Conservation Districting can help Tulsa neighborhoods

Until recently, Historic Preservation zoning was the only way to preserve a neighborhood's buildings and character. It comes with big responsibilities, and is rarely appropriate. But there are other ways to maintain a neighborhood's buildings and character. In Conservation Districts, mass and scale (not architectural style) is at issue, and guidelines are created by the neighborhood itself, instead of a city committee. In other cities, factors for conservation might include:

• Mass and Scale--The traditional mass and scale of the area shall be maintained
• Building Form--A building shall have basic roof and building forms that are similar to those seen traditional in the neighborhood
• Construction Materials--Building materials shall contribute to the visual continuity of the neighborhood.
• Building Orientation--The traditional patterns of building orientation shall be maintained.
• Building Alignment--The distance from the street or property line to the front of the building shall be similar to that seen traditionally in the neighborhood.
• Project Context--The project shall be compatible with those neighborhood characteristics that result from common ways of building. This sense of setting shall be preserved.
• Character-Defining Features--Major character-defining features of the property under review shall not be destroyed."

Conservation districting "offers residents a useful tool to protect older, established neighborhoods that have a distinctive or cohesive character, have some historic resources within its boundaries, lack sufficient support for designation as historic district, but desire protection from teardowns, incompatible development, or commercial encroachment." Instead of a city committee of historians and architects, a conservation district "enables residents to take an active role in identifying their concerns and determining what level or type of protection they want for their neighborhood (and) to protect existing neighborhood commercial centers or encourage new investment when desired...through the adoption of both development and design-related controls." — Miller, Julia. Protecting Older Neighborhoods Through Conservation District Programs. National Trust for Historic Preservation (2004) UPDATE: Bad infill is not unique to Tulsa. The photograph above is from the National Trust of Historic Preservation, and it is of a house in Dallas.