FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The Historic Preservation Committee is in the process of creating a preservation ordinance for designated historic homes and districts in the Fairhope.

Committee members Debbie Quinn and Gary Gover have been modifying the state model for historic preservation to better represent the area and to cull down on its legalese, Quinn said.

“You couldn’t understand what it meant,” she said.

Committee members commented on how heavy-handed language in the state ordinance had created problems in the past.

“The legalese can be threatening to a homeowner,” Russ Hobbs said.

Committee member Kay Marriot said having a more yielding and approachable ordinance will be much more beneficial.

“If you phrase it right, then it will work better,” she said.

Currently, the ordinance would require all applicants who would like to make modifications to their historic home to attend an architectural review process and hear suggestions made by the yet-to-be selected committee.

The suggestions made by the architectural review committee would not be mandatory, however.

Quinn said after the process is firmly set in place, however, the ordinance would move toward making the suggestions mandatory.

Another benefit in having an applicant go through the architectural review process is that neighbors of the applicant will be able to attend the meeting and be informed on what will be constructed next door.

“It’d be good for the neighbors … (to preclude situations where) suddenly there’s a bulldozer and you don't know what's going on,” Quinn said.

The architectural review committee will be comprised of members of the committee with architectural and historic preservation backgrounds. Quinn said the City Council would be charged with the responsibility of appointing that committee, and it is too early on in the process to even begin selections.

“Nobody has been asked, and nobody has been picked,” she said.

The ordinance itself will be relaxed on how strict the requirements for any home modifications would be, Gover said.

Such nitty-gritty like regulating what paint colors to use will not be included in the ordinance, Gover said. As long as any construction does not completely modify the look of a historic home, an applicant will be in good shape.

Quinn said she has taken the rough draft of the ordinance to Larry Thomas and Dean Mosher with the Fairhope Single Tax Corp. for their approval.

“I met with Single Tax to make sure we’re all on the same page,” she said. “We don’t want any hiccups along the way. Basically, they’re pretty much for it.”

The ordinance will be reviewed by the committee, and afterward, Quinn said she plans to meet with Mayor Tim Kant and City Planner Gregg Mims to get their feedback before approaching the entire council with the reworked ordinance.

Though the committee members had not yet seen the new ordinance as of their Thursday meeting, they showed no objection to the concept Gover and Quinn proposed.

Quinn said she hopes to present the ordinance to the council within the next few months.

In other business, Quinn suggested the committee look into becoming a Preserve America Community, based on a federal initiative for historic preservation.

Quinn said one of the benefits of becoming a Preserve America Community is the designation opens up many grant opportunities for education, historic properties and historic museums that represent a community's history.

“It would be interesting to move forward with something so positive,” Quinn said.