Instead of permit policing, and intimidation threats to citizens to the point of verging on harassment, the CITY of Davenport neighborhood planning and development administrative STAFF need to change their song and dance to one of SUPPORT!

Update the historical preservation ordinance.

Create guidelines.

Create educational support programming, ensuring a better community and environment for the citizens of Davenport.

Historic preservation commissioners (HPC) instead of doing 80 to 90% design review work need to do the reverse which is outreach and education support and actually walk the walk of what the citizens of Davenport want and need versus aesthetic policing. The city needs to hire a Historic architect and consult with the state of Iowa historic preservation office and follow the state of Iowa preservation guidelines, and standards. 

The historic preservation commissioners need more training, but the city needs to do its part and actually pay for expert advice and not rely on the HP commissioners. The entire process needs to be streamlined and put online making it user and homeowner friendly where not every project needs to go up in front of a trial by fire judge and jury the HPC where this discretionary board can make decisions usually based upon their own personal bias’ to approve or deny projects without real, valid, or factual data and information. 

The city staff need to create an index and an online checklist, where all of these processes can be streamlined and not every person has to go in front of the historic preservation commission to be judged, but actually the city doing their part by enhancing the HPC website making it more welcoming and user-friendly and developing an index and checklist of projects and windows and doors and everything that has ever been approved. The HPC can do their part by creating and developing guidelines. When business owners or home owners have projects the process could be streamlined where not all of these properties, All 1600+ of them that are under the national historic registry in Davenport have to go in front of the HPC.

Currently as it stands, the process is too political and gives too much power, weight and control to the commission, i.e. the city. The commissioners and the city of Davenport administrative staff do not have the expertise to actually do their job consistently and accurately because neither city staff nor the commission have the required training and information they need in order to do their jobs.

https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_6481372/File/Departments/City%20Council/Proclamation/05122021NationalPreservationMonth.pdf

…the City of Davenport oversees the largest number of Iowa historic properties listed in

the National Register of Historic Places. Approximately 1,600 properties are listed,

either individually or part of fourteen historic districts. The City of Davenport is a

registered Certified Local Government through the National Park Service….

Come on city of Davenport. You want to snap up all these properties and have them under your belt but you are not actually doing the work. So instead of this policing penal code…it is time to change your message and actions to one of SUPPORT & SERVICE!!!