(A) Purpose.
(1) The purpose of this section is:
(a) To protect, preserve and enhance the distinctive architectural and cultural heritage of the City of Bennettsville;
(b) To promote the educational, cultural, economic and general welfare of the people of the City of Bennettsville;
(c) To foster civic pride;
(d) To encourage harmonious, orderly and efficient growth and development of the City of Bennettsville;
(e) To strengthen the local economy; and
(f) To improve property values.
(2) It is the city’s hope that by encouraging a general harmony of style, form, proportion and material between buildings of historic design and those of contemporary design, the city’s historic buildings and historic districts will continue to be a distinctive aspect of the city and will serve as visible reminders of the significant historical and cultural heritage of the City of Bennettsville and State of South Carolina.
(3) This section is part of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Bennettsville and is enacted pursuant to the S.C. Code §§ 6-29-710 and 6-29-870 et seq.
(B) Architectural Review Board established.
(1) Creation. To implement the provisions of this chapter, there is hereby established a Board of Architectural Review, hereinafter referred to as the Board, for the City of Bennettsville, consisting of seven members. Members shall be appointed by the City Council upon the recommendation of the Board.
(2) Composition and qualifications.
(a) All members of the Board shall have a demonstrated interest in historic preservation. If available in the community, the Board should have at least one member who is qualified as:
1. A historian, knowledgeable in local history;
2. An architect or, if an architect is not available to serve, someone knowledgeable in building design and construction.
Other suggested members include a lawyer, a real estate agent, an engineer, and a representative of the historical society.
(b) No members shall hold any other municipal office. (S.C. Code § 6-29-870(C).)
(c) A representative of the Board of Zoning and Housing Appeals may serve only as an ex-officio, non-voting member.
(d) Members shall assume their duties at the first regular meeting after their appointment. Members shall serve without compensation except for reimbursement for authorized expenses attendant to the performance of their duties.
(3) Terms of office.
(a) The term of office for each member shall be two years.
(b) Membership shall be identified by place numbers 1 through 7. Terms of office for members in the odd-numbered places shall expire in odd numbered years; terms for even-numbered members expire in even numbered years, provided, however, that each member shall serve until his successor is appointed and installed.
(4) Removal. Any member of the Board may be removed by the Mayor of the City of Bennettsville upon confirmation of the City Council, for repeated failure to attend meetings of the Board or for any other cause deemed sufficient by the Mayor.
(5) Appointment to fill a vacancy. If any place on the Board becomes vacant due to resignation, removal, or for any reason, the Mayor shall appoint a replacement within 60 days for the remainder of the unexpired term, subject to confirmation by the City Council.
(6) Conflicts of interest. Any member of the board who has a personal or financial interest, either directly or indirectly, in any property which is the subject of, or affected by, a decision of the Board shall be disqualified from participating in the decision of the Board concerning the property.
(7) Liability of members. Any member of the Board acting within powers granted by this section shall be relieved from personal liability for any damage and held harmless by the City of Bennettsville. Any suit brought against any member of the Board shall be defended by a legal representative furnished by the city until the termination of the proceedings.
(C) Powers and duties. The responsibility of the Board is to promote the purposes and objectives of this section, to review and recommend to City Council the designation of individual historic properties and historic districts, and to review plans and applications, as hereinafter provided, for all construction within historic districts and construction or demolition pertaining to or affecting duly designated historic properties. The Board shall have the power to approve, approve with modifications or deny approval for such applications in accordance with the prescribed procedures and guidelines.
(D) Historic property inventory. The Board shall maintain a local inventory of buildings, structures, objects, and sites more than 50 years old. These records shall be available to the public.
(E) Designation of historic properties.
(1) Criteria for historic designation. The Board shall review the local inventory and make recommendations for historic designation(s) to City Council based on the following criteria. A property may be designated historic if it:
(a) Has significant inherent character, interest, or value as part of the development or
heritage of the community, state, or nation; or
(b) Is the site of an event significant in history; or
(c) Is associated with a person or persons who contributed significantly to the culture and development of the community, state, or nation; or
(d) Exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social, ethnic, or historic heritage of the community, state, or nation; or
(e) Individually, or as a collection of resources, embodies distinguishing characteristics of a type, style, period, or specimen in architecture or engineering; or
(f) Is the work of a designer whose work has influenced significantly the development of
the community, state or nation; or
(g) Contains elements of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship which represent a
significant innovation; or
(h) Is part of or related to a square or other distinctive element of community planning; or
(i) Represents an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood or community; or
(j) Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in pre-history or history.
(2) Owner notification.
(a) Owners of properties proposed to be designated historic shall be notified in writing 30 days prior to consideration by City Council. Owners may appear before the City Council to voice approval or opposition to such designation.
(b) The City of Bennettsville Planning Commission shall provide its formal comment to the Council on ordinance adoption, amendment, and designation and may also serve as the entity conducting the required public hearing if so authorized by council.
(3) Identification on town zoning map. All locally designated historic properties and historic districts shall be clearly shown on the zoning map.
(4) Opposition to designation.
(a) Any property owner may object to the decision by the City Council to designate his property as historic by filing suit against the city before the Courts of the State of South Carolina.
(b) This suit must be based on procedural nonconformities in the designation process or on the misapplication of the criteria for designation as specified in the city’s ordinance or under S.C. Code § 6-29-870.0, not simply on the desire not to be included in the locally designated district. In the case of individual landmarks, the basis for challenging designation is the same.
(F) Jurisdiction of the Board of Architectural Review. The jurisdiction of the Board, in general, is the Bennettsville city limits. The jurisdiction of the Board for the recommendation of properties to be designated historic is the city limits. The jurisdiction of the Board for the review of proposed alteration to exteriors of buildings, new construction, and demolition is the individual properties and areas that have been designated by the City Council as historic.
