To promote the creation of historic districts and landmarks for the educational, cultural, economic, and general welfare of the public through the preservation, protection, and regulation of buildings, sites, monuments, structures, and areas of historic interest or importance within the corporate limits of the City;

To safeguard the heritage of the City by preserving and regulating historic landmarks and districts which reflect elements of its cultural, social, economic, political, and architectural history;

To preserve and enhance the environmental quality of neighborhoods;

To strengthen the City's economic base by the stimulation of conservation and reuse;

To establish and preserve property values;

To foster economic development;

To ensure the harmonious, orderly, and efficient growth and development of the municipality;

To promote the use of historic landmarks and districts for the culture, prosperity, education, and welfare of the people of the City and visitors to the City; and

To establish a preservation plan to accomplish the goals of this article.

There is hereby created an Historical Preservation Commission consisting of seven voting members, all citizens who have previously demonstrated interest in historical preservation.

All members of the Commission shall serve without compensation.

Prepare or cause to be prepared a comprehensive inventory of historical, architectural, and archaeological resources within the City, and to update same on a regular basis.

Prepare or cause to be prepared a general historical preservation plan to be incorporated within the Comprehensive Plan of the City.

Prepare findings of fact relating to the recommendation for designation of historical, architectural, and archaeological resources.

Prepare findings of fact pursuant to action taken by the Commission relating to certificates of appropriateness.

Make recommendations to the City Council concerning historical easements, and the development of historical preservation plans.

Make recommendations to the City Council concerning grants from federal and state agencies, private groups and individuals and the utilization of budgetary appropriations to promote the preservation of historic, architectural, or archaeological resources; and, when so directed by the City Council, the Commission may oversee historical projects or programs.

Promulgate rules governing the meetings of the Commission and the standards for materials presented to the Commission.

Keep minutes and records of all meetings and proceedings, including voting records, attendance, resolutions, findings of fact, determinations and decisions.

Make recommendations to the City Council, Planning Commission and/or other bodies regarding historic designations, certificates of appropriateness, and amendment and enforcement of this and other ordinances of the City.

Comment and make recommendations concerning actions undertaken by other City agencies or actions of other governmental units with respect to the potential adverse effects of such actions upon historical, architectural, and archaeological resources.

Conduct a periodic review of the status of designated landmarks and historic districts and provide periodic reports on the findings of said review, along with any resolutions for action, as considered appropriate, to Council.

Any other functions imposed by this article or which may be specified by the City Council.

Report to the City Council any potential negative impact an action taken by another agency might have on a building, site, construction, or district designated under this article.

The erection, moving, demolition, removal, reconstruction, restoration, or alteration of the exterior of any structure is prohibited unless a certificate of appropriateness is granted by the Historical Preservation Commission, unless such a certificate is not required by § 361-106A of this article.

All structures and grounds shall be maintained in good condition in keeping with the historical nature of the site designated.

All interior portions of structures shall be kept in such good repair to the extent necessary to prevent structural deterioration.

Full compliance shall be had with all provisions and procedures of this article.

The City Council may designate tracts and sites for inclusion within the HP Historical Preservation District in the same manner prescribed for the designation of other zoning districts by this chapter and subject to compliance with this article; however, all designations of tracts and sites for inclusion within the Historical Preservation District shall first be reviewed and considered by the Historical Preservation Commission. The Historical Preservation Commission shall hold an informative meeting after providing notice to all property owners of county record in the proposed HP Historical Preservation District. Said notice can be mailed through regular mail and must occur at least 45 days prior to the meeting. A legal notice shall also be published in a newspaper of general circulation announcing the meeting and detailing the proposal in compliance with the Open Meetings Act. Within 30 days after conducting the informative meeting, the Commission shall forward its recommendation regarding a proposed district designation to the Planning Commission and City Council.

Notice of consideration of designation; protest to district designation.

The initiation of a proposal of designation may be made by the Commission, the City Council, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Commission, or on the application of the owner or owners of the parcel to be designated, or their authorized agents. Any such application shall be made upon forms and pursuant to standards set by the Commission for this purpose.

The Commission may solicit and present expert testimony or documentary evidence regarding the historical and architectural, archaeological, or cultural importance of the property proposed for designation.

As part of every such designation, or amendment of a designation, the Commission shall state in written form the attributes of the area or site designated as such attributes relate to and comply with the review criteria for district designation as provided in this article.

The Zoning Administrator shall officially notify the Commission of all approvals or disapprovals of designation ordinances at the next regular meeting of the Commission following the City Council action.

Designations may be amended or repealed in the same manner and according to the same procedure as provided herein for the original designation.

No application for a permit to construct, alter, demolish, remove, or relocate any characteristic of a designated site, building, structure, district, open space or monument filed subsequent to the day that an application has been filed or a resolution adopted to initiate designation of said proposed historical preservation district shall be approved by the City while proceedings are pending regarding such historical preservation district designation application, unless such work is determined by the Commission to be essential to the preservation or stabilization of the resources and such work will not detrimentally alter the exterior appearance of the resource.

