(A) Application for certificate of approval. Before the construction, alteration, reconstruction, moving, or demolition is undertaken of a designated landmark, site, or structure, or site or structure within a designated district, if an exterior change is involved which would affect the historic, archaeological, or architectural significance of a designated landmark, site, or structure, or site or structure within a designated district, the person, individual, firm, or corporation proposing to make the construction or change shall file an application for a certificate of approval with the Commission for permission to construct, alter, reconstruct, move, or demolish the landmark, site, or structure. Every application shall be referred to and considered by the Commission and accepted or rejected by the Commission. An application which is identical to a rejected application may not be resubmitted within a period of 1 year after the rejection. No certificate of approval shall be granted until the Commission has acted thereon as hereinafter provided.
(B) Application review.
(1) In reviewing applications, the Commission shall give consideration to the historic, archaeological, or architectural significance of the landmark, site, or structure and its relationship to the historic, archaeological, or architectural significance of the surrounding area; the relationship of the exterior architectural features of a landmark or structure to the remainder of the landmark or structure and to the surrounding area; the general compatibility of proposed exterior design, scale, proportion, arrangement, texture, and materials to the landmark, site, or structure and to the surrounding area; and any other factors, including aesthetic factors which the Commission deems to be pertinent.
(2) The Commission shall consider only exterior features of a landmark or of a structure within a historic district, and its appurtenances and environmental setting, and shall not consider any interior arrangements.
(3) The Commission shall not disapprove an application except with respect to the several factors specified in paragraph (1) above.
(4) The Commission shall be strict in its judgment of plans for sites or structures determined by research to be of historic, archaeological, or architectural significance. The Commission shall be lenient in its judgment of plans for sites or structures of little historic, archaeological, or architectural significance, or of plans involving new construction, unless in the Commission’s judgment such plans would seriously impair the historic, archaeological, or architectural significance of surrounding sites or structures. The Commission is not required to limit construction, reconstruction, or alteration to the architectural style of any 1 period.
(C) Commission decision. The Division Staff shall issue a letter to the applicant documenting the Commission’s approval, modification, continuance, or rejection of each application and plans submitted to the Commission for review. The Division Staff shall issue a certificate documenting the Commission's approval or modification of each application and plans submitted to the Commission for review. Work shall not be commenced and no building permit shall be issued on any project until notification of approval of a certificate of approval has been received by the Department of Permits and Inspections. The failure of the Commission to act upon a completed application within 45 days from the date the completed application was filed shall be deemed to constitute automatic approval of the proposed changes unless an extension of this 45 day period is agreed upon mutually by the applicant and the Commission or the application has been withdrawn.
(D) Routine maintenance. Nothing in this chapter shall be taken or construed to prevent maintenance that will have no material effect on the exterior fabric or features of a designated landmark, site, structure, or district, or to prevent customary farming operations or landscaping that will have no material effect on the historic, archaeological, or architectural significance of a designated landmark, site, structure, or district.
(E) This section shall not apply to areas within a designated district which have been identified as advisory due to existing agricultural preservation easements.
(Ord. 97-16-194, 12-2-1997; Ord. 10-19-554, 7-13-2010; Ord. 14-23-678, 11-13-2014; Bill No. 23-01, 2-7-2023; Bill No. 24-01, 4-16-2024)