The Athens-Clarke Historic Preservation Commission gave its worn, dusty stamp of approval Wednesday night to a historic district covering the Buena Vista Heights neighborhood north of Normaltown and west of Boulevard.

Dozens of people showed to up to share their views on the district, which, predictably, seems to have grown contentious among property owners. The majority of speakers opposed it, although most of them were rental property owners or homebuilders who live outside the proposed district. The majority of homeowners within the district support it.

Local historic districts like Boulevard and Cobbham protect 50-plus-year-old neighborhoods by regulating new construction to ensure it blends in and restricting teardowns and renovations to existing houses. In Buena Vista's case, it's a turn-of-the-century streetcar suburb and mill housing (see Stella Smith's column). Districts also come with benefits like an eight-year property tax freeze. Arguments over Buena Vista were typical:

OPPONENTS: I can do whatever I damn well please with my property. This is America! And why do you want to preserve this place in amber, anyway? There's really nothing special here—just a bunch of old houses.

SUPPORTERS: Places like this are disappearing fast. We like our neighborhood and don't want some evil developer to come in and replace everything with kiddie condos or McMansions.

The HPC's recommendation goes to the Athens-Clarke Commission for finally approval, most likely in November.