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The Memphis City Council was set to vote Tuesday on an ordinance that would provide more structure to historic overlay districts here, but the vote was tabled due to last minute concerns by the Tennessee Historic Preservation Office.
The decision to hold the vote was due largely in part to a “threatening” letter the council received Friday from the historic preservation office, Councilman Kemp Conrad, the sponsor of the ordinance, said. The letter said that passing the ordinance could negatively affect the city’s historic status with the state and the associated funding — $300,000 over the past 12 years.
“I didn’t know how this thing was going to go down tonight, but I felt really good about it,” Conrad said. “I’m truly sad.”
Jane Cottone, a representative from the state office, told the council that certain procedural provisions of the ordinance could compromise the city’s standing in the Certified Local Government program, which Memphis has been a part of since 1986.
“Our office has determined that parts of this ordinance contain certain inconsistencies with state law,” Cottone said.
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But, Conrad questioned why Memphis isn’t receiving the same treatment as other cities.
“You’re trying to treat Memphis differently than you treat other cities. This is the same group that would not allow us to do what we wanted to do with our Confederate statues. There’s a snake in the grass somewhere.”
Council Chairman Berlin Boyd called the state’s letter “extremely threatening and disrespectful.”
“Every time we get ready to do something in Shelby County, it’s always a problem with Nashville,” Boyd said. “We don’t like the state getting in our business.”
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Community stakeholders who have been worked with Conrad to draft the ordinance expressed frustration also over the delay.
One of them, Neil Prosser, a member of the Memphis Landmarks Commission called the state’s interference “unfortunate, ill-timed, and ill-advised.”
“I hope this compromise can be revived and salvaged,” Prosser said.
Cottone said the state is willing to work with the city on resolving the issues in the ordinance following its passing.
“The ball’s in you all’s court now,” Conrad said of the state. “It’s out of my control.”