North Carolina Preservation Plan

Number of Pages: 33
Approval Date: June 14, 2000
Planning Cycle: 5 years

Contact Information:
     Melinda Courtney Coleman
     State Historic Preservation Office
     Division of Cultural Resources
     4617 Mail Service Center
     Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-4617
     (919) 733-4763; fax (919) 733-8653
     E-mail: melinda.c.coleman@ncmail.net

Mission/Vision Statement:
The mission of the State Historic Preservation Office (HPO) is to help the state's citizens and public agencies identify, protect, and enhance North Carolina's historic resources through a coordinated program of incentives and technical assistance.

Table of Contents:
          Foreword and Mission Statement
          Executive Summary
          Challenges and Opportunities
          Citizen Concerns
          Action Agenda
          Historic Preservation in North Carolina: Past and Present
          Appendix:
                Preservation Partners
                Planning Process Statement
                Resource Data
                HPO Organization Chart
                Bibliography

PLAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Public Participation Strategies:

• On-line and text versions of a citizen survey, announced by press release;
• Professional surveys and public opinion sampling associated with the Year 2000 presidential and gubernatorial elections;
• Roundtable discussion;
• Continued involvement of the Public Advisory Committee (PAC).

HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES
Historic buildings, structures, and sites; heritage resources; archaeological, architectural, historical, and traditional cultural properties; battlefields; colonial and antebellum structures; graves of eminent persons; family cemeteries; African-American heritage; terrestrial and underwater archaeological resources of historic and prehistoric periods; historic shipwrecks.

ISSUES, THREATS, & OPPORTUNITIES

• Need to balance development with preservation and environmental protection;
• Maximize the uses of the limited and unpredictable funding for preservation;
• Strengthen role of the HPO;
• Balance the regulatory and education functions of state and local preservation agencies;
• Preservation is a low priority for politicians and the public;
• Urban residents concerned about built environment;
• Rural communities concerned about preservation of small family cemeteries and community cemeteries;
• Increasing interest in African-American heritage;
• Need for increased funding;
• Need to publicize preservation programs and successes through various media;
• State income tax credit for rehab passed in 1997;
• Increasing public concern about effects of development on resources;
• Decreasing local government budgets;
• Increasing public awareness of preservation issues and tools;
• Public uneasiness about land use, transportation, and sprawl issues.

1. Education: Educate the public and public officials about the state's historic resources and preservation programs.
2. Planning: Integrate historic preservation into all levels of public planning to ensure the development and implementation of preservation compatible public policies and activities.
3. Identification and Evaluation: Identify and evaluate the historic resources of North Carolina, including archaeological, architectural, historical, and traditional cultural properties.
4. Protection and Enhancement: Protect and enhance the state's significant historic properties and resources.
5. Coordination: Provide a statewide framework to enable public agencies, private organizations, and the state's citizens to carry out successful historic preservation planning, programs, and projects.

1. Education.
   • Provide educational opportunities and materials, such as workshops, publications, web sites;
   • Cooperate with educational organizations, institutions, and agencies on preservation programs.
2. Planning.
   • Participate in Smart Growth and sustainable growth planning efforts;
   • Promote stewardship of historic resources as part of environmental protection efforts;
   • Encourage development of statewide comprehensive land-use plan with strong preservation element.
3. Identification and Evaluation.
   • Use new technologies;
   • Focus on unsurveyed areas
   • Complete, update, and integrate survey information into HPO database;
   • Evaluate and nominate properties to the National Register
4. Protection and Enhancement.
   • Encourage compliance with preservation laws and regulations;
   • Support local commission efforts to protect through historic districts and landmarks;
   • Promote the stewardship of archaeological and historic properties through incentives and legal means.
5. Coordination.
   • Maintain HPO's NPS program certification;
   • Recognize multicultural preservation objectives through alliances among organizations, agencies, and offices;
   • Seek opportunities to build partnerships;
   • Coordinate local, state, and federal efforts in achieving goals and exchanging information;

Cooperating/Partnering Organizations:
National Trust for Historic Preservation; North Carolina Main Street communities; natural resource conservancies; counties and municipalities; Certified Local Governments; Preservation North Carolina; North Carolina Department of Commerce; The Conservation Trust for North Carolina and other non-profit land trusts; North Carolina Department of Transportation; North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.