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The ordinance is intended to maintain the area “historically accurate,” Council member Rory Robertson said. (Courtesy of Adrienne Davitz)
Katy City Council unanimously voted to approve an ordinance creating a new title “Division 11” for structures located in Katy Heritage Park. The ordinance is intended to maintain the area “historically accurate,” Council member Rory Robertson said.
“It’s a really good prescription, especially for the Katy Heritage Park,†said Robertson. “It doesn’t take away any of the security mechanisms we use for these homes, but it keeps them historically accurate. This is what we are aiming for. “
The ordinance was passed with the support of the Katy Heritage Society, a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster the educational and cultural development of the community of Katy and adjacent areas through preservation, restoration and presentation of historical monuments, natural beauties, documents and other local objects.
Katy Heritage Park is located at 5990 George Bush Drive, Katy, and consists of five historic Katy structures that have been around for over a century. The houses are decorated with period historical objects.
“That’s all it is – to make sure we can keep these homes looking good – like they looked in the 1900s,†Robertson said.
Council member Janet Corte said she thinks it is very important to be able to maintain the historic integrity of buildings, adding that preserving history gives younger generations a glimpse into the way things are done. were at Katy.
Adrienne Davitz, a member of the Katy Heritage Society, said the ordinance should safeguard the city’s historical, aesthetic and cultural heritage by preserving the park for its original purpose. Davitz cited obstacles the group had encountered in the past with other local restorations that lacked similar prescriptions.
“Our most urgent example is the Humble Gas Plant mess,†Davitz said. “It has remained intact for many years for several reasons, but one of those reasons [is that the] the current building code would radically change the appearance of the whole building and it would lose much of its historical integrity.
The Katy Heritage Society has spent countless hours planning the restoration of this building, Davitz said. In the end, the nonprofit did not follow the plan because the drastic changes needed did not match the mission of the company.
“With this ordinance, the Katy Heritage Society can move forward with this restoration project,†Davitz said. “We will no longer have major building modifications just because a new code stipulates that door openings must have a certain width or that a window must have a certain height from the ground. ”
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