Preservation Strategies
1. Development MoratoriaSprawl must be recognized as a threat to the area, and action must be taken
against it. Sprawl destroys farmland, open space, and causes a visual disconnect between
the area and the individuals within it. New residential developments lead to older
residential neighborhoods losing their vitality and importance. It must be ensured that the
policies of the government are designed to encourage preservation activity, and for
conserving open space and encouraging the revitalization of the area.
Development moratoria, which temporarily stops new development so its impact
on the area can be more heavily examined, is one temporary development control. The
moratorium slows down the development enough to look at what measures should or
could be enacted in the interest of preservation. Another development control is the
interim protection provision, which provides immediate protection to structures that
could be damaged or destroyed before being considered for historic designation.
Properties are protected for a certain amount of time, or until a designation is made.
While these are temporary measures, they help to prevent sprawl from quickly overtaking
the area without keeping historic preservation in mind.
2. Zoning and PlanningZoning laws should undoubtedly encourage preservation, and provide protection
in local development matters. These laws should provide extra protection from
inappropriate alterations and new construction that does not have preservation as a
priority. Zoning and planning laws should have decided standards for how the area will
be preserved, and with these standards would come recognition and protection. With
these laws, the distinct historical characteristics and architectural compatibility of the
structures within the area will be preserved.
3. Target Investment Zones (TIZ’s)A few locations within the heritage area should be labeled as Target Investment
Zones. TIZ’s provide the opportunity to bring more funds in, and to encourage private
investment. The incentives in doing so (grants, loans, tax credits) create results and
return in a relatively short period of time. Grants can help finance the marketing effort,
loans can create new attractions or expand existing ones, and tax credits can stimulate
rehabilitation. Overall, tourism can be expected to thrive within the TIZ’s, as the area
within the Zones have high potential to bring in private investment. Saying this, local
governments and these private interests should be ready to commit resources to the
economic development within the TIZ’s.
4. Tax CreditsAll structures in the area should be eligible for tax credits, as long as the
structures are seen as contributing to the significance of the Washington View Heritage
Area. In particular, it is ideal for all structures within the specified TIZ’s to be eligible to
obtain tax credits. A great majority of the structures within the WVHA can vastly
enhance the overall quality of the area if rehabilitated. In any instance, all rehabilitation
would conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards of Rehabilitation. Overall, the
tax credit as an incentive to rehabilitate can be used to greatly improve the preservation
effort in the area.
5. Preservation EasementsPreservation easements are one of the most effective tools for protection of
historic property, and an effective way to control sprawl. Easements have the capability
to ensure preservation without the necessity of public ownership. Some can be gifts,
while others can be acquired in return for grants or loans. Instituting programs to gain
easements over lands would help protect the area. Many individual property owners
prefer preservation easements due to its ability to transfer some of the financial burden of
the preservation or conservation costs off of them. Overall, the preservation easement
prevents the owner from demolishing the structure or following through with an action
which compromises the structure’s historic integrity. Easements are a more futureoriented strategy.
6. Community Design
The Maryland Smart Neighborhoods Models and Guidance document states:
Smart neighborhoods are relatively self-contained communities with a compact
mix of residential, commercial, employment/office, and civic land uses and range
of housing choices, with a design that fosters pedestrian and bicycle activity,
public safety, environmental protection, long-term investment, efficient use of
infrastructure, and efficient provision of public services.1
Basic community design can be seen in most Homeowner Association controlled
neighborhoods. An example of this is the coordinating of houses, mailboxes, front doors;
rules and fees are set forth and a small group of homeowners oversee the upholding of
those rules. Ideally community design helps to create an eye-catching and pleasing area
to live.
7. Tourism
1
http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/072001NCDFULL.pdf
Tourism plays a major part in the economy of a heritage area. Tourism for the
Washington View Heritage Area would bring people and revenue to an area with
previously little. Suggestions on how to bring in tourism will be discussed in detail in a
later section.
8. Education
Education can be defined as the activities of educating or instructing; activities that
impart knowledge or skill.2 Educating the citizens of the area and tourists alike leads to
an academic understanding of facts and ideas which were previously little known.
Recommendations of how to achieve the education of the community will be discussed in
a later section.
9. Marketing
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and
society at large.3 Marketing is one of the bases for which revenue is acquired; it informs
the public in interesting and unique ways of events and attractions. Ideas for marketing
strategies will be discussed in a later section.
10. Development Rights
Development Rights can be defined as the rights of the owner of a parcel of land, under
land development regulations, to configure that parcel and the structures thereon to a
particular density for residential uses or floor area ratio for nonresidential uses.
Transfer of Development Rights means the procedure whereby the owner of a parcel in
the sending district may convey development rights to the owner of a parcel in the
receiving district or other person or entity, whereby the development rights so conveyed
are extinguished on the sending parcel and may be exercised on the receiving parcel in
addition to the development rights already existing regarding that parcel or may be held
the receiving person or entity.
