A homeowner in Eastmoreland, where an effort is underway to form a protected historic district, might have found a way to give himself 1,000 times as much say on the matter.

Residents of the Southeast Portland neighborhood don't get to vote, but a majority of property owners can block the district by filing notarized objections with the National Park Service, which oversees the National Register of Historic Places.

So homeowner Patrick Cummings divided the ownership of his property between 1,000 trusts, giving Cummings -- as trustee for each --1,000 opportunities to object.

State officials say the tactic could actually work. The state attorney general's office told the State Historic Preservation Office, which is processing the application, that multiple trusts create multiple owners under Oregon law.

The Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association led the effort to have a portion of the neighborhood listed on the National Register in an effort to prevent homes from being demolished and replaced.

The effort sharply divided the neighborhood. Hundreds of homeowners objected to the proposal, which they said would encroach on property rights.

A neighborhood poll conducted by mail ended with 666 (48 percent) voting in favor and 702 (51 percent) against, with 19 respondents expressing no opinion. The neighborhood association decided to press on.

Cummings said he was driven to divvy up his property because he believes the nomination process is unfair to homeowners, particularly when tied to land-use restrictions.

"The national process is one of 'negative consent,' and thus all neighbors are assumed to be in favor of the listing unless they sign a notarized objection," Cummings said in an email. "It's deeply, profoundly unfair and anathema to anyone who believes in democratic processes to control decision-making in our society."

The trusts are numbered HDB Trust 1 through 1000. Cummings said "HDB" stands for "Historic District Balancing."

Derek Blum, founder of Historic Eastmoreland Achieving Results Together, a group in support of the district, said Cummings is the one subverting democracy.

"This is a dangerous affront to the democratic process, and if allowed by state and federal agencies, these underhanded acts will give any single objector that forms enough trusts the ability to sink any historic district nomination," Blum said in a statement.

Cummings said he intended to file objections on behalf of each of the trusts, but that it might be prohibitively expensive to have 1,000 objections notarized.

The state submitted the nomination to the National Parks Service last year but withheld its endorsement, citing discrepancies in the count of property owners within the proposed district's boundaries. It was returned to the state for corrections.

The State Historic Preservation Office is now recounting property owners and objections already on file before resubmitting the application to the National Parks Service. It continues to accept objections, letters of support and withdrawals of earlier objections until the parks service makes a final ruling.

If the historic district is recognized, Portland would require a formal hearing process before any historically significant building could be demolished.

Other "non-contributing" properties -- in Eastmoreland's case, any home built after 1961, for example -- would initially have no constraints. And new buildings would not have to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood.

Rules for all properties aimed at preserving the architectural character of the neighborhood could come later, though, drafted through a land-use process that would require City Council approval.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus