Work within a Historic District shall be permitted through the issuance of a notice to proceed by the Commission if any of the following conditions prevail, and if the proposed work can be demonstrated by a finding of the Commission to be necessary to substantially improve or correct any of the following conditions:
(A) The resource constitutes a hazard to the safety of the public or to the structure’s occupants;
(B) The resource is a deterrent to a major improvement program that will be of substantial benefit to the community and the applicant proposing the work has obtained all necessary planning and zoning approvals, financing and environmental clearances;
(C) Retaining the resource will cause undue financial hardship to the owner when a governmental action, an act of God or other events beyond the owner’s control created the hardship, and all feasible alternatives to eliminate the financial hardship, which may include offering the resource for sale at its fair market value or moving the resource to a vacant site within the Historic District, have been attempted and exhausted by the owner; or
(D) Retaining the resource is not in the interest of the majority of the community.
(Ord. 501, passed 3-2-2004)