The Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission officially adopted their updated design guidelines.

Sue Astley, former president, presented to council how the new guidelines differ from previous guidelines.

The City of Mount Vernon spent roughly $16,000 for the new guidelines, which was three quarters of the cost for the updated design guidelines.

“It was a months long review process for the commission and others,” Astley said.

She thanked Randy Brown, Edith Dawson and zoning administrator Leigh Bradbury for their work on the cause.

Astley explained the importance of design guidelines in preserving historic districts, like the Ash Park or brick houses districts.

“When a district is set up, it’s because it’s looking to protect homes from deviating too far from their historic area,” Astley said. “Those districts can deteriorate if too many deviations are made.”

The new guidelines include references for architectural styles guides, quality of substitute materials to consider, sections on signage, sections on demolition and other resources that can be helpful for anyone looking to make improvements.

“We also made sure to keep sections separate on residential and business districts,” Astley said.

While this does update many of the design guidelines for the commission, Astley did note that when it comes to reviewing applications, the commission will still have judgments on cases in the future.

“Every request that is made is different,” Astley said. “Concerns over building materials is different.”

Council member Scott Rose said he appreciated the work that went into updating the design guidelines.

“I know it isn’t my wheelhouse and I get lost in a lot of the details, but I appreciate the outcome and final result,” Rose said.

Mayor Tom Wieseler also commended the depth of the review and the leadership through this project.