The law may allow officials to designate the Galven house a landmark without owner consent.
By JANET ZINK
Published June 11, 2004
A second Galvin house has become a lightning rod for the debate between property rights and historic preservation.
The county's Historic Resources Review Boardvoted in March to seek landmark status for the Galvin-Carl House, built in 1900 for postmaster Daniel Galvin at 4206 Durant Road in Valrico. The board did so even though the owner, Herb Wax, said he doesn't want the designation.
The issue goes before the Hillsborough County Planning Commission Monday.
At a meeting May 18, board members heard Wax's offer to give away the house at no cost to anyone interested in taking it, including Hillsborough County. Board members ignored the offer and proceeded with plans to landmark the property.
The issue raises the spectre of the Galvin-Jaudon house.
Preservationists battled for more than a year to save that building, which Daniel Galvin also once called home. The house on Victoria Street was torn down April 2 by its owner, First Baptist Church of Brandon, to make way for a parking lot and possibly a church expansion. The church bought the house after county officials, observing an unwritten policy of landmarking only with owner consent, assured that the building would not be protected with the historic landmark designation.
Preservationists asked the Historic Resources Review Board and the County Commission to reconsider, but they refused because of concerns about lawsuits. The church attempted to give the house away so it could be moved to a new location, but no acceptable relocation plans emerged.
The controversy prompted Review Board members to commit themselves to pursuing protection of historic properties even when owners haven't agreed to it. The Galvin-Carl house is the first test of that commitment.
"It's a significant step forward because we're attempting to break free of our unwritten policy," said Barry Wharton, who heads the Review Board's landmark designation committee.
The real test, though, will be when the County Commission considers the topic in a few weeks.
"They're the ones making the final decision," Wharton said. "We're an advisory board and therefore we're advising the county commissioners that here is a property that satisfies the criteria for a county landmark."
The Review Board, he said, should only be considering whether or not properties meet those criteria, which requires that a property be at least 50 years old and that it have architectural or historical significance.
It's the County Commission, he said, that needs to grapple with balancing property rights versus historic preservation.
Wax, who owns the Galvin-Carl House, said he is a fan of historic preservation. He owns and renovated a building in Ybor City that has national landmark designation and lives in a historic part of Hyde Park in Tampa. But, he said, he doesn't wantanyone telling him what to do with this piece of property.
The County Commission will make a final decision in several weeks.
The Hillsborough County Planning Commission is scheduled to review the recommendation for making the Galvin-Carl House a historic landmark Monday at 2 p.m. on the 18th floor of the County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. open to public comment or has that time passed?
