(A) As required by Chapter 154 of this code, as amended, application for a building permit to construct, alter, repair, move, or demolish any structure must be made to the Building Inspector. Plans shall be submitted showing the structure in question and also showing its relation to adjacent structures, if the structure in question is in the Historic District. Upon the filing of such application, the Building Inspector shall immediately notify the Commission of receipt of such application and shall transmit it together with accompanying plans and other information to the Commission immediately.
(B) The Commission shall meet within 60 days after notification by the Building Inspector of the filing, unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the applicant and Commission, and shall review the plans according to the duties and powers specified herein. In reviewing the plans, the Commission may confer with the applicant for the building permit.
(C) The Commission shall approve or disapprove such plans and, if approved, shall issue a certificate of appropriateness, which is to be signed by the Chairperson, attached to the application for a building permit and immediately transmitted to the Building Inspector. The Chairperson shall also stamp all prints submitted to the Commission signifying its approval.
(D) If the Commission disapproved of such plans, it shall state its reasons for doing so and shall transmit a record of such action and reasons therefor in writing to the Building Inspector and to the applicant. The Commission must advise what it thinks is proper if it disapproved of the plans submitted. The applicant, if he or she so desires, may make modifications to his or her plans and shall have the right to resubmit his or her application at any time after so doing, or may elect to begin the appeals process as outlined in division (E) below. The failure of the Commission to approve or disapprove of such plans within 60 days from the date of application for the building permit, unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the applicant and the Commission, shall be deemed to constitute approval and the Building Inspector shall proceed to process the application without regard to a certificate of appropriateness.
(E) The Commission shall file certificates of appropriateness and denials of application for permits with the Building Inspector. A permit shall not be issued until the Commission has acted as prescribed by this chapter. If a permit application is denied, the decision shall be binding on the Building Inspector. A denial shall be accompanied by a written explanation by the Commission of the reasons for the denial, and, if appropriate, a notice that an application may be resubmitted for Commission review and suggested changes have been made. The denial shall advise the applicant of his or her rights to appeal within 60 days to the State Historic Preservation Review Board and to the circuit court in the county.
(F) If an application is for work that will adversely affect the exterior of a resource the Commission considers valuable to the city, state, or the United States of America, and the Commission determines that the alteration or loss of that resource will adversely affect the public purpose of the city, state, or the United States of America, the Commission shall attempt to establish with the owner of the resource an economically feasible plan for preservation of the resource.
(G) Work within a historic district shall be permitted through the issuance of a notice to proceed by the Commission if any to the following conditions prevail or 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:
(1) The resource constitutes a hazard to the safety of the public or to the structures occupants;
(2) 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;
(3) Retaining the resource will cause undue financial hardship 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; and/or
(4) Retaining the resource is not in the interest of the majority of the community.
(2011 Code, § 15.12.040) (Ord. 193, passed - -1992) Penalty, see § 153.99