The Charleston Historic Preservation Committee discussed a proposed ordinance that would codify the designation of local historic sites and districts as landmarks at a meeting Monday.

The committee is composed of “a group of volunteers that have gotten together to come up with a workable historic preservation ordinance for the city of Charleston,” committee member Nora Pat Small said Monday. She plans to present the ordinance to Mayor Dan Cougill sometime in March. The mayor will then propose the ordinance to the City Council in April, she said.

If passed, it would create a Historic Preservation Commission that would consider homes, buildings and districts nominated by Charleston residents for “landmark” status. It would also regulate the alteration and maintenance of landmarks.

“We have many older homes, some 100 years old or more,” said Lola McElwee, a preservation committee member and journalism instructor at Eastern.

“The architecture and features of these houses add a lot to our city and we want to protect them,” she said.

The ordinance will make Charleston more attractive to prospective students and increase residents’ awareness of its historic resources, Small said.

Prospective landmarks include Old Main, Sixth and Seventh streets, the courthouse square, the Will Rogers Theater and several local homes designed by architect Charles Mitchell, McElwee said.