(A) Composition. Upon designation of the First Historic District, the Council shall appoint seven residents of the community to an Advisory Commission. This Commission shall contain at least four property owners from the designated district. Three or fewer places on the Commission may be filled by individuals with qualifications in one of the following areas: historic preservation, architecture, planning, history, archaeology or a related field. Three or fewer places on the Commission may also be filled by elected or appointed representatives of the municipality and its various commissions and authorities. Finally, three or fewer places on the Commission may be filled by at-large residents of the municipality.
(B) Duties. The Historic District Advisory Commission shall review all building and demolition permit applications for the Historic District for the modification, addition, alteration, movement, demolition or new construction of all existing or proposed structures within the district.
(1) No building or demolition permit application for the Historic District shall be granted by the municipality until the Historic District Advisory Commission has had the opportunity to review the permit application. However, this review shall occur within 30 days of the date of the building or demolition permit application, or a favorable recommendation shall be deemed to have been given to the application. In considering the application, the Advisory Commission shall consider the purpose of the proposal, the architectural features of the proposal, the architectural character of structures in the immediate vicinity, the views from the site of the proposal, the height of existing structures, the prevailing setbacks, the proportion of the structure and surrounding structures in the immediate vicinity, the rhythm of these structures, the site utilization present in the immediate vicinity and other criteria which the Commission considers relevant.
(2) After reviewing the application for a building or demolition permit, the Advisory Commission may accept, reject or accept with conditions, the proposal. If the Commission accepts the application, the building or demolition permit may be issued if all other municipal requirements have been met.
(3) If the Commission rejects the application, the building or demolition permit shall not be issued. The Commission shall forward to the applicant and to the Town Manager a letter stating that the application has been rejected.
(4) If an application for a building or demolition permit is rejected by the Commission, the applicant may appeal this decision to the Council. If the applicant appeals the Commission's rejection, the following procedure shall be utilized:
(a) The applicant for a building or demolition permit files an appeal with the Town Manager within five days of receiving notice that the Advisory Commission has rejected the application.
(b) This appeal shall be placed by the Town Manager on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled Council meeting.
(c) Prior to this Council meeting, both the applicant for a building or demolition permit and a representative of the Advisory Commission shall prepare statements outlining their positions concerning the issue. These statements shall be supplied to the Council prior to its meeting.
(d) Upon receipt of these statements, the Council shall uphold, modify or reverse the decision of the Historic District Advisory Commission. It shall also direct the Town Manager concerning the issuance of a building or demolition permit.
(5) If the Historic District Advisory Commission accepts with conditions an application for either a building or demolition permit within a historic district, the applicant may either accept these conditions or may appeal them to the Council using the procedure described above. If the applicant accepts the conditions, these conditions shall become a part of the building or demolition permit application.
(6) The duties of the Historic District Advisory Commission shall not be limited to the originally designated Historic District. Instead, if this district is ever enlarged or decreased in size or if additional districts are ever formed, only one Historic District Advisory Commission shall be appointed by the Council.
(7) The Historic District Advisory Commission may also prepare or have prepared cultural or architectural resource surveys and inventories of the community or parts of it. It may also review and comment on applications for enlarging or decreasing the size of the original historic district or on the creation of new historic districts.
(8) Finally, it may apply for, receive and expend funds for which it is eligible which will enhance the objective of preserving the unique historical character of the municipality.
(C) Exemptions to Commission review. The following improvements shall not require review by the Historic District Advisory Commission in order to obtain a building or demolition permit:
(1) Emergency repairs which are needed to preserve the structural integrity of the structure. This exception will, however, only be granted in the case of an actual emergency as certified by the Town Manager.
(2) Emergency demolitions which are required to preserve the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the municipality. These emergencies shall also be certified by the Town Manager.
(D) Additional requirements. In addition to the requirements for plans and other details which the municipality has for issuing a building or demolition permit, the Historic District Advisory Commission may require the following:
(1) A plan, drawn to scale, which shows the location of all existing structures on the property and the location of all proposed changes, a plan showing the location of all existing and proposed parking areas, driveways, easements and/or rights-of-way and other information deemed necessary by the Commission.
(2) Drawings showing one or more elevations of the proposed changes.
(3) A cost and/or benefit analysis of a proposed project or demolition which contains:
(a) An estimate of the dollar value of the subject property, both real and personal;
(b) A review of the requirements for making any existing historic structures structurally sound;
(c) A qualified estimate of the cost of rehabilitating the structures, if any, existing on the subject property; and
(d) An analysis of the return which would be required on the subject project which would be needed to make rehabilitation of the existing structure economically attractive.
(4)
The requirements for this information will be defined by the Commission, in writing, to the applicant for a building or demolition permit at least ten days prior to the meeting at which the application will be reviewed. Failure by the applicant to provide this information will be a sufficient basis for denying the application. This information shall become part of the Commission’s record of the meeting and may be used to establish conditions for the issuance of a building or demolition permit.
(Prior Code, Ch. 6, Art. V, § 2-275) (Ord. 381-05, passed 5-16-2005; Ord. 708-21, passed 12-6-2021)