(A) Certification as historic property. In order to be eligible for the special tax assessment, historic properties must receive preliminary and final certification.
(1) Preliminary certification. To receive preliminary certification, a property must meet the following conditions:
(a) The property meets the requirements for historic designation as established in this section;
(b) The proposed rehabilitation work receives a recommendation of approval from the appropriate architectural reviewing authority (hereinafter “reviewing authority”) and is consistent with the rehabilitation standards as set forth in this article. The reviewing authority shall review all proposed improvements associated with the rehabilitation and make a recommendation to the Town Council regarding the project’s eligibility. For the purpose of this article, the reviewing authority shall be defined as follows:
1. In any municipality that has an architectural review board, the municipal board shall serve as the reviewing authority; and
2. In the unincorporated areas of the county, and within any municipality that does not have an architectural review board the state’s Department of Archives and History shall serve as the reviewing authority for historic properties.
(c) Be a project that commenced by or after 1-1-2018 through the date of the adoption of this article and work was permitted to have begun prior to receiving preliminary certification; or
(d) Be a project that commences on or after the date of the adoption of this article.
(2) Final certification. To be eligible for final certification, a property must have met the following conditions:
(a) The property has received preliminary certification;
(b) The minimum expenditures for rehabilitation as set forth in this article have been incurred and paid;
(c) The completed rehabilitation receives a recommendation for approval from the reviewing authority as being consistent with the plans approved by the reviewing authority during preliminary certification;
(d) All application fees have been paid in full by the applicant; and
(e) The property has met all other requirements of this article.
(B) Historic designation. In order to be eligible for the special tax assessment, the property must meet one of the following criteria:
(1) The property must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places either individually or as a contributing property in a district; or
(2) The property is designated as a historic property by the Town Council based upon criteria established by the Town Council and the property is at least 50 years old.
(C) Historic property criteria. In order to be eligible for the special tax assessment, the property must meet one of the following criteria:
(1) Any property included in one of the categories below is considered a historic property:
(a) Listed on the National Register of Historic Places;
(b) Determined eligible for the National Register by the state’s Department of Archives and History;
(c) A contributing property in a National Register Historic District;
(d) Qualifying for and having a state historical marker; or
(e) Location in an area designated by the Town Council as a historic district rehabilitation area and the property is at least 50 years old.
(2) All other properties must demonstrate:
(a) Association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of history;
(b) Association with the lives of significant persons in the past; or
(c) Embodiment of distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction; or representation of the work of a master or possession of high artistic values.
(3) Property owners seeking eligibility as historic property must receive a historic property determination by filling an application with the town.
(a) The completed rehabilitation receives a recommendation for approval from the reviewing authority as being consistent with the plans approved by the reviewing authority during preliminary certification.
(b) All application fees have been paid in full by the applicant.
(c) The property has met all other requirements of this article.
(Ord. 2019-007, passed 8-19-2019)