Members of the Baltimore County Council are expected Monday to approve the addition of 38 new buildings to the county?s historic landmarks list Monday.
With the additions, 323 county structures, including barns, schools and cemeteries, will be architecturally preserved.
A few properties were added to the list against the will of property owners, who County Planner Caren Hoffberger said were wary of the development restrictions it carries.
But for Robert Zgorski, who owns the Batchelor?s Store in Hereford, the lure of tax credits for rehabbing historic property persuaded him to cooperate with county historians who wanted to see 19th century general store and cabinet shop protected.
Zgorski, who said it would cost him more than $675,000 to bring the building up to code, wanted to demolish it.
“When they see the financial advantage, all of a sudden they become very historically minded, and that?s OK,” said Patricia Bentz, executive director of the Baltimore County Historic Trust.
The county provides a tax credit of 20 percent of the expenses for rehabilitation work on historic residential buildings and a 10-year 100 percent credit on the eligible assessment of historic commercial buildings.
To some, the sheer volume of historic structures indicates the county?s criteria is too flexible.
Paul Cummins, president of the Hereford Community Association, said many of the structures are old ? not historic.
He cites examples on the list that date only to the mid-20th century, like Towson High School, which was built in 1949. It meets landmark criteria for its association with soaring school enrollments after World War II, for its distinctive post-war Modern pedagogical architecture and because it was designed by a notable architecture firm, according to county documents.
“The Landmarks Preservation Commission is a joke,” Cummins said.
“They are putting everything that has any significance whatsoever on the landmarks list. The county has become very loose on these and is getting jipped on taxes by doing this.”
Seven of the 38 new additions were built in the 20th century, and many are ineligible for the state and country?s federal landmarks lists. Thirteen structures in the Cromwell Valley Park near Towson are being nominated for the federal registry.
