In an effort to reform the city’s historic preservation law, the Mobile City Council Tuesday tabled an ordinance in favor of creating a committee to study the issue.

On Tuesday, the Mobile City Council voted to delay action on reforming the Mobile Historic Development Commission (MHDC) for one month, to try and come to a compromise between the city’s current law and state regulations.

“I ask those in the historic preservation community, within the MHDC and everyone else, to be patient as we work through this process,” Councilmember William Carroll, the primary driver of this effort, said during the meeting.

Last week, the council introduced an ordinance that would reduce the number of members of the MHDC from around 80 to nine, by eliminating the seats that are filled by outside civic organizations. In addition, the ordinance would also give the mayor and council nominating power for the MHDC and the city’s Architectural Review Board (ARB), which works in conjunction with the MHDC to review buildings in the city’s seven historic neighborhoods.

The changes were aimed at bringing Mobile into compliance with Alabama’s historic preservation laws. The city of Mobile’s historic preservation ordinance, which was enacted in 1972 and revised in 2002, pre-dates the state of Alabama’s historic preservation law, which was enacted in 1989.