(a) The Architectural Review Board, in its consideration of applications that involve modifications to existing buildings shall use the Standards and Guidelines for Preserving and Rehabilitating Historic Buildings as published by the United States Secretary of the Interior to guide decisions.
(b) Standards for Preservation include:
(1) A property will be used as it was historically, or be given a new use that maximizes the retention of distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships. Where a treatment and use have not been identified, a property will be protected and, if necessary, stabilized until additional work may be undertaken.
(2) The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The replacement of intact or repairable historic materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided.
(3) Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Work needed to stabilize, consolidate, and conserve existing historic materials and features will be physically and visually compatible, identifiable upon close inspection, and properly documented for future research.
(4) Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right will be retained and preserved.
(5) Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved.
(6) The existing condition of historic features will be evaluated to determine the appropriate level of intervention needed. Where the severity of deterioration requires repair or limited replacement of a distinctive feature, the new material will match the old in composition, design, color, and texture.
(7) Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, will be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic materials will not be used.
(8) Archeological resources will be protected and preserved in place. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures will be undertaken.
(c) Standards for Rehabilitation include:
(1) A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships.
(2) The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided.
(3) Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements from other historic properties, will not be undertaken.
(4) Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right will be retained and preserved.
(5) Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved.
(6) Deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features will be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence.
(7) Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, will be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic materials will not be used.
(8) Archeological resources will be protected and preserved in place. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures will be undertaken.
(9) New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction will not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and will be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.
(10) New additions and adjacent or related new construction will be undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
(d) The Architectural Review Board, in its consideration of applications that involve new construction on vacant lots shall be guided by the following criteria:
(1) New Building Construction. When new independent building construction is proposed on vacant lots, it shall adhere to the following standards:
A. Building Orientation: All construction of a principal structure must provide for a single principal entrance, and that principal entrance shall face a public street.
B. Building Height: No new construction of a principal structure shall be constructed which is more than thirty percent (30%) above or below the average height-to-width ratio of existing structures abutting the lot to be developed on the same block of land.
C. Rooflines and Shapes: Roof shapes and rooflines must be generally compatible with other buildings and structures found along the same block. Where there is a dominant pattern of roof planes along a street, (such as roof planes generally parallel to the right-of-way line, perpendicular to the right-of-way line, or a certain combination of both). Such pattern shall be similarly expressed in new construction and/or renovation. Similarly, roof pitches shall be similar to structures found along the same block.
D. Lot Coverage: The proposed ratio of area occupied by principal and accessory buildings and lot area, may not exceed the average ratio of area occupied by principal and accessory buildings and lot area for all adjacent buildings by more than 1.25 times.
(Ord. 2-15. Passed 2-23-15.)