(A) The Village Council may, by ordinance, establish 1 or more historic districts. The Commission shall administer the historic districts.
(B) Before establishing a historic district, the Village Council shall appoint a historic district study committee. The committee shall contain a majority of persons who have a clearly demonstrated interest in or knowledge of historic preservation, and shall contain representation from 1 or more duly organized local historic preservation organizations.
(C) The committee shall do all of the following:
(1) Conduct a photographic inventory of resources within each proposed historic district, following procedures established or approved by the Department.
(2) Conduct basic research of each proposed historic district and the historic resources located within that district.
(3) Determine the total number of historic and non-historic resources within a proposed historic district and the percentage of historic resources of that total. In evaluating the significance of historic resources, the committee shall be guided by the selection criteria for evaluation issued by the United Sates Secretary of the Interior for inclusion of resources in the National Register of Historic Places, as set forth in 36 C.F.R. pt. 60, and criteria established or approved by the Department, if any.
(4) Prepare a preliminary historic district study committee report that addresses, at a minimum, all of the following:
(a) The charge of the committee.
(b) The composition of the committee membership.
(c) The historic district or districts studied.
(d) The boundaries for each proposed historic district, in writing and on maps.
(e) The history of each proposed historic district.
(f) The significance of each district as a whole, as well as a sufficient number of its individual resources to fully represent the variety of resources found within the district, relative to the evaluation criteria.
(5) Transmit copies of the preliminary report for review and recommendations to the Commission, Village Council, Village Planning Commission, Department, Washtenaw County Historic District Commission, Michigan Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Review Board, and the State Historic Preservation Office of the Michigan Historical Center of the Michigan Department of State.
(6) Make copies of the preliminary report available to the public pursuant to division (F).
(D) Not less than 60 calendar days after the transmittal of the preliminary report, the committee shall hold a public hearing in compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Public Act 267 of 1976, as amended, M.C.L.A. §§ 15.261 to 15.275. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the hearing shall be given in the manner required by the Open Meetings Act, Public Act 267 of 1976, as amended. Written notice shall be mailed, by first class mail, not less that 14 calendar days before the hearing, to the owners of properties within the proposed historic district, as listed on the tax rolls of the village.
(E) After the date of the public hearing, the committee and the Village Council shall have not more than 1 year, unless otherwise authorized by the Village Council, to take the following actions:
(1) The committee shall prepare and submit a final report, with its recommendations and the recommendations of the Planning Commission, to the Village Council. If the recommendation is to establish a historic district or districts, the final report shall include a draft of a proposed ordinance or ordinances.
(2) After receiving a final report that recommends the establishment of a historic district or districts, the Village Council, at its discretion, may introduce and pass or reject an ordinance or ordinances. If the Village passes an ordinance or ordinances establishing 1 or more historic districts, the Village Council shall file a copy of that ordinance or those ordinances, including a legal description of the property or properties located within the historic district or districts, with the Register of Deeds. The Village Council shall not pass an ordinance establishing a contiguous historic district less than 60 days after a majority of the property owners within the proposed historic district, as listed on the tax rolls of the village, has approved the establishment of the historic district pursuant to a written petition.
(F) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a committee in the performance of an official function shall be made available to the public in compliance with the freedom of information act, Act No. 442 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended, being M.C.L.A. §§ 15.231 to 15.246.
(G) The Village Council may at any time establish by ordinance additional historic districts, including proposed districts previously considered and rejected, may modify boundaries of an existing historic district, or may eliminate an existing historic district. Before establishing, modifying, or eliminating a historic district, a historic district study committee appointed by the Village Council shall, except as provided in division (H), comply with the procedures set forth in divisions (A) through (E), and shall consider any previously written committee reports pertinent to the proposed action. To conduct these activities, the Village Council may retain the initial committee, establish a standing committee, or establish a committee to consider only specific proposed districts and then be dissolved.
(H) If considering elimination of a historic district, a committee shall follow the procedures set forth in divisions (A) through (E) for issuing a preliminary report, holding a public hearing, and issuing a final report, but with the intent of showing 1 or more of the following:
(1) The historic district has lost those physical characteristics that enabled establishment of the district.
(2) The historic district was not significant in the way previously defined.
(3) The historic district was established pursuant to defective procedures.
(I) Upon receipt of substantial evidence showing the presence of historic, architectural, archaeological, engineering, or cultural significance of a proposed historic district, the Village Council may, at its discretion, adopt a resolution requiring that all applications for permits within the proposed historic district be referred to the Commission as prescribed in § 150.05 and § 150.06(A) and (B). The Commission shall review permit applications with the same powers that would apply if the proposed historic district was an established historic district. The review may continue in the proposed historic district for not more than 1 year, or until such time as the Village Council approves or rejects the establishment of the historic district by ordinance, whichever occurs first.
(J) If the Village Council determines that pending work will cause irreparable harm to resources located within an established historic district or a proposed historic district, the Village Council may by resolution declare an emergency moratorium of all such work for a period not to exceed 6 months. The Council may extend the emergency moratorium for an additional period not to exceed 6 months upon finding that the threat of irreparable harm to resources is still present. Any pending permit application concerning a resource subject to an emergency moratorium may be summarily denied.
(Ord. 175, passed 10-16-1989; Am. Ord. 262, passed 8-6-2007)