(A) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to maintain a high standard of community development and the principles of town planning, to protect and preserve property, to promote the stability of property values, and to protect real estate from impairment or destruction of value for the general community welfare by regulating the exterior architectural characteristics of structures throughout the hereinafter defined Historic District. The village was designated as an Historic Village in the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1979, identifying landmarks (see divisions (F) and (G) below and district zoning map). The regulations of this section are imposed in addition to those of the other zoning districts in which the structures reside.
(B) Objectives. The character of the village is directly linked to the economic, social, historical, and cultural health and well-being of the community. This section, therefor, establishes procedures to maintain the historic character of the village and obtain the following objectives:
(1) To recognize and preserve the distinctive historical and architectural character of this community which has been influenced by the architecture of an earlier period;
(2) To regulate the exterior design, use of materials, and orientation of all structures hereafter altered, constructed, reconstructed, erected, enlarged, or remodeled in the hereinafter defined Historic District;
(3) To safeguard the village by preserving areas, places, sites, buildings, structures, including signs, objects, and works of art which reflect elements of the village’s cultural, social, economic, political, or architectural heritage;
(4) To seek alternatives to demolition or incompatible alterations within the Historic District and to landmarks before such acts are performed; and
(5) It is the further intent of this section to discourage the construction of new structures, including signs, on lots containing landmark structures and the subdivision of lots containing landmark structures for the construction of new structures in close proximity to any landmark structures.
(C) Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to this section of the this chapter and are in addition to the definitions found in § 151.005.
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS. A document issued by the Village Architectural Review Board, as prescribed by division (H) below, signifying that the proposed construction, reconstruction, alteration, or demolition of a structure subject to the provisions of this section and within a historic district or the subdivision of a lot containing a landmark structure has been reviewed and found to be in compliance with these regulations.
CHANGE. Any alteration, demolition, removal, construction, or reconstruction involving any property subject to the provisions of this section.
DEMOLISH or DEMOLITION. Any act or process that razes or destroys, in whole or in part, any building subject to the provisions of this section.
EXTERIOR ARCHITECTURAL FEATURE. A functional or decorative element of a building including, but not limited to, cornices, chimneys, latticework, walls, roads, eaves, or porches, and including gutters, down spouts, stair rails, lighting fixtures, and similar features.
HISTORIC DISTRICT. An area so delineated on the village zoning district map which contains one or more landmark structures.
HISTORIC SITE. A premises that contains something of archaeological or historical significance, may or may not include a landmark structure or be wholly within a historic district, and has been designated a historic site by the Architectural Review Board.
LANDMARK. Any building structure, site, or object which has special character or special historical or aesthetic value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of the village, state, or the United States and which has been designated as a landmark by the Architectural Review Board; provided, however, that the term LANDMARK may also include the premises, or part thereof, on which the landmark structure is situated.
MAINTENANCE. Ordinary repairs and refurbishing, including cleaning and painting, to correct any deterioration or damage to a structure or to restore the structure to its condition prior to such deterioration or damage; provided, such work does not involve a change in design, material, or exterior architectural feature.
MANSARD. A sloped roof or roof like facade, architecturally comparable to a building wall.
PRESERVE or PRESERVATION. The process, including maintenance, of treating an existing building to arrest or slow further deterioration, stabilize the landmark and provide structural safety without changing or adversely affecting the character or appearance of the landmark.
RECONSTRUCTION. The reproducing by new construction of the exact form and detail of a vanished structure, or a part thereof, as it appeared at a specific period of time, as detailed in the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines.
REPAIR. The renewal or replacement of any existing part of a building or structure for maintenance purposes only in keeping with its existing type of construction and occupancy.
RESTORATION. The process of accurately recovering the form and details of a property as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of later work or by the replacement of missing earlier work.
TRUNCATED BUILDING. A structure located on a corner lot and so designed that the exterior walls which are approximately parallel to the intersecting streets do not meet at a common point, the exterior walls being connected by a wall herein called a diagonal wall, which is not in the same plane as either of the exterior walls.
(D) Historic designations. Any area, building, structure, premises, and the like, that is designated as a historic district, landmark, or historic site shall be numbered and placed on the appropriate list:
(1) Historic districts;
(2) Landmarks; or
(3) Historic sites.
(E) Historic districts. Village squares and buildings, including all landmark structures at the intersection of Oak and Chestnut Streets, north side, and intersection of Wooster Pike, Miami Road, Madisonville Road, north side, to Lanes K and L, including parking area behind buildings.
(F) Landmarks.
