After two years of work, a new city-county plan to promote preservation of historic places is nearing completion. But it could run into opposition from builders and others worried about new restrictions on development.

“I think there will still be concerns,” said Lawrence developer Bo Harris, a member of the committee drafting the plan.

A draft of the preservation plan in Horizon 2020, the city-county comprehensive plan, urges the city to become more active in promoting Lawrence’s historic resources to tourists.

But it also requires that planners do more to take historic preservation issues into account when reviewing proposals for development. And it says officials should “address and evaluate the five-acre exemption” that allows subdivision-like development of new homes in rural areas.

Those requirements will make developers who say they already run into obstacles while developing near historic properties nervous.

“I can tell you from trying to move ahead at Eighth and New Hampshire streets that it’s one more set of issues to deal with,” Harris said, referring to land within the environs of historic properties downtown where his own development plans face opposition. “And it can be very subjective.”

But proponents say the new policy would help Lawrence retain features that make the town unique. The policy orders a cataloging of all properties that have historic value in Douglas County.

“This will, in many ways, create a countywide awareness of our historical resources, and natural resources as well,” said Virgil Dean, a member of the city’s Historic Resources Commission and the plan-drafting committee. “Hopefully, it will be a mechanism for better decisions about growth and development and changes taking place.”

In Lawrence, more than 30 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jim Meadows plays baseball with his grandson David Glauner, 6, in front of his home in Old West Lawrence. Meadows' home was built in 1864 by U.S. Sen. James Lane, R-Kan., for his sister-in-law Sarah Lane. A draft of the historic preservation chapter of Horizon 2020 urges the city to be more active in promoting and protecting Lawrence's historic resources. Old West Lawrence is a national historic district.

Goals listed in the proposed plan:

• Incorporate preservation as an important component of city and county planning processes.
• Conserve the rural character of unincorporated Douglas County in strategic areas.
• Incorporate preservation incentives into city and county economic development programs.
• Establish outreach and educational programs.
• Incorporate “heritage tourism” as an economic development program.

¢ 6News video: Preservation plans are being finalized¢Information on historic resources¢Historic Resources Commission¢Horizon 2020 documents

Judy Billings, director of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau, noted officials already were trying to meet the last goal by working for a federal “National Heritage Area” designation based on the city’s “Bleeding Kansas” past.

“I’m happy that we are recognizing that heritage tourism is a part of economic development for our community,” Billings said. “I think those are good goals.”

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Office will put the draft plan on its Web site, www.lawrenceplanning.org, this month. The committee drafting the plan meets next at 4 p.m. June 24 in City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.

Staff writer Joel Mathis can be reached at 832-7126.

Recently constructed buildings that line the 600 block of Massachusetts Street conform to a specific style because they neighbor the Eldridge Hotel, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.