Equity-Based Preservation Plan now available for review

The long-in-the-works Equity-Based Preservation Plan now has a draft, and the city is asking for your feedback. The plan, which is “built on an inclusive, equity-focused, and community-oriented framework,” recommends a number of historic preservation policies and tools and, if approved, will replace the current preservation plan that has been in place since 1981. According to a press release from the city about the draft, “Draft recommendations take a proactive and strategic approach, recommending more community engagement and up-front information-gathering. They propose a range of incentives and tools to ensure that preservation equitably benefits people across the city. And they consider how to better tell Austin’s full, complex story while maintaining a high bar for historic designation.” The city is currently taking feedback about the plan online, with additional physical copies of the draft available at all Austin Public Library branches, through May 31. A more formal open-to-the-public launch will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Huston-Tillotson University’s King-Seabrook Chapel. In addition, coming months will see city-hosted events, pop-up community outreach and presentations from the city to get the word out about the plan. Anderson Community Development Corporation, Creative Action, East Austin Conservancy, the Austin chapter of Taiwanese American Professionals and Tomorrow’s Promise Foundation have also been brought into the process to help engage historically marginalized communities.