Real estate
BY SHELBIE HAMILTON
Survey identifies preservation priorities for historic homes, buildings in McKinney
Survey area The historically significant area surveyed is larger than the city’s designated Historic Overlay District. While the survey area included the roughly 1,300 properties located in the Historic Overlay District, nearly 5,000 properties outside of the district were also surveyed, according to the report.
A recently completed survey of buildings in East McKinney identified over 3,300 historically signifi- cant properties, according to city documents. The gist The survey included assessing over 6,200 prop- erties in a designated, 4.9-square-mile historically significant area identified by city staff. The survey area also included the Historic Overlay District, which is a smaller area inside the historically significant area that receives additional oversight and regulations from the city in an effort to preserve historic properties, Historic Preservation Planner Cassie Bumgarner said. Both designations identify an area with properties of historic significance. The survey was conducted by Hicks & Company Environmental Archeological Consultants as well as subconsultants. Bumgarner said the process included field surveys of the properties, which included taking photographs and assessing the architectural details of each property as could be seen from public streets. Diving deeper The report is helpful in documenting change over time, Bumgarner said, as well as to ensure regulatory processes on building alterations are being followed. Prior surveys were completed in the 1980s, 2005 and 2015. “It’s really helpful to see change over time, and the more frequently you do surveys and have these photos, the more you can see [change] over time,” Bumgarner said.
The survey report outlined a number of recom- mendations for city leaders and staff, including conducting additional surveys on a regular sched- ule, such as every 5-10 years, Bumgarner said. The recommendations also detailed a poten- tial expansion of the Historic Overlay District. Bumgarner said city staff are considering the expansion as well as other potential options, including creation of a cultural district. By the numbers Of the over 6,200 properties in the survey area, 3,338 were identified as historic resources. The properties include residences and businesses as well as other buildings and structures. The properties identified as historic resources were also assigned a preservation priority rating of either high, medium or low. Properties given a high rating have structural integrity and “are excellent examples of architectural styles or types,” while lower rated properties may have seen alterations or exhibited an architectural style that is in abundance in the area, the survey report states. Over 50 properties changed in historic priority rating compared to the 2015 survey, with more than half moving to a lower rating. “McKinney is not unique in the fact that some of these ratings go up and some of them go down over time,” Director of Planning Jennifer Arnold said at a May 21 meeting. “That’s the balance that we have to try [to] navigate to make sure that we are still a vibrant, redeveloping downtown.”
Historic Overlay District Historically Significant Area
380
5
W. VIRGINIA ST.
W. LOUISIANA ST.
WILSON CREEK PKWY.
75
N
“The historic resource survey doesn’t ... disrupt daily life ... but it provides a lot of value to us and in the future, so I would love to see people support more regular surveys,” CASSIE BUMGARNER, HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLANNER
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