The duties of the French Creek Settlement Association shall be as follows:
(a) To study the problems and determine the needs of the City in furthering the purpose of restoring and preserving any designated historic area or listed historic property in the City;
(b) To conduct or cause to be conducted or assist in conducting a continuing survey of all areas, places, buildings, structures, homes or other objects of environmental and aesthetic interest to the City which the Association, on the basis of information available or presented to it, has reason to believe are or will be eligible for designation as historic districts or listed historic properties. No property may be listed and no district shall be established except with the approval of Council.
(c) To work for the continuing education of the residents of the City with respect to the architectural and historic heritage of the City and the listed historic properties and the historic district designated under the provisions of this chapter, and to make every effort to improve the overall environmental awareness of the people;
(d) To keep a current register of all listed historic properties and provide the City Engineer with a copy thereof;
(e) To determine whether or not a structure should be designated as listed historic property, based upon the criteria specified in this chapter and the standards and criteria adopted by the Association, including, but not limited to, the historic or architectural significance of the structure;
(f) To employ, on a part-time basis, technical experts as may be required to perform its duties within the appropriations made available therefor by Council, and, within its capabilities, to perform such other related tasks as may be required by Council;
(g) To specify a particular time to hold regular meetings if there exists any matter requiring its consideration or determination. Any person who wishes the Association to consider or determine any matter as may be within its duties shall, at least ten days prior to a meeting date, file with the Association a written request specifying what matter the person wishes the Association to consider.
(h) To establish criteria, rules and regulations, not otherwise included in this chapter, for the evaluation of applications for certificates of appropriateness submitted to it and for the manner in which they shall be processed. These criteria shall include specific considerations to be given in the determination of the issuance or nonissuance of the certificate of appropriateness. Such criteria, rules and regulations shall not be adopted by the Association until after review and approval by Council. The criteria regarding the structure shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Its character, interest or value as part of the heritage of the City, the State or the United States;
(2) Its location as a site of a significant historic event;
(3) Its identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the historic development of the City;
(4) Its exemplification of the historical heritage of the City;
(5) Its portrayal of the environment of a group of people in an era of history characterized by a distinctive architectural style;
(6) Its embodiment of a distinguishing historical characteristic of an architectural type or specimen;
(7) Its identification as the work of an architect or master builder whose individual work has influenced the development of the City;
(8) Its embodiment of elements of architectural design, detail, materials or craftsmanship which represent a significant architectural innovation;
(9) Its relationship to other distinctive areas which are eligible for preservation according to a plan based on an historic, cultural or architectural motif;
(10) Its unique location or singular physical characteristic representing an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, a community or the City;
(11) Such other individual characteristics as are relevant to its designation as a landmark; and
(12) The aesthetic impact of any new structure on the historic district character.
The Association shall have no regulatory powers except for those noted in this section. It shall basically act as a review and recommending advisory body to the Planning Commission and Council in the matters set forth in this chapter.
(Ord. 37-82. Passed 8-9-82.)