Historic places rules governed by objective, fair standards

The oldest and most historically significant neighborhoods in Honolulu have large numbers of property owners who commit to preserving their community’s history and sense of place. Those examples should be celebrated, not scorned. The real issue in balancing preservation efforts in Hawaii is that other properties associated with the history, culture and peoples of Hawaii have been under-represented. These groups also need to be supported and recognized for the richness of their cultural sites and historic places through the designation process.

The Hawaii Register of Historic Places was specifically established to recognize many types of historic resources. In addition to residences, it also includes other sites that tell the complex and varied history of the Hawaiian Islands. Designated historic properties include places of commerce, agriculture, education, recreation, worship, community gathering, battlefields and civic interaction, as well as housing.

Listing a site on the historic register "signifies a recognition that the owner has a historic property, and that the preservation and maintenance of the property is contributing to the state’s and the nation’s historic patrimony, and is thus serving the public good" (Hawaii Administrative Rules 13-198).

The determination of whether or not a property meets the test for historic designation is made by the Historic Places Review Board, which is a state board appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, consisting of individuals who meet professional qualifications in the fields of history, architecture, archaeology, Hawaiian culture, sociology and architectural history.

The historic designation process is highly standardized, based on review of a nomination form that documents how the property meets the criteria. To be eligible for the state Register of Historic Places, a property must meet two tests: significance for history, architecture, archaeology or culture; and integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. The "50 year rule" is a guideline to help assess the two tests. Some properties over 50 years old are not historic, while some properties of less than 50 years are both significant and possess integrity. That’s why the work of the Historic Places Review Board is so important: its members are charged with making those judgments, based on national and state criteria, applied in a transparent, fair and uniform system.

A recent Star-Advertiser article quoted a former member of the Historic Places Review Board, who alleged that the state Register of Historic Places has been weighted toward recognizing only a certain segment of Hawaii’s history — homes in urban Honolulu — and that those home owners are motivated by self-interest rather than an interest in preservation ("List is called tool for rich to obtain tax exemptions," July 16).

As a matter of good governance, the registration process must ensure that all participants or applicants for any government program are treated fairly, without regard for their race, ethnicity, religion, age, sex, income or relationships. The Historic Hawai‘i Foundation strongly supports the fair and objective process that the law envisioned. It would be highly inappropriate for any person charged with making professional judgments to ignore the professional criteria and established procedures, or to substitute their personal feelings or aesthetic for objective findings. If training and stronger staffing are necessary to guarantee an objective process, then the state should provide it to the review board.

The state Register of Historic Places is a tool for preserving Hawaii’s irreplaceable heritage; supportive tax policies and fair regulations are also tools to perpetuate that heritage. If there is a problem or misuse of the existing system, it needs to be fixed, but not abandoned.

Preserving Hawaii’s historic places is fundamental to preserving what is special about Hawaii. If we lose the neighborhoods, commercial districts, archaeological sites, cultural landscapes and landmarks that characterize our island home, we lose our unique identity.