Mobile city officials are considering a new ordinance that would update the city’s historic preservation laws, in an effort to comply with state law.

On Tuesday, the Mobile City Council introduced an ordinance to amend the city’s Historic Development ordinance, which has been on the books since 1972 and was last updated in 2002.

The ordinance is currently out of compliance with the state of Alabama’s historic preservation laws, which requires local governments that have historic development commissions to appoint members to the commission in a certain way.

Currently, 32 civic organizations, in addition to the city council, the Mobile County Commission and the mayor, can appoint two representatives to the Mobile Historic Development Commission, which is tasked with preserving and revitalizing the city’s seven historic neighborhoods, without approval by either the mayor or city council. There are more than 80 seats on the MHDC, though not all are filled.

Alabama law requires that only the mayor recommends appointments to the commission, according to Bruce McGowin, an attorney the city has contracted to work on this ordinance. Those appointments are then approved by the city council. State law also requires that the appointees have certain qualifications in the fields of history, architecture, real estate or law and that a certain number of appointees live in historic districts, McGowin said.