The Standish Historic Preservation Commission is seeking more authority through the town council to enforce the preservation ordinance, which is now being scrutinized by the ordinance committee.

In a recent ordinance committee meeting, Burns Cameron, chairman of the historic preservation commission, said, “We don’t have any basic enforcement. We’re looking for more teeth.”

The purpose of the commission right now, according to town officials, is to help people apply for historic status or make changes to their properties if they are located in the historic district, facilitating the preservation ordinance. For properties to be deemed historic, the town council must approve.

Cameron said the preservation commission recently tried to hold the phone company, FairPoint, which was located in the historic Hartford House, responsible to fix a hole in its roof resulting from a fire that occurred in the spring of last year. The committee voted to send a letter to Town Manager Gordon Billington, requesting that he and the code enforcement officer “take appropriate action” and require the company to fix its property.

In a letter dated Jan. 26, Billington responded, “The CEO has found nothing in the Historic Preservation Ordinance that would allow the town to compel the owner to make repairs to the building. Our attorney indicates that some Historic Preservation Ordinances do contain provisions that compel owners to maintain their property to certain standards, however he concurs with the CEO that our’s does not.”

The preservation commission did however have the authority to grant Robert Higgins permission to move his 1800s Federal-style house, located at the corner of routes 25 and 35, 200 yards down the road, on the condition that it would be refurbished and replaced by another property that resembles the surrounding historic architecture.

“(Cameron) is not an enforcement officer. He responds to applications put before him,” Billington said earlier this week.

Code Enforcement Officer Dan Hill said even he cannot force someone to fix their property in a situation like the Hartford House if they do not wish to.

Another issue for the preservation commission is the lack of incentive for people to register their property in the historic district or to make changes to an existing historic property.

“We have a $250 fee for someone asking for an application. We don’t want people to be discouraged… we’re only responsible for the properties in the historic district. We tried to expand the properties to include others, but nothing has happened,” Cameron said, proposing that the fee be lowered to $5 or $10.

Councilor Philip Pomerleau questioned during the ordinance committee meeting whether people are aware of the existence of the commission.

“No one has come to Burns, and that’s the problem,” he said, adding that the council has yet to review any applications.

“The problem,” Councilor Carolyn Biegel said, “is that there is very little incentive for people” to apply for historic status and maintain their property to historic standards.

Terence Christy, chairman of the town council and the ordinance committee, agreed there needs to be more incentives, saying, “We have to look into reasons for people to maintain their property.” Christy added that the purpose of the ordinance should be to “protect property owners rights and protect the historic significance of properties.”

The ordinance committee will be using the next few weeks to find a balance between the two.

Even if the preservation commission is granted more authority, they can only use the ordinance to dictate to property owners how to maintain the exterior of their property to produce the “appearance” of an historic structure, according to town officials.