The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – The Dayton Historic Preservation Commission last week met for the first time since property owners in the city’s two residential historic districts voted overwhelmingly to disband those districts.

Despite those results, two of the four members present at the June 29 meeting voted against a measure that would have supported the vote results and recommended dissolution of the Southside and Washington Street Historic Districts to the Dayton City Council. With a 2-2 vote, the commission will not forward a recommendation to the council.

Commission members Ginny Butler and Carole Lane voted against the measure, while members Matt Zanger and Chrissy Talbott voted in favor. Commission member Mike Smith was absent from the meeting, and the commission has two vacant seats.

Last month, votes were counted from a special advisory ballot sent to property owners in the districts asking whether they preferred to disband their district, or to maintain it while making directives by the commission advisory only. Approximately two-thirds of voters in both districts voted to dissolve the districts.

The Dayton City Council will take up the question of whether or not to dissolve the districts at a future meeting. In order to dissolve the districts, a new ordinance will have to be drafted and presented to the council. That is expected to happen within the next three months.