FOLEY — The boundaries of the Foley Downtown Historic District will be the topic of conversation this afternoon during a public hearing of the Foley Historical Commission.

The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. at Foley City Hall.

“The commission will decide whether to leave the existing Local Downtown Historic District or modify to the new National Register Historic District boundaries,” Foley Community Development Director Miriam Boutwell said via email.

As previously reported, the commission also held a public hearing on the issue last month. The hearing was initially intended to finalize the city’s re-adjusting the Downtown Historic District’s to conform with a much smaller district that is recognized by the National Registry of Historic Places. However, public input spurred the commission to table the issue until today.

“At the July meeting, we received letters from one business owner wanting to remain within the existing Local Downtown district,” Boutwell recalled. “

A map indicates that Foley’s Downtown Historic District extends several blocks in both directions of Laurel Avenue. From Orchid Avenue, it runs south to West Verbena Avenue.

However, a recent survey of NHR shrunk national recognition of those boundaries significantly. Because of that, owners of those buildings now omitted are no longer for such federal advantages as tax credits.

Representatives from both the NHR and the Alabama Historic Commission were at last month’s meeting, as were Foley City Administrator Mike Thompson and City Councilman Charlie Ebert. The discussion revolved around the commission recommending that the city shrink its own Historic District to only buildings recognized by NHR or maintain its current boundaries and perhaps provide municipal benefits to those complying with Foley’s Downtown Historic District regulations.

That discussion resulted in the commission agreeing to revisit the issue and hold another public hearing today, with the request that residents and business owners affected provide feedback in the interim.

However, no such feedback has been provided.

“We have not received any other correspondence on the topic,” Boutwll said. “We hope that business owners will attend the public hearing to voice their opinion.”