Syracuse, N.Y. — Common Councilor Pat Hogan is picking a fight with historic preservation advocates in his final months in office over the power a city volunteer board has to halt renovation projects.
Hogan has proposed an amendment to the city’s zoning law that would establish an exemption for property owners of locally protected historic buildings to obtain Landmark Preservation Board approval on many exterior repairs. The council itself would have the power to grant the exemptions, and they would not be bound by any of the historic preservation criteria now established in the city’s zoning law.
The measure has drawn a swift and loud rebuke from LPB members and other historic preservation advocates…