The Jackson Planning Commission on Monday sent an emergency historic preservation ordinance to the city council for its consideration.

Recent incidents regarding historic buildings within the city of Jackson have caused concern among both residents and officials. Most troubling was the demolition of the old Buscaglia's Restaurant building on Jackson Gate Road.

Fearful of the recurrence of such actions or of projects that might conflict with the city's plans for the future, Planning Commissioner Dave Butow last month requested drafting of an emergency ordinance.

Planning Director Susan Peters set to work on what she perceived to be the requested ordinance, completing her task in time for presentation Monday night.

Unfortunately, the ordinance Peters drafted was not the ordinance Butow wanted. "When I asked for an emergency ordinance, it was to cover all projects or uses that might come into conflict with our intended general plan and development code," Butow said. "I only used historic as an example."

After a brief discussion of how to proceed, the commissioners reached agreement that the preservation ordinance, with a few minor changes, would be a fine tool to have in place. The other aspects of Butow's intended ordinance would be dealt with at future meetings.

The draft ordinance would cover the entire city, not just the historical zone. It would consider historical any structure built before 1940. The ordinance would prohibit the issuance of permits for demolition, alteration, modification, expansion or reconstruction of any age-qualified structure.

Largely viewed as an idea whose time has come, the notion of creating some sort of protective ordinance encountered virtually no opposition from the public or the commissioners.

Planning Commissioner Terri Works stepped somewhat into the role of devil's advocate, saying, "Being on the planning commission has made me more interested in property rights."

With the last word before sending the ordinance on to the city council, commission Chair Letitia Sexton said, "I think that most people who buy historic structures have a conscience about them. They will probably follow some guidelines."

The remainder of the meeting dealt with possible changes to the land use element of the Jackson General Plan update.

"The most significant change to the land use document (and the land use designation map) is designating all properties within the city's sphere of influence as 'urban reserve,'" read the memo from Peters.

That caused Jackson property owner Jim Laughton to ask what urban reserve meant.

"Urban reserve means that nothing can happen on it," Peters answered, until a project is proposed and the process followed to apply another designation.

The planning commission decided to send the draft land use element, with wording changes entrusted to city staff.

The city of Jackson and sponsors of a referendum tentatively scheduled for the November ballot are heading for a legal battle over the validity of the referendum.