(G) Nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. The Board may conduct first review and evaluation of all proposed nominations for the National Register of Historic Places for properties that are within its jurisdiction, prior to consideration by the State Board of Review. The Board may send their recommendations to the State Historic Preservation Office for consideration at the meeting of the State Board of Review. The Board shall not nominate properties directly to the National Register; only the State Board of Review shall have this final review authority unless expressly authorized by federal statute.
(H) Certificate of Appropriateness.
(1) General.
(a) A Certificate of Appropriateness is required before a building permit can be issued for the demolition, new construction, exterior alteration, modification or addition to a designated historic property. Any building permit not issued in conformity with this section shall be considered void.
(b) Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness must be signed by the owner or his authorized representative and the form must be signed by the chairman or vice-chairman of the Board stating its approval, denial, or approval with conditions and the reasons for the decision.
(2) Required procedure. An application for a Certificate of Appropriateness shall be obtained from the City Planning Department and, when completed, filed with the appropriate administrative official as designated by the Board.
(3) Time limits. Applications for a Certificate of Appropriateness shall be considered by the Board at its next regular meeting, provided they have been filed at least seven calendar days before the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board. If the Board fails to take action upon any application within 45 days after the complete application is received, the application shall be considered approved, except in cases where the Board has postponed an application to demolish a structure under the provisions contained in this section.
(4) Board action on application. The Board shall review the application, using the design guidelines appearing in division (I) to make findings of fact to decide whether or not the applicant’s plans are appropriate. The decision of the Board, along with the reasons for each decision, will be recorded in the minutes and will be available upon request as a public reference for preservation procedures.
(5) Contents of application. The Board shall, in its Rules of Procedure, require data as are reasonable and necessary to determine the nature of the application. An application shall not be considered complete until all the required data have been submitted.
(6) Notification of affected property owners. Prior to the issuance of an approval or denial of a Certificate of Appropriateness, the Board shall inform the owners of any property likely to be materially affected by the application, and shall give the applicant and such owners an opportunity to be heard.
(7) Submission of a new application. If the Board determines that a Certificate of Appropriateness should be denied, a new application affecting the same property may be submitted only if substantial change is made in the plans for the proposed work.
(8) Maintenance, repair, and interior projects. Nothing in this document shall be construed to prevent the ordinary maintenance or repair of any exterior architectural feature of structures designated as historic when that repair does not involve a change in design, material, color, or outer appearance of the structure. The Board shall not consider the interior arrangements or alterations to the interior of a building unless the interior of a public building or the public space of a private building is specifically described and designated as historic. The Board may authorize a staff member to approve minor projects involving repairs and ordinary maintenance that do not alter design, materials, color or the outer appearance of a structure or interior projects not subject to design review.
(9) Fines and penalties. The system of fines applied by the city for violation of the Building Code will apply to violations of this section.
(10) Substantial hardship.
(a) In the event a Certificate of Appropriateness is denied, the property owner may apply for an exemption based on the substantial hardship of maintaining the property according to the design guidelines for historic properties. Substantial hardship is to be considered by the Commission where one or more of the following unusual and compelling circumstances exists:
1. The property cannot reasonably be maintained in the manner dictated by this section;
2. There are no other reasonable means of saving the property from deterioration or collapse; or
3. The property is owned by a nonprofit organization and it is not feasible financially or physically to achieve the charitable purposes of the organization while maintaining the property appropriately.
(b) The owner may be required to submit documents to show that he cannot comply with the design guidelines and earn a reasonable rate of return on his investment in the property. Information required may include:
1. Costs of the proposed development with and without modification needed to comply with the design guidelines as determined by the Board;
2. Structural report and/or a feasibility report;
3. Market value of the property in its present condition and after completion of the proposed project;
4. Cost of the property, date purchased, relationship, if any, between seller and buyer, terms of financing;
5. For the past two years, annual gross income from the property with operating and maintenance expenses, depreciation, and annual cash flow before and after debt service during that time; and
6. Other information considered necessary by the Board to determine whether or not the property may yield a reasonable return.
(11) Demolition. If the Board denies, or postpones for 180 days, a request to demolish a historic building, the Board shall work closely with the owner to find an appropriate use for the property, to help find a buyer or to obtain funding for rehabilitation, including low interest loans or grants. The Board
shall inform the community concerning the threat to the building, its value as part of the fabric of the community and, through publicity and contacts with civic groups, seek to provide assistance in preserving the property.
(I) Design guidelines.
(1) Intent. It is the intent of this section to ensure, insofar as possible, that properties designated as historic shall be in harmony with the architectural and historical character of the City of Bennettsville. In granting a Certificate of Appropriateness, the Board shall take into account the architectural and historical significance of the structure under consideration and the exterior form and appearance of any proposed additions or modifications to that structure, as well as the effect of such change or additions upon other structures in the vicinity.
(2) The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
(a) When considering an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness for new construction, alteration, repair, or restoration, the Commission shall use the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation as guidelines in making its decisions. In addition, the Board may adopt more specific guidelines for local historic districts and local historic buildings. These guidelines serve as the basis for determining the approval, approval with modifications, or denial of an application.
(b) The Secretary’s Standards for Rehabilitation are:
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 shall 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 buildings, will not be undertaken.
4. Changes to a property that have acquired 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 will 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.
(J) Appeals. Any person may appeal a decision of the Board to the Courts of South Carolina pursuant to S.C. Code §§ 6-29-900 et seq.
(Ord. 94-06-01, passed 6-14-94; Am. Ord. 00-08-01, passed 8-15-00; Am. Ord. 05-02-03, passed 2-15-05; Am. Ord. passed 8-18-15)