(A) A permit shall be obtained before any work affecting the exterior appearance of a resource is performed within a historic district or, if required under division (E), work affecting the interior arrangements of a resource is performed within a historic district. The person, individual, partnership, firm, corporation, organization, institution, or agency of government proposing to do that work shall file an application for a permit with the Inspector of Buildings. If the Inspector of Buildings or other authority receives the application, the application shall be immediately referred (together with all required supporting materials, including but not limited to, architectural drawings, site plans, specifications, samples of proposed materials to be used, informational brochures, proposed work schedule, and names of architect and contractors to be used) to the Commission via hand delivery, fax or mail. A permit shall not be issued and proposed work shall not proceed until the Commission has acted on the application by issuing a certificate of appropriateness or a notice to proceed as prescribed in this chapter.
(B) The Commission shall not issue a certificate of appropriateness unless the applicant certifies in the application that the property where work will be undertaken has, or will have before the proposed project completion date, a fire alarm system or a smoke alarm complying with the requirements of the Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, Public Act 230 of 1972, M.C.L.A. §§ 125.1501 to 125.1531.
(C) An applicant aggrieved by a decision of a commission concerning a permit application may file an appeal with the State Historic Preservation Review Board within the Department. The appeal shall be filed within 60 days after the decision is furnished to the applicant. The appellant may submit all or part of the appellant's evidence and arguments in written form. The Review Board shall consider an appeal at its first regularly scheduled meeting after receiving the appeal, but may not charge a fee for considering an appeal. The Review Board may affirm, modify, or set aside a commission's decision and may order a commission to issue a certificate of appropriateness or a notice to proceed. A permit applicant aggrieved by the decision of the State Historic Preservation Review Board may appeal the decision to the circuit court having jurisdiction over the Historic District Commission whose decision was appealed to the State Historic Preservation Review Board.
(D) In reviewing plans, the Commission shall follow the U. S. Secretary of the Interior's standards for rehabilitation and guidelines for rehabilitating historic buildings, as set forth in 36 C.F.R. pt. 67. Design review standards and guidelines that address special design characteristics of historic districts administered by the Commission may be followed, if they are equivalent in guidance to the Secretary of Interior's standards and guidelines, and are established or approved by the Department. The Commission shall also consider all of the following:
(1) The historical and/or architectural value and significance of the resource and its relationship to the historical value of the surrounding area.
(2) The relationship of any architectural features of such resource to the rest of the resource and to the surrounding area.
(3) The general compatibility of exterior design, arrangement, texture, and materials proposed to be used.
(4) Other factors, such as aesthetic value, that the Commission finds relevant.
(5) Whether the applicant has certified in the application that the property where work will be undertaken has, or will have before the proposed project completion date, a fire alarm system or a smoke alarm complying with the requirements of the Stille-DeRossett-Hall Single State Construction Code Act, Public Act 230 of 1972 (M.C.L.A. §§ 125.1501 to 125.1531).
(E) The Commission shall review and act upon only exterior features of a resource and, except for noting compliance with the requirement to install a fire alarm system or a smoke alarm, shall not review and act upon interior arrangements unless specifically authorized to do so by the Village Council, or unless interior work will cause visible change to the exterior of the resource. The Commission shall disapprove an applications due to considerations not prescribed in division (D).
(F) If an application is for work that will adversely affect the exterior appearance of a resource that the Commission considers valuable to the village, state, or nation, and the Commission determines that the alteration or loss of that resource will adversely affect the public purpose of the village, state, or nation, 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 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:
(1) The resource constitutes a hazard to the safety of the public or to the structure's 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) Retention of 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.
(4) Retention of the resource is not in the interest of the majority of the community as determined by the Commission, and such structure may be given appropriate preservation in terms of photographic, pictorial, item removal, written or other means of limited or special preservation.
(H) The Commission may delegate the issuance of certificates of appropriateness for specified minor classes of work to its staff, to the Inspector of Buildings, or to another delegated authority. The Commission shall provide to the delegated authority specific written standards for issuing certificates of appropriateness under this division. On at least a quarterly basis, the Commission shall review the certificates of appropriateness, if any, issued for work by its staff, the Inspector, or another authority to determine whether or not the delegated responsibilities should be continued.
(I) The Village Council by resolution may establish an application fee and/or provide for the deposit of funds to defray the actual costs incurred by the village to process and administer the application and/or permit.
(Ord. 175, passed 10-16-1989; Am. Ord. 262, passed 8-6-2007)