During Monday’s Washington City Council meeting, the Historic Preservation Commission asked council to include historic homes as part of the downtown business façade grants.

The Historic Preservation Commission members want the city to allow owners of residential properties in the historic district the ability to apply for the grant. The city, however, turned down the request.

“That immediately encompasses a larger area and more substantial request for funding,” said Doug Mercer, Washington city councilman. “I just felt like if we were going to do something like that it should be discussed in detail during the budget-making process.”

Currently $20,000 is set aside by the city for façade grants for downtown businesses. The City of Washington has given grants for many years to businesses, according to Mercer.

“If you try and spread that $20,000 across the whole historic district it wouldn’t touch the big problem,” Mercer said.

The money currently used is to promote the upkeep of a building, Mercer said.

“If an owner came in and had a project, the city would match up to $2,000 for a project if they were approved,” Mercer said. “Many of the people downtown have taken that opportunity.”

One owner that took advantage of the city’s grant is the owner of the vacant building between Stewart’s Jewelry Store and Coastal Insurance at 117 N. Market St.

“It’s a little incentive to let people downtown to keep the fronts of their buildings looking good,” Mercer said.

City Council tabled the discussion about the possibility of providing grants to homeowners in the historic district until next April’s budget meetings.

“My anticipation with that is we would do it essentially as a service expansion and the Historic Preservation Commission would come present to council during budget time,” Brian Alligood, Washington’s city manager.