How Charlotte can better preserve its history

My family recently sold part of the VanLandingham Estate to local investors who intend to revitalize the property and reimagine its future. It’s going to be exciting to watch as they shepherd its next phase of life. Owning and managing historic properties is not for the faint of heart. My grandfather used to say maintaining an old house is like peeling an onion; you pull off one layer at a time and cry through the whole thing. Fifteen of the past 20 years at the Estate were fulfilling and joyful for me. But the last five years spent trying to rethink its use and make it relevant again were exhausting. And it didn’t need to be.

Candidly, most of Charlotte looks just like any other city, and unless you know you’re here you could be in Anywhere USA. What’s left of our older communities and buildings is what tells our story and what sets us apart. Now that I don’t have an economic interest in the outcome, it’s time for some off-leash honesty.

The truth is, Charlotte’s support for preservation is a mile wide and an inch deep. It’s been that way for as long as I’ve been around. Vast amounts of our historic architecture didn’t just disappear on its own. Meanwhile, what’s left of Charlotte’s story fritters away because of silos and a failure of imagination. Which is ironic, because imagination is probably the one word that best sums up the story of who we were and who we’ve become — a plucky, enterprising people who saw themselves capably.

If our community wants to improve outcomes and protect more of its history, things need to change. A couple things come to mind that should be relatively easy to achieve.

Mecklenburg County plays a heroic, lonely role in leading on preservation. Charlotte needs to get in the game. Most of the towns get it, but Charlotte does precious little. That’s a problem, because the city controls zoning and land use. Charlotte should start by partnering with the towns and county to create and fund a public-private partnership with our business community to buy, renovate and protect our history. There are best practice examples around the country of this being successful, including our neighbors in Salisbury.

If that’s too out of the box, Charlotte should just start participating in the revolving fund the Historic Landmarks Commission uses to purchase historic properties that are in distress or which have few other options. The Commission renovates, inserts protective covenants and returns them to private ownership on the tax rolls. The fund comes close to breaking even, and it’s the definition of putting your money where your mouth is.

Make preservation a priority … period. That begins by acknowledging that historic districts and properties are anomalies. They are, by definition, of a different time and place. We cannot treat them like Everywhere USA. They are square pegs trying to fit neatly into round holes created by our planners and politicians. At a minimum they should be part of our Unified Development Code, which is conveniently being reconsidered right now. This might include exempting historic landmarks from having to wait two years if a rezoning fails, or adaptive re-use flexibility with things like parking requirements, permitted uses, and even setbacks, none of which existed when these properties were built.

Come on Charlotte! It’s time to stop being a second rate version of other places and get serious about being a first rate version of yourself.

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 5:09 PM with the headline "How Charlotte can better preserve its history."