The Hinsdale Historic Preservation Commission will hold the first public hearing Wednesday, Feb. 1, on the inaugural set of properties to be placed on the Historically Significant Structures Property List in the Historic Overlay District.
The commission will review 47 properties that have been suggested, village planner Bethany Salmon said.
“It’s basically largely composed of homeowners that have approached us,” Salmon said. “We haven’t done a lot of proactive outreach yet.
“Forty-seven properties for us not really doing much is kind of amazing,” she added.
As part of changes the Hinsdale Village Board approved to Title 14 and the Hinsdale Zoning Code in September, it created a Historic Overlay District and gave the commission six months to initiate a list of historically significant properties. The owners of homes on the list will be able to take advantage of a variety of incentives, including use of alternative bulk zoning regulations and the opportunity to apply for property tax rebates and historic preservation grants, for eligible projects.
The next step will be for village staff to reach out to owners of historically significant homes to see if they want to be added to the list, Salmon said. She expects future public hearings to deal with fewer homes.
“Imagine culling through 47 properties,” she said. “It’s going to take them a long time. In the future, we’d like to do smaller chunks. It’s a good problem to have.”
The hearing is at 6:30 p.m. at village hall, 19 E. Chicago Ave.
