Historians are questioning a unique arrangement in which the Gaithersburg mayor and council act as the commission that makes decisions on the historic merits of properties, often when the owner has plans to alter the site to pursue development.
The mayor and five-member council act as the city's Historic District Commission, which determines preservation of historic sites and resources of architectural value.
Historians who attended a recent meeting of the mayor and council say that city leaders rushed to judgment on approving plans to demolish a historic house, owned by Robert G. Wilson, near Olde Towne. The house would be demolished to make room for a medical office building.
"There is a tremendous conflict of interest in having the mayor and council in Gaithersburg sit also as the Historic District Commission," said Lorraine J. Pearsall, president of Montgomery Preservation Inc., the county's only private nonprofit historic preservation organization. "They are never sure when they are the mayor and council and when they are the [commission]."
Pearsall pointed to recent discussions of the Wilson property and said the conflict "has led to serious procedural confusion and inappropriate deliberations."
The Maryland Association of Historic District Commissions visited the city in June 2008 to assess how the commission operates and recommended the city change its process.
"There appears to be an inherent conflict of interest here," said Susan West Montgomery of MAHDC in a site visit report dated Dec. 17, 2008. "Council members and the mayor have a stake in seeing the advancement of projects which they may have initiated in their role as government officials. Can they rule impartially?"
Despite the questions, the city attorney did not recommend changes after reviewing the issue, and city leaders have not scheduled a policy discussion. Yet historians continue to disagree with the arrangement.
"I would support the HDC being a separate entity," said Clark Day, acting chairman of the city's Historic Preservation Advisory Council, which conducts public hearings on historic area work permits and makes designation recommendations to the Historic District Commission.
For months, the Wilson project, which involves five properties on a 2.71-acre parcel at the corner of Frederick and DeSellum avenues, has troubled historians.
Dr. Robert G. Wilson Jr., a dentist, wanted to demolish two structures, including an 1877 Victorian farmhouse at 206 S. Frederick Ave. known as the L.D. Lodge House. He wants to build a 20,000 square-foot medical office building city planners have billed as a "gateway" to Olde Towne.
Plans assumed demolition before public hearings and Greg Ossont, director of planning and code administration, said that public hearings on three houses Wilson's father owns at the corner "would send a very clear message" city leaders do not want redevelopment.
In May, the city's Historic Preservation Advisory Committee recommended saving and designating a 114-year-old house at 13 DeSellum Ave., the L.D. Lodge House and the Fulks House, which Wilson planned to remodel as an office.
A few weeks later, Wilson's attorney, Jody Kline, with Miller, Miller and Canby of Rockville, proposed a change: save the L.D. Lodge House and demolish 13 DeSellum Ave. because it is "not structurally sound."
City leaders chose to forego a public hearing and approved demolition in a 4-to-1 vote while acting in their HDC capacity. Discussion was to have focused on the buildings' merits, but led to talk of expenses.
"I'm uncomfortable," said Councilman Ryan Spiegel before voting.
"This has been dragging on, and that's not fair, either," said Mayor Sidney A. Katz.
Councilman Henry F. Marraffa added waiting "would jeopardize the project."
Following Pearsall's protests, Katz asked the city attorney to research whether it is possible to schedule a public hearing after voting not to have one.