Historical, cultural category:

Architectural, engineering category:

Archaeological category:

Whenever such work requires a building permit issued by the City;

Whenever such work includes the application of paint to a previously unpainted brick or masonry exterior surface or the construction or enlargement of a driveway or parking area; or

Whenever such work includes the erection, moving, demolition, reconstruction, restoration, or alteration of the exterior of any structure or site, except when such work satisfies all the requirements for "ordinary maintenance and repair" as defined in this article.

No building permit shall be issued for any structure or site located within the HP Historical Preservation District until the application for such permit has been reviewed by the Commission and a certificate of appropriateness has been approved by the Commission.

When applying for such a permit, the applicant shall furnish two copies of all detailed plans, elevations, perspectives and specifications. Such shall be forwarded to the Commission within five days of receipt thereof. Any applicant may request a meeting with the Commission before submitting an application and may consult with the Commission during the review of the permit application.

Upon review of the application, the Commission shall determine whether the proposed work is of a nature which will adversely affect any historical or architectural resource and whether such work is appropriate and consistent with the spirit and intent of this article and the designating ordinance. The Commission shall apply the criteria established by this article and, based thereon, shall approve or disapprove such certificate of appropriateness. If the Commission disapproves a certificate of appropriateness, no permit shall be issued and the applicant shall not proceed with the proposed work.

The Commission shall develop such guidelines as it may find necessary to supplement the provisions of this article and to inform owners, residents, and the general public of those techniques which are considered most proper for undertaking work relating to historical and architectural resources. The Commission shall have the opportunity to advise the City Council concerning provisions in the building, electrical, plumbing, heat and air and housing codes and other codes which affect preservation work.

It is not the intent of this article to limit new construction to any one period or architectural style, but to preserve the integrity of historic and architectural resources and to ensure the compatibility of new work constructed in the vicinity. In the case of the disapproval of plans by the Commission, the Commission shall state in writing the reasons for such disapproval and may include suggestions of the Commission in regard to actions the applicant might take to secure the approval of the Commission.

With regard to the development of a property containing a designated archaeological resource, a certificate of appropriateness shall be required prior to the issuance of the permit for which the applicant has applied; and further, the following requirements shall be satisfied:

The Commission may approve certificates of appropriateness subject to certain conditions, to be stated in writing. Work performed pursuant to the issuance of a certificate of appropriateness shall conform to the conditions of such certificate, if any. It shall be the duty of the Zoning Administrator, or his authorized agent, to inspect from time to time any work performed pursuant to a certificate of appropriateness to assure such compliance. In the event that such work is not in compliance, the Zoning Administrator shall issue a stop-work order. The Commission may request by resolution that the Zoning Administrator inspect work at a particular location and, if in noncompliance, issue a stop-work order.

The purpose and intent of this article.

The degree to which the proposed work may destroy or alter all or part of a resource.

The degree to which the proposed work would serve to isolate the resource from its historical or architectural surroundings, or would introduce visual, audible, vibratory, or polluting elements that are out of character with the resource and its setting, or that adversely affect the physical integrity of the resource.

The compatibility of the building materials with the aesthetic and structural appearance of the resource, including but not limited to the consideration of texture, style, color or the components and their combinations of elements such as brick, stone, concrete, shingle, wood or stucco.

The compatibility of the proposed design to the significant characteristics of the resource, including but not limited to a consideration of the harmony of materials, details, height, mass, proportion, rhythm, scale, setback, shape, street accessories, and workmanship.

No structure or site within any HP Historical Preservation District shall be demolished and/or removed unless the Commission shall approve such demolition and a certificate of appropriateness for such demolition and/or removal shall have been granted.

Exceptions:

The Commission shall hold a public hearing for the purpose of considering certificates of appropriateness for demolition or removal. After such hearing, the Commission may approve the certificate of appropriateness, thereby authorizing the demolition, or may enter an order postponing demolition for not more than 180 days.

At the conclusion of such period of postponement as specified in the Commission's order, the Commission shall within 45 days thereafter hold a second public hearing for the purpose of considering whether or not the Commission should recommend to the City Council that additional postponement of demolition be ordered.

In the event the Commission should make such recommendation of additional postponement to the City Council, the City Council shall hold a public hearing for the purpose of considering such additional postponement of demolition.

After such public hearing, the City Council may enter an order approving the demolition or may enter an order postponing demolition for an additional period not to exceed 120 days from the date of such order. At the conclusion of this final postponement period, the City Council shall hold a public hearing and may either approve the requested demolition or may disapprove such requested demolition. In the event demolition is not approved, no demolition shall occur. For purposes of this article, the word "demolition" shall include "removal."

The purposes and intent of this article.

The degree to which the proposed removal of the historical resource would serve to destroy the integrity and continuity of the HP Historical Preservation District of which it is a part.

The nature of the resource as a representative type of style of architecture, socioeconomic development, historical association or other element of the original designation criteria applicable to such structure or site.

The condition of the resource from the standpoint of structural integrity and the extent of work necessary to stabilize the structure.

The alternatives available to the demolition applicant, including:

The ability of the subject structure or site to produce a reasonable economic return on investment to its owner; provided, however, that it is specifically intended that this factor shall not have exclusive control and effect, but shall be considered along with all other criteria contained in this article.