Right to Transfer Development Rights
1. Each transfer shall have the right to sever all or a portion of the rights to develop
from the parcel in a sending district and to sell, trade, or barter all or a portion of
those rights to a transferee.
2
3
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx
The transferee may retire the rights, resell them, or apply them to property in a receiving
district in order to obtain approval for development at a density or intensity of use greater
than would otherwise be allowed on the land. 4
11. Scenic Roads
Prince George’s County has a program for the protection and preservation of scenic and
historic roads. This program requires:
“…that all road designs and construction provide, insofar as practicable, a
consistently safe but visually varied environment that is pleasing to both
pedestrian and vehicular road users while providing a safe, durable, minimummaintenance design, free of extraneous clutter, flooding and drainage problems
and other nuisances, distractions, and unexpected driving situations. The ultimate
goal of the scenic/historic roadway is to provide safe and enjoyable travel while
preserving the scenic and historic value of adjacent areas.”5
Within the Washington View Heritage Area, Bryan Point Road is the only designated
scenic/historic road. A listing of designated roads and their required guidelines can be
found in the “Design Guidelines and Standards for Scenic and Historic Roads.”
The definition of a scenic and historic road is any public road in the county which has
one or more of the following characteristics:
1. Pass through an area of outstanding natural environmental features providing
views of scenic elements such as forests, steep topography, and stream or river
valleys;
2. Provide outstanding views of rural, agricultural landscapes including scenic
elements such as panoramic or distant views, cropland, pastures, fields,
streams, ponds, hedgerows, stone or wooden fences, farm buildings and
farmsteads;
3. Follow historic road alignments and provide views of historic resources; or
4. A large proportion of the road provides frontage for properties that are in a
historic district or subject to perpetual or long-term agricultural,
environmental or historic easements. 6
4
http://www.plnning.org/research/smartgrowth/pdf/section46.pdf
Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation, “Design Guidelines and
Standards for Scenic and Historic Roads,” June 1994
5
6
www.co.ho.md.us/DPZ/DPZDocs/Subtitle14ScenicRoads.pdf
12. Ordinance
Prince George’s County currently has a Historic Preservation Ordinance. A
supplementary ordinance could be added for the specific overseeing of the Washington
View Heritage Area, thus ensuring that the WVHA not be overlooked. An example of
such an ordinance is attached.
13. Possible Potential Partners
College Park Arts Exchange
P.O. Box 784
College Park, MD 20740
301-927-3013
www.cpae.org
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
6600 Kenilworth Avenue
Riverdale, MD 20737
301-699-2255
www.pgparks.com
Prince George’s Arts Council
6525 Belcrest Road, Suite 132
Hyattsville, MD 20782
301-277-1402
www.princegeorgesartscouncil.org
Prince George’s County Historical Society, Inc.
PO Box 14
Riverdale, MD 20738
202-565-3612
www.pghistory.org
Prince George’s National Center for Arts and Technology
6615 Elmhurst Street
District Heights, MD 20747
301-568-9792
University of Maryland College Park Foundation
Center for Educational Partner
Riverdale, MD 20737
301-405-1995
www.foundation.umd.edu
National Park Foundation
1201 Eye Street, NW, Suite 550B
Washington, DC 20005
202-354-6460
ask-npf@nationalparks.org
Maryland Environmental Trust
100 Community Pl # 1
Crownsville, MD 21032
(410) 514-7900
www.dnr.state.md.us
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Philip Merrill Environmental Center
6 Herndon Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21403
410-268-8816
Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation
403 Oakington Rd
Havre De Grace, MD 21078
410-939-9030
www.mda.state.md.us
Maryland Agriculture Land Preservation Foundation
50 Harry S Truman Pkwy
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-841-5860
www.mda.state.md.us
Maryland Historical Trust
100 Community Place
Crownsville, MD 21032
www.marylandhistoricaltrust.net
Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture
84 Franklin Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-216-6190
www.bdmuseum.com/mcaahc.html
Prince George’s County Department of Housing and Community Development
9400 Peppercorn Place
Largo, MD 20774
301-883-4663
dhcd@co.pg.md.us
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
580 Taylor Avenue
Tawes State Office Building
Annapolis, MD 21401
1-877-620-8367
National Park Service Department of Nature and Science
202-513-7179
www.nature.nps.gov
National Park Service
www.nps.gov/state/md
Prince George’s Arts Council
6525 Belcrest Road, Suite 132
Hyattsville, MD 20782
301-277-1402
www.princegeorgesartscouncil.org
Prince George’s County Historical Society, Inc.
PO Box 14
Riverdale, MD 20738
202-565-3612
www.pghistory.org
Greater Fort Foote Area Recreational Cultural
and Historical Council
P.O. Box 44152
Ft. Washington, MD 20749
301-567-2726
www.greaterfortfoote.org