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(A) Members. There is hereby created and established a City Heritage Preservation Commission (hereinafter, the “Commission”), which shall consist of no less than five, and no more than nine, voting members to be appointed by the Mayor, by and with the advice and consent of the City Council. The Chairperson of the city’s Planning Commission or his or her designees shall be ex officio non-voting members of the Commission. Any member appointed to serve on the Heritage Preservation Commission shall be a resident of the city and shall have a demonstrated interest and/or expertise in historic preservation.
(B) Term. The Mayor and City Council shall initially appoint one member to serve a term of one year, two members to serve a term of two years and two members to serve a term of three years. Terms of office shall expire on March 1 in the year following their last full year of appointment. All subsequent appointments shall be for a term of three years. Members may be re-appointed for consecutive terms. In the event of a vacancy, the vacancy for the unexpired term shall be filled in the same manner as the appointment is made. Members shall serve without compensation and, if a successor has not been appointed by the end of their term, shall continue to hold office until their successors have been appointed.
(C) Organization. The Commission, when formed, shall elect from its members such officers, as it may deem necessary. The Commission shall have the power to designate and appoint from its members various committees. The Commission shall make such by-laws as it may deem advisable and necessary for the conduct of its affairs and for the purpose of carrying out the intent of this chapter which are not inconsistent with the laws of the city and the state. The Commission shall prepare an annual report by October 31 of each year as required in accordance with M.S. § 471.193, Subd. 6, as it may be amended from time to time, for submission to the state’s Historic Preservation Office and shall file a copy with the City Administrator for distribution to the City Council.
(D) Program assistance. To accomplish the intent and purpose of this chapter, the city shall provide the Commission with staff support to perform the duties prescribed under this chapter, including supervised public access to the historical archives, records and files of the Commission and city.
(A) Reports.
(1) The Commission shall ensure that an updated list of all areas, places, buildings, structures, lands, districts or other objects which have been designated as heritage preservation sites as well as an updated catalogue of all known publications, articles, books, pamphlets, policies or other materials having a direct bearing on the heritage preservation program for the city are prepared, compiled and made reasonably available by city staff at City Hall.
(2) The City Council, upon request of the Commission, may direct city staff to prepare studies which catalog areas, places, buildings, structures, lands, districts or other objects to be considered for designation as heritage preservation sites.
(B) Criteria. All heritage preservation sites previously designated by the city shall continue their designation under this chapter unless the Commission specifically finds that any such site does not meet the designation criteria provided in this division (B):
(1) Its character, interest or value as part of the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the city, state or the United States;
(2) Its location as a site of a significant historic event;
(3) Its identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the culture and development of the city;
(4) Its embodiment of distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style, period, form or treatment;
(5) Its identification as work of an architectural or master builder whose individual work has influenced the development of the city;
(6) Its embodiment of elements of architectural design, detail, materials or craftsmanship which represent a significant architectural innovation; and
(7) Its unique location, scale or other physical characteristic representing an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, a district, the community or the city.
(C) Proposed program for preservation. For each heritage preservation site recommended to the City Council, a proposed program for rehabilitation and preservation shall be created. The United States Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation, as listed in § 1301.05(C) of this chapter, shall be among the standards used to create such programs.
(D) Hearings. Prior to the Commission recommending to the City Council any area, place, building, structure, land, district or other object for designation as a heritage preservation site, the Commission shall hold a public hearing and seek the recommendations of all concerned citizens. Prior to such hearing, the Commission shall cause to be published in the city’s official newspaper a notice of the hearing at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing, and notice of the hearing shall be mailed at least ten days before the day of the hearing to all owners of record of the property or properties proposed to be designated as a heritage preservation site and to all owners of property situated wholly or partly within 350 feet of the heritage preservation site. The Commission may make such modifications concerning the proposed designation as it deems necessary in consideration of the comments of the citizens.
(E) Findings and recommendations. The Commission shall determine if a proposed site is eligible for designation as a heritage preservation site as determined by the criteria specified in division (B) above. In accordance with M.S. § 471.193, as it may be amended from time to time, the Commission shall send to the State Historical Society/State Historic Preservation Office any proposed designation of a heritage preservation site, including boundaries, and the proposed program for the preservation of the heritage preservation site. The Commission may make such modifications concerning the proposed designation as it deems necessary in consideration of the comments of the State Historical Society/State Historic Preservation Office.
(F) Planning Commission review. If the Commission recommends that the proposed site be designated as a heritage preservation site, the Commission shall transmit to the city’s Planning Commission its recommendation, including boundaries, and the proposed program for the preservation of the heritage preservation site. The Commission shall request from the city’s Planning Commission its comments on the proposed designation as a heritage preservation site relative to the city’s Zoning Code and Comprehensive Plan of the city and any other valid city planning considerations relevant to the proposed designation. The City Planning Commission’s comments shall become part of the official record concerning the proposed designation and shall be submitted by the Heritage Preservation Commission along with its recommendation concerning the proposed designation to the City Council. The Heritage Preservation Commission may make such modifications concerning the proposed designation as it deems necessary in consideration of the comments of the city’s Planning Commission.
