MARIETTA - Local attorney Greg Griffin, owner of the 1849 antebellum plantation house Tranquilla on Kennesaw Avenue, is not a fan of historic preservation districts.

So when the seven member City Council-appointed Historic Preservation Commission attempted to rope Tranquilla in its plans for a historic district in the Kennesaw Avenue area, he objected, and his home was removed from the boundaries.

Griffin said he doesn't need "some politburo" telling him how to preserve his home. As for the argument that an out-of-towner may buy up one of the historic homes, raze it, and build something modern in its place, Griffin said, "Possibly, I suppose, but in the words of Sean Connery, 'Not bloody likely.'"

People don't buy historic homes to raze them, they buy them because they appreciate their historic value, he said.

The City Council has been tying itself in knots over the issue of historic preservation in recent months.

During Wednesday's council meeting, the council voted 4-3, with council members the Rev. Anthony Coleman, Annette Lewis and Philip Goldstein opposing, to make sweeping changes to the city's local preservation ordinance.

The vote comes after Mayor Steve Tumlin used his veto power on Jan. 21 to kill a vote by the City Council a week earlier that approved Marietta's first local historic district along Kennesaw Avenue. The veto, Tumlin's first as mayor, was made on the recommendation of Gregg Litchfield, an attorney with Haynie, Litchfield and Crane, the Marietta firm that represents the city. Before approving a local historic district, a certain number of public hearings must be conducted. Litchfield said one of those hearings was not conducted or properly advertised, rendering the ordinance unenforceable.

The veto was bitter news for the volunteer members of the Historic Preservation Commission, who had worked to establish the Kennesaw Avenue area as its first local historic district since the historic preservation ordinance was adopted in 2005. For the brief week that it existed, the district encompassed 29 properties of which 25 were houses, along Kennesaw Avenue beginning at its intersection with Maple Avenue and ending just before Atwood Drive.

The HPC does not have the infinite power some suggest. For one, it can only consider proposed changes to a home that may be seen from the street. If a resident wants to make changes to the back of his or her house, and it can't be seen from the street, the HPC has no say in the matter, said Brian Binzer, the city's development services director. Nor does the HPC have any say over interior changes or paint color. Councilman Goldstein said a homeowner had the right to paint his home purple if he wanted.

Where the HPC does have power is in preventing the demolition of a home in a historic district. As it stands, as long as a homeowner has the proper permitting from the city, he or she can raze the home whether it's Tranquilla or something else, Binzer said.

To become a local historic district, the city must approve design guidelines, subject to the approval of 60 percent of eligible property owners in the proposed district. The guidelines provide a framework for approval of material changes to properties in the proposed district, such as adding porches. For the Kennesaw Avenue local historic district, the HPC obtained 67 percent approval from eligible voters, with 18 consenting, five opposed and no response from four, Binzer said. Since Tumlin's veto, the HPC will have to hold another election before Kennesaw Avenue becomes a historic district again.

The council's Wednesday night vote made a number of significant changes to the city's preservation ordinance. One change is that when it comes to any matter pertaining to a particular historic district, the residents of that historic district would have the option of electing two members from their district to sit on the HPC, expanding it to nine members.

Another significant change is how many votes property owners get in voting to create a historic district in the first place. Previously, a property owner could own several different properties in the district, but only get one vote. Under the new ordinance, that would change to one vote for every parcel or buildable lot owned. That means that if Councilman Van Pearlberg, for instance, were to own four houses in the proposed boundaries of the historic district, he would get four votes on whether to create a historic district there.

Yet another significant change is the time limit in which an election to create a historic district may be held. Before, there was no limit and an election could be held multiple times throughout the year. Now, one election can only be held on a particular district every 12 months with the election spanning only a 60 day period, Binzer said.

In other business Wednesday, the council voted 5-2 with Jim King and Pearlberg opposing, to appoint financial advisor Terry Lee to a post on the Marietta Board of Lights and Water. Lee is vice chairman of the Marietta Redevelopment Corporation.

In a March 2 letter to the MDJ, Lee's predecessor on the BLW, Arthur Vaughn, ripped Councilman Coleman, blaming him for blocking his reappointment to the BLW for alleged racial reasons. Although the BLW unanimously voted to elect Vaughn as it first black vice chairman on Jan. 11 - which the City Council authorized by approving the BLW's minutes - the council curiously allowed Vaughn's term to expire a month later without re-appointing him. In his letter to the Journal, Vaughn accused a council majority of bowing to the wishes of Coleman.

Coleman denied his support for Lee had anything to do with race - Vaughn, Lee and Coleman are all black. Coleman said it was simply a matter of allowing someone with a fresh perspective to sit on the BLW.

Also Wednesday, the council unanimously approved paying Waleed "Lee" Jaraysi $65,000 for part of his Nazareth Plaza property to use for right of way and easements for the city's Franklin Road streetscape and landscape project that is being funded through the 2005 SPLOST.

Meantime, the city is still in negotiations with Jaraysi regarding the unfinished building that has sat as an "eyesore" on the property. City attorney Doug Haynie entered into negotiations with Jaraysi that would give him a six-month extension on a court-ordered May 25 deadline to finish the 24,000-square-foot building. Were Jaraysi granted an extension, he would have to complete the building by the end of the six months or allow the city to demolish the structure and be billed the expense, Haynie earlier said.