WILMINGTON — How does a city like Wilmington that prides itself on its history manage to keep up with technology while preserving the past? That is the question the Historic Preservation Commission has been tasked with answering.
For those living outside of historic districts in the city, the issue of how to install cameras for security, ATMs, and telecommunications equipment might never cross your mind — in most cases, people are able to just install whatever they would like on their own property.
But those living in the historic districts know the city is a stickler when it comes to rules for what residents and business owners can — and can’t — do with their property.
“As part of efforts to update the Wilmington Design Guidelines for the Historic Districts and Landmarks staff has researched and prepared guidance on technologies that have become relatively commonplace in recent years, but are presently not addressed in the current guidelines,” according to the HPC’s upcoming meeting agenda.
Like many other things the city does, staff usually looks for guidance and best practices from other cities to guide next steps — however — in this case there were plenty of places that have yet to address these issues.
“In many instances guidelines for newer technologies was absent. After reviewing all said cities, we established contact with historic preservation planners in each community and found that each department had their own way of reviewing requests for security equipment, telecommunications, and automated teller machines,” according to the staff report.
Of the three items staff reviewed, benchmark cities (that is, cities staff compared Wilmington to) only had regulations regarding ATMs. This means the city staff was forced to create their own guidelines for both security equipment and telecommunication equipment.
“None of the benchmark cities had guidelines for security equipment. Those that did have requests for security cameras utilized their guidelines
for exterior lighting standards,” according to the report.
Security Equipment
Of the three items, the first city staff looked at was security equipment.
“Security cameras and other security equipment offer modern solutions for safety and security needs. They serve a wide variety of purposes in both the residential and commercial historic districts. Security cameras and security equipment can act as a deterrent to property crime and offer a sense of safety to residents, and business owners and operators. It is important that the installation of security equipment such as security cameras and accessories preserve the integrity and character-defining features structures and the district as a whole,” according to the report.
For security equipment, the staff came up with eight recommended guidelines.
- Guideline 1: Where possible, wireless technology should be used in order to reduce the amount of cords, conduit, and cables that run from the interior of a structure to security equipment located on the exterior of the structure.
- Guideline 2: Large visually obtrusive box or “shoebox” cameras and accessories should be avoided.
- Guideline 3: Security camera signage shall be limited in number to no more than one sign per building and shall not obscure the character-defining features of a structure. Signage must comply with the land development code.
- Guideline 4: Security camera mounting shall not be mounted in a way that damages or obscures building elements, including, but not limited to soffits fascia, porch posts, cornices, trim, windows, and doors.
- Guideline 5: Cameras should be mounted under overhangs to limit visibility from the public right of way and streetscape.
- Guideline 6: Camera housing, conduit, wiring, and camera enclosures should be painted to match the adjacent building material.
- Guideline 7: Avoid mounting security devices to brick. If brick cannot be avoided as the mounting surface, hardware should be installed into mortar, not brick.
- Guideline 8: Security devices including doorbell cameras shall not be mounted on or into a door
Telecommunications
While it’s not exactly the newest of technology, telecommunications is an ever-changing industry with new services like fiber internet being introduced to the city.
“As technology has changed the way we live, it is important to maintain and preserve the integrity of historic buildings, streetscape, fabric and the historic districts as a whole. While supporting the technology needs of residents, businesses, and visitors, telecommunications facilities and equipment should not be at the expense of the character-defining features of the building’s local historic districts and landmarks,” according to the report.
Staff came up with 11 guidelines for telecommunications facilities.
- Guideline 1: New telecommunications facilities and equipment should be reviewed for aesthetics, compatibility, design, landscaping, setbacks and fall zones.
- Guideline 2: Telecommunications facilities and equipment should be in keeping with the aesthetic character of historic districts, and standards set forth for that district with respect to color, height, material, type, and scale.
- Guideline 3: The siting of telecommunications facilities and equipment should first consider the feasibility of collocation when other supporting facilities are located nearby. Specifically, collocation should be considered for telecommunication facilities utilizing existing poles or structures within a 500’ distance from the desired location.
