Draft amendments to the Frederick Town Historic District Design Guidelines are available on the City website and will be the subject of several upcoming public meetings.
The first of these review sessions is to be held during the Historic Preservation Commission workshop at 6 p.m. Feb. 15, in the Municipal Office Annex, 140 W. Patrick St. The public is invited and encouraged to attend and provide comments.
According to state and local law, the Board of Alderman is required to adopt guidelines for rehabilitation and new construction design for designated sites, structures, and districts that are generally consistent with those recognized by the Maryland Historic Trust. The Historic Preservation Commission uses the guidelines adopted by the Board of Alderman in reviewing applications.
The Frederick Town Historic District Design Guidelines were approved by the Board of Alderman in December 2009 and amended in April 2010, upon a November 2008 recommendation from the Historic Preservation Commission, after a lengthy public process.
Design guidelines must be periodically assessed to make sure they are adequately addressing the needs of the Historic District. In this case, the amendments are not intended to be a complete rewrite, but to remove inconsistencies, and ambiguities discovered after almost a decade of use; and to address and expand upon materials and technologies that were not covered in the original document.
Community input is strongly encouraged.
Please submit comments and questions to FTHDGuidelines@cityoffrederick.com or call 301-600-1499.