zoning areas that limit what can or can’t be done with particular buildings within that zone. This ensures that if you are purchasing a property within a certain area, you know going into it what you will and won’t be allowed to do with it. This is a fair balance between private property rights and community well-being. It’s a step beyond simple land-use zoning. What are the Elmwoodies going to do when someone wants to tear down another house, start the battle all over again? It will end up with the same result. The hotel project died due to the fact that there was a legal restriction on the property, defining what it could not be used for. The power of law was clearly illustrated. If Elmwood wants to preserve itself as a street of old houses to house “trendy” boutiques, then it needs to establish itself as a preservation district. It’s clear that many of the actual property owners on Elmwood don’t agree with that philosophy, and in the end they’re the ones holding the cards. The people that love Elmwood are either going to have to start buying up the properties themselves, or get the ball rolling on building support from the property owners to establish such a district. If they believe that the current character is key to the future success of the strip, they need to be willing to back up those beliefs with action, not reaction. There was time to start working towards that end when the Atwater case first arose, and much progress could have been made by now, possibly even influencing the outcome. Nothing was done, and to my knowledge nothing is still being done. No action will certainly mean that we will be having this debate again in the future. [...]

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