What are we conserving, exactly?

I've mentioned before that the palatial Surlywood estate is part of one of Oklahoma City's Urban Conservation Districts, and that while the UCD designation preceded (by a whole month) my arrival, I supported its aims. And with some folks in Tulsa completely spooked by the idea, I figure this would be a good time to explain just what those aims are.

The following was scissored out of Oklahoma City Municipal Code, § 59-13650, paragraph 1:

Scary, isn't it?

Where it gets frightful, I suppose, is that bit about "desirable change," which implies that some change is not desirable, and hints that changes that are not desirable are not to be accommodated. In practice, I don't see much of that happening around here; the only time I've had to consult the UCD ordinance at all was when I was looking for a new number plate for the house, and discovered that the maximum size permissible is four square feet. (The one I got is 4x19 inches, well within the limits and easily visible from the street.)

There are restrictions, yes: you can't park on the grass, you can't have a chain-link fence — I have a fairly ordinary six-foot stockade fence — and perhaps most important, if you plan to tear down a house, you can't replace it with a structure three times its size.

So basically, we're conserving a look and a feel; we're trying to maintain the character of a neighborhood that doesn't quite meet the standards for "historic." (All of Oklahoma City's historic districts date to well before World War II.) Just because we paid less doesn't mean we think less of it.