- Guideline 4: New telecommunications equipment should be located at the ends or between buildings and not located in front of a building unless the facility is located in a public right-of-way.
- Guideline 5: When it is not feasible to locate telecommunication facilities and equipment on utility poles, stealth poles and antennas should be utilized provided the design is compatible with that of the surrounding buildings and features.
- Guideline 6: Telecommunications facilities and equipment should be screened or camouflaged (landscaping, fencing, painting, etc.) in order to minimize the visual impact of any new poles or associated equipment cabinets.
- Guideline 7: Telecommunications equipment cabinets should not be installed in the local historic districts.
- Guideline 8: Telecommunications facilities and equipment should be installed utilizing existing poles and conduits to the greatest extent possible.
- Guideline 9: Poles used to mount telecommunication antenna and equipment shall be manufactured to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards.
- Guideline 10: The height of poles used to mount telecommunications antenna and equipment should not exceed 40 feet above the existing undisturbed grade.
- Guideline 11: New telecommunications equipment should not be permitted in historic districts or historic district overlays except along thoroughfares.
They also came up with rules fo the installation of underground facilities.
- Guideline 1: Preserve sidewalks and street plantings that contribute to the character of the historic districts.
- Guideline 2: Structure lids of all Pull boxes, hand holes, manholes, and vaults (structures) should be kept to a minimum where installed, and colors should blend within the existing sidewalk and street planting.
- Guideline 3: Structure lids should be flush and centered within a single section of sidewalk or plaza.
- Guideline 4: Underground vaults not on sidewalks should be maintained at grade and concealed by landscaping as much as possible.
ATMs
When it comes to ATMs, the city came up with 14 different rules for businesses to follow.
- Guideline 1: Installation of ATMs on the interior of historic property is preferable and encouraged in order to maintain the character of commercial storefronts in the historic districts.
- Guideline 2: Installation of an ATM shall not be permitted if the storefront façade is original or has acquired historic significance on its own right.
- Guideline 3: Removing a door or inserting an ATM through a door is not appropriate.
- Guideline 4: ATM installations shall be undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form, integrity, architectural elements and character-defining feature of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
- Guideline 5: The installation of an ATM within the storefront of a building may be appropriate if removal of only storefront glazing can be reinstalled when the ATM is removed. The amount of storefront glazing that may be removed shall only be the width and height of the ATM unit itself. Installing glass above and below the ATM is encouraged to retain the glazing and visibility quality of the storefront.
- Guideline 6: The installation of an ATM shall maintain visibility into the building and shall no cover more than 25% of the entire storefront glazing on the ground level.
- Guideline 7: ATMs shall not be located on the primary façade with the exception of buildings with a recessed entry. For a building having frontage on two separate streets, each street façade is considered a primary façade.
- Guideline 8: ATMs shall only be installed on that portion of the storefront glazing that is in an area of the entry that is recessed a minimum of 45 degrees from the front plane of the façade. The recessed entry must be a minimum depth of 3 feet and width of 6 feet to allow the passage of pedestrians, goods and materials into and out of the building.
- Guideline 9: Only one ATM can be installed in a storefront façade of a building in a historic district.
- Guideline 10: Stand-alone or freestanding ATMs in the entry of a building on sidewalks in the historic districts is not congruous with the streetscape, or the special character of historic districts.
- Guideline 11: The design of the ATM installation must be compatible and harmonious with the features of the building, the streetscape and the character-defining features of the historic district with regards to scale, materials, profile, color, trim and lighting.
- Guideline 12: Digital, flashing or backlit signs for ATMS are not congruous with the special character of historic districts. All signage associated with the ATM shall be compatible and harmonious with the building, the streetscape and the character-defining features of the historic district as a whole with regards to material, scale, color, lighting and other signage on the building.
- Guideline 13: Stand-alone ATMs may be appropriate in parking lots that serve the public so long as it serves as an accessory to a principal use and there is not a historic building on the property.
- Guideline 14: All ATM installations shall be constructed in accordance with the North Carolina Building Code
Residents and business owners interested in hearing more about the plans or voicing their opinions and/or concerns with the proposed code can attend the HPC meeting on Nov. 14.
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