Editor, Gazette-Journal:
Some confusion may have been created by recent posts in the Gazette-Journal about the Gwynn’s Island Historic District proposal that was submitted to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for adoption at a meeting on Sept. 21. In last week’s paper, a letter to the editor by real estate agent Susan Hill expressed concern that a “tiny minority” might defeat the proposal. A few weeks earlier, an article about the proposal ended as follows: “Residents who oppose the historic district nomination can send their letters of opposition to Langan at julie.langan@dhr.virginia.gov. The letters must be notarized to be formally counted. Letters of support are also welcome.”
Neither of those statements is accurate. According to Joanna McKnight of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the Virginia Administrative Code (17VAC5-30-160) lays out a rigorous objection procedure that requires a majority of the property owners to produce, have notarized, and mail thei...