For the purposes of this ordinance:
(a) ADDITION shall mean any construction which increases the height or floor area of an existing district resource or adds to it (as a porch or attached garage).
(b) ALTERATION shall mean construction, replacement, remodeling within or to a district resource resulting in exterior change to the structural parts, the location of openings, or the location or appearance of the district resource but does not increase the overall dimensions.
(c) CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS shall mean the written approval of the Historic District Commission of plans for new construction, addition, alteration, demolition, reconstruction, rehabilitation, repair, restoration or moving of district resources in designated historic districts.
(d) DEMOLITION shall mean the destruction, all or in part, of a district resource within a designated historic district.
(e) DISTRICT RESOURCE shall mean the site, building, structure, object, open space or feature to be found individually or in a related group within a historic district.
(1) SITE shall mean a district resource that is related to important historical events, a prehistoric or historic occupation or activity, an institution or organization or an architectural district resource that is ruined or vanished, where the location itself maintains historical or archeological value regardless of the value of any existing architectural district resources. Examples: historic marker, commemorative plaque, archaeological site.
(2) BUILDING shall mean a residential, commercial, industrial or institutional district resource created to shelter any form of human activity. Examples: house, courthouse, jail, barn, church, theater, hospital, office building.
(3) STRUCTURE shall mean a district resource made up of interdependent and interrelated parts in a definite pattern of organization, often reflective of an engineering design. Examples: bridge, dam, water tower, bell tower.
(4) OBJECT shall mean a district resource of functional, aesthetic, cultural, historical, architectural, archaeological, or scientific value that may be, by nature of design, movable yet related to a specific setting or environment. Examples: statue, fountain, lighting fixture, sign, sundial.
(5) OPEN SPACE shall mean a district resource that is undeveloped land, a naturally landscaped area, a formal or manmade landscape, or developed open space significant as a connective link or buffer between other district resources. Examples: naturally landscaped park, formal garden, vacant land, parking lot.
(6) FEATURE shall mean a prominent or distinctive aspect, quality, or characteristic of a designated historic district. Examples: landscaped boulevard, brick paving, tree-lined street.
(f) ELEVATION shall mean a scale drawing of the side, front or rear facades of a given district resource.
(g) HISTORIC shall mean the age of a district resource; however, there is no age limit implied by the use of HISTORIC. Rather, the term shall apply to any district resource that is significant to the overall appearance of a historic district and that plays a role in the evolutionary growth of a historic district’s streetscape.
(h) HISTORIC DISTRICT shall mean a geographically-defined area including a district resource or a group of district resources, created by the City of Flint for the purpose of preservation. The City of Flint may establish more than one such HISTORIC DISTRICT. District resources within the boundaries of a HISTORIC DISTRICT are related by historical, architectural, or archaeological significance. For the purpose of clarification, however, a HISTORIC DISTRICT may also consist of a single district resource unrelated to its surroundings in historical, architectural, or archaeological significance and so designated by this ordinance.
(i) HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION shall mean the member body created by the City of Flint for the purpose of execution of this ordinance.
(j) HISTORIC PRESERVATION shall mean the protection, rehabilitation, restoration, or reconstruction of district resources of historical, architectural, or archaeological significance.
(k) HONORARY DESIGNATION shall mean recognition of important historical events, institutions, or organizations related to district resources where the district resources themselves are not necessarily historically, architecturally, or archaeologically significant.
(l) NEW CONSTRUCTION shall mean planned district resources that are to be constructed or placed within a designated historic district. Such planned NEW CONSTRUCTION, because it will have a significant affect on the overall appearance of a historic district and because it will play a role in the evolutionary growth of a historic district’s streetscape, shall be treated as “historic” by the Historic District Commission the same as older, existing district resources.
(m) PRESERVATION STANDARDS AND GUIDE-LINES shall mean the preservation principles which shall be considered by the Historic District Commission in assessing the appropriateness of activities which will affect district resources included in designated historic districts. General and nationally accepted preservation standards will initially be used by the Commission. However, it will be the duty of the Commission to develop more specific guidelines within the parameters established by the nationally-accepted preservation standards.
(n) RECONSTRUCTION shall mean the process of reproducing by new construction the exact form and detail of a vanished district resource, or part thereof, as it appeared at a specific time.
(o) REHABILITATION shall mean the revitalization of a district resource through the introduction of modern mechanical systems, structural elements, and decorative features. The modern improvements, however, should be sympathetic to the district resource’s original style, size, color, and texture and should be reversible.
(p) REPAIR shall mean the maintenance of or return to a state of utility of district resources.
(q) RESTORATION shall mean the process of accurately recovering the form and detail of a district resource as it appeared at a particular period of time by removing later work, replacing missing elements, and enhancing original work.
(Ord. 2707, passed 4-23-1979)