On April 6 the San Jose City Council will vote on a proposed ordinance that amends the San Jose Municipal Code. If approved, the new ordinance will outline the requirements for neighborhoods wanting to become conservation areas within the city.

The proposed ordinance defines a conservation area as one whose urban or rural character has identifiable attributes, and these attributes are embodied by specific architecture, urban design, development patterns, setting, or geography and history.

San Jose historian the late Clyde Arbuckle recommended Willow Glen's Palm Haven neighborhood and Rose Garden's Hanchett, Hester and Naglee parks for conservation area designation in the late 1970s, but because there was no defined procedure, Palm Haven's designation wasn't official until 1987, said Palm Haven Restoration Committee Chairman Mike Borbely. The Rose Garden areas received conservation designations in the early 1980s.

San Jose Historic Preservation Officer Courtney Damkroger said the city realized the need for guidelines when neighborhoods began requesting historic streetlighting. This type of lighting was approved for historic districts and conservation areas in 2001.

While conservation areas can apply for historic streetlights, the city did not want neighborhoods seeking historic recognition for the sole purpose of obtaining ornamental streetlighting, Borbely said. He was invited along with other residents in historic neighborhoods to help the city draft its new neighborhood preservation proposal.

"We want to provide a vehicle for people who want their neighborhood to become a conservation area or to know if they qualify," Damkroger said.

Borberly added, "[The city] looks for communities that were planned during a certain era."

Damkroger said that many residents who are interested don't know that a conservation area brings expenses, a review process and supporting documents with the application.

Once a conservation area is established, all the homes are subject to the additional planning concerns and fees, she noted.

"Even if you buy in later, you're subject to them," she said.

Homeowners in conservation areas who do exterior house remodeling are guided by design guidelines for preserving historic home exteriors in Your Old House: A Guide to Preserving San Jose Homes, which the city council approved in August 2003.

Recently, the California Preservation Foundation honored the Your Old House guide as one of the foundation's Annual Historic Preservation Design Awards winners.

But to become a conservation area requires a nomination by the San Jose City Council, Planning Commission, or Historic Landmark Commission or by residents who own 51 percent of the proposed area.

One advantage to the conservation area guidelines, however, is that neighborhoods can initiate and become involved in the decision-making process, said Preservation Action Council of San Jose Executive Director Alex Marthews.

"We want to make sure that Willow Glen's historic resources are adequately protected," he said. "And we're very interested in working with neighborhood associations to see whether they would like to pursue conservation status."

Ornellas said that residents have typically led the way in protecting historic resources. A member of the Victorian Preservation Association, Ornellas said that club members created the Historic Inventory by driving around and listing all the historic buildings they could find.

"The city uses the inventory to see if [a building] is historic; if not, they'll tear it down," she said.

Ornellas agreed the conservation area guidelines will help, but said that in the past private citizens and preservation watchdog groups have done the most.

"The Victorian Preservation Association and the Preservation Action Council have made the city aware of being more accountable for its preservation efforts," she said.