NARRAGANSETT — Town officials are once again weighing the pros and cons of creating local historic districts, and they are looking for input from residents on how the town might protect historic areas without adopting an overly strict set of rules.

In a presentation Monday to the Town Council, Community Development Director Michael J. DeLuca said the concept can be tailored to what the town wants, with a minimal level of intrusion if people are concerned that being in a district would bring headaches and added costs each time they want to repair or improve their property.

“It really is up to us,” he told the council.

“I think we could get to the point where it would not be seen as an onerous level of added bureaucracy.”

DeLuca proposed three historic districts: one along Central Street and adjoining side streets in the Pier area, one encompassing the area near The Towers and the post office, and one along Ocean Road, starting just before Hazard Avenue and ending just after Winfield Farm Road.

The Ocean Road district would include the Our Lady of Peace/Hazard Castle property, placed on the market recently by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. If approved, the district would subject the castle and other structures on the property to historic guidelines, DeLuca said yesterday. It would also require that new structures, should someone attempt to develop the property, have some level of compatibility, he said.

Living in a historic district is in some ways a tradeoff, DeLuca said, bringing added responsibility but paying off in terms of historic value.

“The added level of bureaucracy is offset by the additional assurance that your neighborhood is not going to change drastically,” he said.

The idea of local historic districts in Narragansett goes back to at least 1990, when the town received a National Trust for Historic Preservation grant that was to go toward the writing of a historic district plan. The town also created a historic district board, though it has not met for many years.

There has also been some federal recognition of properties in town. Many of the properties that would be in the proposed local districts are on the National Register of Historic Places, but the national register has no practical impact unless the owners are using federal money to make repairs or renovations, DeLuca said.

The latest look at local historic districts comes at the urging of the council, which voted 5-0 last year to have the Community Development Department study the concept.

“Just about everybody else in the state has done it,” Councilman Christopher Wilkens said yesterday. “There’s interest in town in preserving our historic past, and this is the time to do it. If we don’t do it now, it’s never going to be done.”

If the concept is approved, a Historic District Commission would review all exterior repairs and alterations to buildings in the districts, according to the draft regulations presented to the council. Structures built through 1950 would be considered historic. Those built after 1950 would also be subject to district guidelines to encourage compatibility but the standards would be “very different,” DeLuca told the council.

Only a handful of residents attended the workshop, but most seemed intrigued with the idea.

Linda O’Neill, of Ocean Road, urged the council to start small to gain support by having the local districts coincide with properties that are on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Use that as a base and go from there,” she said.

Council members, wanting more public input, scheduled a second workshop for May 28 at 7:30 p.m.

redgar@projo.com