YOUNGSTOWN — City council could vote as early as next week on legislation to create a landmark district commission to give Youngstown officials more control over historic buildings.

Council’s zoning committee held four monthly meetings since November, including one on Monday, to discuss establishing city landmarks and landmark districts to provide protection “by requiring thorough study of alternatives to incompatible alterations or demolition before such acts are performed,” according to the draft legislation.

Councilwoman Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward and zoning committee chairwoman, said the legislative body could vote on the proposal as soon as its March 5 meeting. If it doesn’t consider it March 5, city council would have the proposal in front of it for consideration at the following meeting, March 19, she said.

“This will give us more control over historic buildings in the city and make sure the aesthetics and the looks of the building are kept up,” Turner said.

The proposal calls for the establishment of a seven-member commission with “a commitment to historic preservation with a determination to maintain and safeguard the quality of city landmarks and landmark districts.”

There are already historic districts along Fifth Avenue as well as areas surrounding Wick, Crandall and Mill Creek parks that would fall under this legislation, Turner said.

Also, there are a number of historic buildings in the city’s downtown that would be designated as landmarks, she said.

The full list of buildings and districts will be included with the legislation to city council, Turner said.

The commission proposal was initially discussed about five years ago and revived because of the May 28 gas explosion and subsequent demolition of the former Realty Tower, a historic downtown building.

A commission could permit the city to do due diligence on historic buildings before they are demolished though it’s unclear what could have been done to stop the demolition of Realty after the explosion.

The explosion caused significant damage to Realty Tower on East Federal Street, killing Akil Drake, who worked at the Chase Bank on the building’s ground floor, and injuring nine others.

YO Properties 47 LLC, which owns the Realty site, decided June 17 to demolish the 23-apartment building over the objections of some council members. Work started July 12 and was finished Sept. 25.

YO Properties plans to redevelop the site, which is currently vacant.