Petition to Stop Demolitions in Jacksonville's Historic Districts

[m74reeves]

RESPONSE FROM COUNCILMAN LUMB TO PETITION:

This evening I've asked the administration to suspend all demolitions in the two Historic Districts. I've also asked that they work to mitigate the adverse conditions that lead to structural deterioration rather than pursue demolition as a first choice, i.e., make the effort to stabilize a sagging porch rather than tear down an entire building. Some of you know that I plan to introduce legislation that will create a structured process for waiving the accumulated rolling fines that discourage repair and renovation. This process would allow owners who submit an acceptable plan for bringing their property into compliance to have their fines forgiven. I expect to move forward with this legislation once we complete the budget process and once we've finished our review of the proposed pension settlement.

Robin Lumb
At Large Council Member
RLUMB@coj.net

[sheclown]

Thank You!!!

This is not the first time CM Lumb has come to Springfield's rescue.

http://myspringfield.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1828&hilit=1647+Pearl+Street

He was the one who stopped the demolition of 1647 Pearl Street and put a moratorium on demolitions which lasted over 500 days.

He has also worked very hard with the community to draft legislation mentioned in this email.

[mbwright]

This is good to hear.  I hope it will be a permanent hold, rather than 500 days.  That is only less than 2 years. 
I really hope that there is a long and arduous path to demolition, with lots of review, public meetings, HPC review, and other steps, that will ensure demos will not occur.  The homes need a chance, and the Historic neighborhoods need the homes, and all other structures, warehouses, factories, schools to be in place.

A beautiful antique quilt is not nearly as functional, or pretty, with many holes in it.  This is the same with Springfield.  With Restoration, and repair, and appropriate infill it can be beautiful once again.

[sheclown]

" A beautiful antique quilt is not nearly as functional, or pretty, with many holes in it.  This is the same with Springfield.  With Restoration, and repair, and appropriate infill it can be beautiful once again."

a great way to look at it.

[Timkin]

This is good to hear.  I hope it will be a permanent hold, rather than 500 days.  That is only less than 2 years. 
I really hope that there is a long and arduous path to demolition, with lots of review, public meetings, HPC review, and other steps, that will ensure demos will not occur.  The homes need a chance, and the Historic neighborhoods need the homes, and all other structures, warehouses, factories, schools to be in place.

A beautiful antique quilt is not nearly as functional, or pretty, with many holes in it.  This is the same with Springfield.  With Restoration, and repair, and appropriate infill it can be beautiful once again.

I  certainly hope that the halting of demolitions include all historic homes and commercial buildings.  We really should not have to lose one more , anywhere , let alone in Springfield where many were razed that very definitely should have been saved, instead.


The ONLY ones profiting from this insanity , are the demolition companies.  Id rather see them out of business. 

( Just my $.02 ...no retail value )

[JaxUnicorn]

I  certainly hope that the halting of demolitions include all historic homes and commercial buildings.  We really should not have to lose one more , anywhere , let alone in Springfield where many were razed that very definitely should have been saved, instead.


The ONLY ones profiting from this insanity , are the demolition companies.  Id rather see them out of business. 

( Just my $.02 ...no retail value )

Agree completely Timkin.  And I, like iloveionia, am curious as to the scenario you referenced earlier in being stopped in your cleanup effort of Annie Lytle school.

[Timkin]

The question was posed, By who?   We do not have a name.   One weekend we were working there , as we do pretty much every Saturday.  During the subsequent week we return to find the building tightly boarded up.   I have tried repeatedly to contact the owner , with zero response.     A few people on our crew returned the following ( last )  Saturday.  Within minutes a JSO officer was there.  It happens that another group of people ( not with our volunteer group, and I presume there to wander through the building, or photograph or whatever )   was told  by the officer to leave and not return.    As I shared with Ionia  the securing seems consistent with that seen in Mothballing.  I do not know if the owner chose a private party to secure it or MCCD had it secured.  Either way, I am not going to presume it is okay to remove this stuff and continue work.     Certainly in light of the recent demolitions in Springfield,  I am not going to Code Enforcement for help or to get answers.

My guess is , this results from some of the community.. that is people in the community that see this as an abandoned building , and that no one cares about it ,and that it is free reign to tag, vandalize , and party in .  No secret at all that it has happened for nearly four decades.    But that would only be a guess.

With no response from the owner , We have no idea who to turn to to allow us to continue work, and that is where it stands.   It is frustrating , as we made great progress .

[m74reeves]

People, I encourage you to sign this petition if you haven't already and promote to your friends and family. Our council members will be going on vacation soon, so let them know this is still important to you.

It takes less than a minutes to do this. While Councilman Lumb has responded favorably to looking at the current issues related to demolitions and code enforcement's policies in general, we need to make sure all our elected officials are on board. When you sign this petition, our mayor and council members will hear your voice. THANKS!

http://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-alvin-brown-city-council-members-issue-a-moratorium-on-demolitions-in-historic-neighborhoods

[JSquared]

Signed from the suburbs.

[Debbie Thompson]

Thank you, JSquared.  Who's next?  Keep 'em coming!  When you sign the petition, an email is sent to every city council member and the mayor.  Include you comments in the petition about why our history is important to you.  We are being heard.