Libertyville considers historic preservation ordinance

It's been a long time in process, but Libertyville village officials finally are ready to discuss a historic preservation ordinance.

The village board Tuesday will host a work session to review a draft of the measure designed to preserve and protect buildings and areas deemed to be of historic interest. The session begins at 7 p.m. at the village hall, 118 West Cook Ave.

While the historic character of Libertyville has been considered an asset in resident surveys, the village has not had any official rules regarding potential changes to buildings.

"We've done a lot of preservation work already, but we don't have an ordinance," said Mike Kollman, a local architect and chairman of the historic preservation committee, created in 2009 by the village board.

"We've been lucky. We haven't lost any significant buildings," Kollman said. "It would give the community some protection."

The village has continued a moratorium on the demolition of commercial properties in the downtown area.

The committee held five public meetings between last January and May and has reviewed, updated and modified information on a measure first raised in 2002 by MainStreet Libertyville, a downtown improvement group.

"This is the ordinance that would create the historic preservation commission and the process to landmark a structure or landmark a district and any future reviews of what that would entail," said John Spoden, the village's community development director.

The village board more than a year ago, agreed this was something it wanted to consider and directed the commission to produce a draft ordinance.

While providing protection and economic incentives there also could be an increase in red tape and perceived loss of property rights, the committee has acknowledged.

The initial thrust would be on commercial properties, Kollman said, and there is no recommendation to apply the ordinance to residential properties.