By Richard E. Baldwin, The Buffalo News, N.Y.
Mar. 17--NIAGARA FALLS -- The city is one of the first communities in New York to aggressively urge owners of historically significant houses to apply for state income tax credits that could help pay for rehabilitation of their properties under a new but little-publicized law, a professional preservationist said Tuesday.
Murray Gould of Port City Preservation of Oswego, who helped promote passage of the new law, said the first step was to seek state or national designation as a historic district. The city is seeking such a designation for an area along Chilton Avenue and Orchard Parkway between Whirlpool and Main streets.
Jennifer Walkowski, an architectural historian for Clinton Brown Company Architecture of Buffalo, said Chilton was the first street to be paved in Niagara Falls. She said the owner-occupants of 81 properties in that area appear to qualify for the tax credits.
If approved, they could receive a credit of 20 percent of their rehabilitation costs up to a total credit of $50,000. The law took effect Jan. 1.
Mayor Paul A. Dyster, who lives on Orchard Parkway, was one of about 30 people who attended Tuesday's public meeting in the Earl Brydges Library building.
He asked whether putting a new roof on his house would qualify for the tax credit. The answer: Probably, but only if the area receives the proper historic designation and if a number of requirements are met.
The state's Historic Residential Tax Credit Program is different from the city's already established Park Place Historic District, which is locally controlled and operates under different rules. That district encompasses Park Place and nearby sections of Cedar Avenue, Fourth Street and Pine Avenue.
rbaldwin@buffnews.com
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