At its May 15 Historic Preservation Board meeting, Deb Andrews, Program Manager, announced that she had received a petition dated April 30, 2019 intended to expedite the nomination of a Munjoy Hill Historic District. Twenty-one individuals signed the petition.

The letter says in part: “Many of the houses on Munjoy Hill are admittedly smaller and less grand that those built on the Western Prom and West End of the City. However, the large concentrations of intact buildings on Munjoy Hill, meant for middle-class and working-class occupants, reflect patterns of development that are equally important to the history of Portland and equally deserving of historic district protections. The Western Prom area and West End of Portland have benefitted from historic district designations for 25 to 30 years. It is time to extend the same type of protection to those portions of the Munjoy Hill neighborhood which exhibit the historical and architectural significance intended to be protected by Portland’s HIstoric Preservation Ordinance.”

Andrews said in response to the April 30 petition that there needs to be more public outreach before the formal process of designation can begin. She expects there to be a second meeting sometime in the future before the formal designation can start.