(G) Council designation hearings. The City Council, upon the request of the Commission, may designate, by ordinance, a heritage preservation site. Such an ordinance shall require a two-thirds’ vote of all members of the City Council to be effective.
(H) Council approval. The Commission shall make no application to the National Register or to the state for the designation of a historic property or district without the consent of the City Council.
(I) Identification plaque. Those buildings or structures having been designated as historic preservation sites by the City Council may be awarded a numbered plaque to be displayed on the exterior of the site in full public view with the owner’s consent. The plaque is to remain the property of the city and shall be removed by request of the Commission should the site be so altered as to destroy the historic integrity of the site.
(J) Designated heritage preservation sites. Pursuant to the procedures set forth in this section, the following parcels are designated as heritage preservation sites:
(1) 1879 Courthouse/Henderson Community Building;
(2) Poehler residence/Sibley County Historical Society
(3) North 5th Street Municipal Power Plant/City Civil Defense Building;
(4) Saint Jude’s Church/Public Library; and
(5) Joseph R. Brown Historic Home at South Fifth Street.
(A) Site alteration permit. Site alteration permit shall be required for any alteration of any designated heritage preservation site. The Commission shall review and approve or disapprove the city’s issuance of a site alteration permit to do any of the following in a heritage preservation site in the city. In addition to any other specifics the Zoning Administrator may require, the site alteration permit application shall be accompanied by detailed plans including a property plan, building elevations and design details and materials as necessary to evaluate the request. Besides the site alteration permit, regular city permits shall be required. The following are subject to a site alteration permit:
(1) Painting, architectural details and other related exterior alterations;
(2) Addition or deletion of awnings, shutters, canopies and similar appurtenances;
(3) Application or use of exterior materials of a different kind, type, color, texture than those already in use which will substantially cover one or more sides of the structure. This provision applies to roofing as well as siding;
(4) Signs;
(5) Construction of a new building or auxiliary structure;
(6) Any addition to or alteration of an existing structure which increases the square footage in the structure or otherwise alters its size, height, contour or outline;
(7) Change or alteration of a structure’s architectural style;
(8) Alteration of a roof line; and
(9) Demolition in whole or in part. This does not apply to structures required to be demolished in accordance with M.S. Ch. 463 (Building Line Easements; Building Regulations; and Hazardous Buildings), as it may be amended from time to time.
(B) City actions. The Commission shall review and make recommendations to the City Council concerning city activity that could change the nature or appearance of a heritage preservation site.
(C) Preservation program. All decisions of the Commission with respect to this section shall be in accordance with the approved program for the rehabilitation of each heritage preservation site. The Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation shall be used to evaluate applications for site alteration permits as follows.
(1) The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces and spatial relationships that characterize a property shall be avoided.
(2) Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements from other historic properties, shall not be undertaken.
(3) Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.
(4) Distinctive materials, features, finishes and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved.
(5) Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence.
(6) Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used.
(7) New additions, exterior alterations or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials, features and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.
(8) New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
Before approving any permit or application required under § 1301.05 of this chapter, the Commission shall make findings based on the program for preservation of the heritage preservation site in regard to the following:
(A) In the case of a proposed alteration or addition to existing buildings. The Commission shall make written findings on how the structure may be architecturally or historically affected considering the existing exterior appearance, building height, building width, depth or other dimensions, roof style, type of building materials, ornamentation, paving and setback;
(B) In the case of the proposed demolition of a building prior to approval of the demolition, the Commission shall make written findings on the following: architectural and historic merit of the building; the effect on surrounding buildings; the effect of any new proposed construction on the remainder of the building (in case of partial demolition) and on surrounding buildings; the economic value or usefulness of the building as it now exists or, if altered or modified, in comparison with the value or usefulness of any proposed structures designated to replace the present building or buildings; and
(C) In the case of a proposed new building, the Commission shall make written findings on how the building will in itself, or by reason of its location on the property, materially affect the architectural or historic value of buildings on adjacent sites or in the immediate vicinity within the heritage preservation site.
The applicant for a site alteration permit or any other party aggrieved by the decision of the Commission relative to a site alteration permit shall, within ten working days of the date of the Commission’s order and decision, have a right to appeal such order and decision to the City Council. The appeal shall be deemed perfected upon receipt by the City Clerk of a notice of appeal and statement setting forth the grounds for the appeal. The City Clerk shall transmit a copy of the notice of appeal and statement to the City Council and a copy to the Commission. The City Council may overturn the Commission’s order and decision by a two-thirds’ vote of all members of the City Council. The Commission, in any written order denying a permit application, shall advise the applicant of the applicant’s right to appeal to the City Council and shall include this section in all such orders.
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