(a) Establishment of Historic District Study Committee. Before establishing, modifying or eliminating any Historic District, Council shall appoint a Historic District Study Committee. The Committee shall contain a majority of persons who have a clearly demonstrated interest in or knowledge of historic preservation, and shall contain representation from one or more duly organized local historic preservation organizations. The Historic District Study Committee shall be an ad hoc committee which may be established by Council to consider only specific proposed districts, projects or programs authorized by Council, and shall then be dissolved.
(b) Duties of the Historic District Study Committee.
(1) The Historic District Study Committee shall do all of the following:
A. Conduct a photographic inventory of resources within each proposed Historic District, following procedures established or approved by the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries;
B. Conduct basic research of each proposed Historic District and the historic resources located within that District;
C. Determine the total number of historic and non-historic resources within a proposed Historic District and the percentage of historic resources of that total. In evaluating the significance of the historic resources, the Committee shall be guided by the selection criteria for evaluation issued by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior for inclusion of resources in the National Register of Historic Places, as set forth in 36 CFR Part 60, and repeated below:
The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association and:
1. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
2. That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
3. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
4. That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history; and criteria established or approved by the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries, if any;
D. Prepare a preliminary Historic District Study Committee report that addresses at a minimum all of the following:
1. The charge of the Committee;
2. The composition of the Committee membership;
3. The Historic District or Districts studied;
4. The boundaries for each proposed Historic District in writing and on maps;
5. The history of each proposed Historic District;
6. The significance of each District as a whole, as well as a sufficient number of individual resources to fully represent the variety of resources found within the District, relative to the evaluation criteria;
E. Transmit copies of the preliminary report for review to the Village Council, the Village Planning Commission, the Franklin Historic District Commission, the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries, the Michigan Historical Commission and the State Historic Preservation Review Board; and
F. Make copies of the preliminary report available to the public.
(2) The Village Council may prescribe the time for preparation and transmittal of the preliminary report if the Council deems it in the public interest to do so.
(3) Not less than 60 nor more than 75 calendar days after the transmittal of the preliminary report, the Committee shall hold a public hearing. Notice will be published of the time, date and place of the hearing. Written notice shall be mailed by first class mail not less than 14 calendar days before the hearing to the owners of properties within the proposed Historic District, as listed on the tax rolls of the Village of Franklin.
(4) The Committee shall have no other powers, express or implied, beyond those listed in this section, except as may be otherwise expressly authorized by ordinance or resolution of Council.
(c) Actions to be Taken by the Historic District Study Committee and Village Council. After the date of the public hearing, the Historic District Study Committee and the Village Council shall, within the time prescribed by the Village Council, which shall not be more than one year, unless otherwise authorized by the Village Council, take the following actions:
(1) The Committee shall prepare and submit a final report with its recommendation and the recommendation, if any, of the Village Planning Commission to the Village Council. If the recommendation is to establish, modify or eliminate a Historic District or Districts, the final report shall include a draft of a proposed ordinance or ordinances.
(2) After receiving a final report that recommends the establishment, modification or elimination of a Historic District or Districts, the Village Council, at its discretion, may introduce and pass or reject an ordinance or ordinances establishing, modifying or eliminating one or more Historic Districts. If the Village Council passes an ordinance or ordinances establishing, modifying or eliminating one or more Historic Districts, the Village Council shall file a copy of that ordinance or ordinances, including a legal description of the property or properties located within the Historic District or Districts, with the Register of Deeds. The Village Council shall not pass an ordinance establishing a contiguous Historic District less than 60 days after a majority of the property owners within the proposed Historic District, as listed on the Village tax rolls, have approved the establishment of the Historic District pursuant to a written petition.
(3) At any time after expiration of the time limits set or prescribed by the Village Council pursuant to this section for the Historic District Study Committee to act, the Village Council may, in its discretion, proceed to introduce and pass or reject an ordinance as described in division (c)(2) hereof.
(d) Elimination of Districts. If considering elimination of a Historic District, the Committee shall follow the procedures set forth above for issuing a preliminary report, holding a public hearing and issuing a final report, but with the intent of showing one or more of the following:
(1) The Historic District has lost those physical characteristics that enabled establishment of the District.
(2) The Historic District was not significant in the way previously defined.
(3) The Historic District was established pursuant to defective procedures.
(e) Availability of Records. All writings prepared, owned, used, in possession of or retained by the Committee in the performance of any official function shall be made available to the public.
(Ord. 2000-65. Passed 7-10-00; Ord. 2003-01. Passed 4-14-03.)