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Some Irvington residents want their properties’ inclusion in the Portland historic district reversed; next month they’ll have a chance to plead their case.

The Oregon State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation on Feb. 20 will consider an application to decrease and redraw the boundaries of the Irvington Historic District, excluding an approximately 27-block area in the northeast quadrant.

The area in question 鈥� bounded on the north by Northeast Fremont Street, on the south by Northeast Knott Street and to the east and west by Northeast 21st and 27th avenues 鈥� shouldn’t be considered part of the Irvington neighborhood at all, according to longtime resident Jim Brown. He is chairman of the Alameda Neighborhood Association‘s land use committee, and is heading the Alameda-Irvington Overlap Committee‘s efforts to get the boundary changed.

The area Brown and his supporters want removed is in an 鈥渙verlap area鈥� shared by the Alameda and Irvington neighborhoods.

Kirk Ranzetta, a senior architectural historian with AECOM who in 2010 compiled and submitted the application to establish the Irvington Historic District, said official neighborhood boundary lines were drawn in the 1970s as a way to organize areas for ease of citizen participation in local governing issues. Prior to that, boundaries were less static and formed organically.

Ian Johnson, who’s been handling the issue for the State Historic Preservation Office, said boundaries of historic districts change as buildings are added or removed or as more information is learned about the area.

鈥淗istoric district boundaries can change over time, and minor boundary adjustments aren’t unheard of,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淏ut this is unusual. It’s the first time in my eight years here that I’ve seen this come up.鈥�

Prior to approval, SHPO posted the required notice in local papers.

鈥淚t’s a little bit like yelling into a windstorm,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淲hen you have a district of that size it’s hard to get every resident’s attention, and per national registry regulations, folks are considered to be in favor of the district unless they submit a notarized letter saying they want to opt out.鈥�

Oregon considers applications on behalf of the National Parks Service, Johnson said. Addition to the national registry has no impacts on personal property rights. On the other hand, addition to the national registry triggers local land use regulations through the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability 鈥� something that doesn’t sit right with Brown and his supporters.

鈥淧ocketbook and property rights issues are (a) concern for homeowners,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淐hanges to exteriors of homes and garages over 200 square feet require historic resource review, involving fees and delays. Minor alteration review fees can be as little as $250, but major changes can run many thousands of dollars.鈥�

Brown and about 20 volunteers in 2013 canvased the overlap blocks, surveying property owners’ desire to remain in the Irvington Historic District. Of the 707 property owners in the area, 563 responded, Brown said. Of the respondents, nearly 80 percent said they wanted their property out of the historic district.

鈥淚 started getting letters from people because they weren’t able to make changes to their homes because of the historic designation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wound up with a list of about 75 people who wrote to me, so we decided to try and do something about it, to find out what people want.鈥�

Inclusion or exclusion from the historic district, at this point, isn’t just about what people want, Johnson said.

鈥淭hey have to do more than just say they don’t want to be in the district,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have to prove that the nomination was in error.鈥�

Irvington Community Association President Steven Cole 鈥� whose home sits in the overlap area that would be excluded if the boundaries are redrawn 鈥� and Ranzetta are confident their original boundaries are appropriate.

鈥淚’m pretty confident we can rebut their technical arguments,鈥� Cole said.

The committee wanting the overlap excluded argues that Ranzetta erred in his claim that the 26-block area meets two of the four requirements: that the area is 鈥渁 good example of a streetcar suburb,鈥� and that the structures in the area 鈥渟how significant examples of architecture typical to that period,鈥� Ranzetta said.

When researching the area, Ranzetta considered historical record, platting information for the original Irvington neighborhood, architectural similarities between buildings and development timeframes. The overlap committee contends that Ranzetta’s findings were wrong.

鈥淒uring my 14 years growing up in Irvington in the 1950s, nearly all of the overlap area was referred to as Alameda,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淎nd that is how most property owners see it today; a matter of neighborhood identity.鈥�

The public is invited to submit comments prior to the Feb. 20 meeting by emailing Johnson at [email protected].

After the meeting, the State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation has 45 days to make a recommendation to the National Parks Service, Johnson said. The parks service then has 90 days to announce its decision; Johnson expects that to happen in mid-July.