(1) Clinton MacKenzie Buildings, 3902-3946 Beech Street, north of Chestnut, east side; 6611-6639 Murray Avenue, south side between Beech and Oak Streets;
(2) E.B. Gilchrist Buildings, 6643-6651 and 6701-6763 Murray Avenue and 3947-3949 Oak Street and 3923-3939 Plainville, westside between Murray and the Ferris House;
(3) Kruckmeyer and Strong Buildings, 6713-6769 Maple Street, north and south sides between Plainville and Oak Street;
(4) R.H. Dana, Jr. Buildings, 6712-6786 Chestnut Street, north side between Oak and Plainville, 3901-3907 Plainville Road, and original Transformer Building, 3919 Plainville Road;
(5) Ripley Buildings, 6650-6708 Chestnut and 3900-3911 Oak Streets, northwest and northeast sides of old square;
(6) Ripley and LeBoutellier Buildings, 6612-6646 Chestnut Street, north and south sides between Beech and Oak Streets, and Carl A. Ziegler Buildings, 6615-6635 Chestnut Street;
(7) Charles W. Short Houses, 3855-3895 Oak Street and 6655 Chestnut Street, west side between Chestnut and Wooster Pike;
(8) Charles Cellarius Buildings, 3865-3947 Beech Street, west side between Murray and the alley just north of Linden Place;
(9) Elzner and Anderson Buildings, 1-4 Linden Place, including garage area, 3845 and 3855 Beech Street, and 6576-6596 west of Beech Street on the north side of Wooster Pike;
(10) Lois L. Howe and Manning Buildings and park, 1-14 Denny Place between Fieldhouse Way and Pleasant Street;
(11) Robert R. McGoodwin buildings and parks, 1-10 Albert Place and 3825 and 3845 Miami Road, east side at West Street;
(12) Grosvenor Atterbury Buildings and parks, 1-8 Sheldon Close and 6925 and 6945 Crystal Springs Road, south of Wooster Pike;
(13) Mariemont Inn, 6880 Wooster Pike, corner Madisonville Road and Wooster Pike, Zettel and Rapp architects;
(14) Resthaven, 6980 Cambridge Avenue, Maintenance Buildings, “Resthaven Demonstration Farm”, Hubert E. Reeves architect;
(15) Recreation Hall, 3908 Plainville Road, now Mariemont Community Church Parish Center, Plainville Road, George de Gersdorf architect;
(16) Dale Park School, 6743 Chestnut Street, original building, Fechmeimer, Ihorst, and McCoy architects;
(17) Mariemont Community Church, Cemetery, and Lich Gate, Cherry Lane, north of Wooster Pike, Louis E. Jallade architect;
(18) Ferris House, 3915 Plainville Road between Murray Avenue and Chestnut Street, west side, built 1804-1812;
(19) Dale Park Fire Station, 3914 Oak Street, east side between Murray and Chestnut Street, Charles Cellarius architect;
(20) Mariemont Central Heating Station Building, east end of Mt. Vernon Avenue, Fay, Spofford and Thorndike engineers;
(21) Original lamp post and street lights, all original cast-iron type street lamp posts throughout the village, as originally installed by the Mariemont Company or reproductions of same throughout village, and identified in Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company circuit maps 5802B and 5803B;
(22) Village Squares at the confluence of Miami Road, Wooster Pike, Crystal Springs, and Madisonville Roads, and at the confluence of Chestnut Street and Oak Street;
(23) Original granite curbing; and
(24) Park areas and structures:
(a) Albert Place Median;
(b) Allotment Gardens: north of Wooster Pike between Oak and Beech Streets;
(c) Ann Buntin Becker Park;
(d) Median on Hiawatha and Rembold Avenues;
(e) Median on Center Street;
(f) Concourse and Pergola, Miami Bluff Drive at Center Street, Philip W. Foster designer;
(g) Dale Park with statuary, northwest corner of Plainville Road and Wooster Pike;
(h) Denny Place Median;
(i) Dogwood Park, Mary M. Emery Memorial Carillon and Boathouse, Pleasant Street, south of Wooster Pike;
(j) Park at Murray and Madisonville Avenues;
(k) Park at Murray Avenue and Miami Road;
(l) Old Town Park, southeast side of Oak and Chestnut Streets;
(m) Wooster Pike median strip and parks from intersection of Wooster Pike and Indianview Avenue to the west boundary of the village, including E. Boyd Jordan Park;
(n) Park at Midden and Pleasant Streets;
(o) Park at intersection of Mariemont, Miami Road, and Mt. Vernon Avenue;
(p) Park at Crystal Springs and Mt. Vernon Avenue; and
(q) Park area the length of Miami Bluff.
(G) Historic sites.
(1) Indian Mounds, specifically the area known as the Madisonville Site adjacent to the western end of Mariemont Avenue and south of the village swimming pool.
(2) The area on Plainville Road immediately east of the Ferris House where Mary M. Emery broke ground for the Mariemont project, April 23, 1923.
(H) Regulations governing site modifications, new structures, alterations, and demolitions.
(1) Limitations on issuance of building and demolition permits. No construction, reconstruction, alteration demolition, or removal of any structure or significant exterior architectural feature, including painting and staining, and including signage, thereof to any listed landmark structure or any other building within a historic district shall be undertaken prior to obtaining a certificate of appropriateness from the Architectural Review Board (see §§ 151.021(E) and 151.025) and a permit from the Building Commissioner, if appropriate.
(2) Standards for review: design requirements for certificate of appropriateness. The Architectural Review Board, in deciding whether to issue a certificate of appropriateness, shall determine that the application under consideration promotes, preserves, and enhances the distinctive historical integrity of the landmark structure as set forth in division (F) above, as well as the historical village character of the community and would not be at variance with existing structures within that portion of the district in which the structure is or is proposed to be located. In conducting its review the Board shall make examination and give consideration to the elements of the application including, but not necessarily limited to:
(a) Overall building height to width ratios, chimney construction, roof pitch and other pertinent data, as deemed important to the overall building appearance, to assure reasonable adherence to the adjacent landmark structure shall be considered in the design of any new or replacement structures;
(b) Existing buildings that are remodeled entirely within the existing building’s walls shall not be remodeled in such a manner as to change the front facade in any respect or change the side or back facade by more than 10% of its surface area;
(c) Existing buildings that are enlarged, extended, or decreased in size shall have the same architectural style, same window and door proportions, and same or similar exterior material for the enlargement, extension, or diminution as found on the existing building;
(d) Consideration shall be given to the method of removal or alteration of any original materials, hardware, signage, or architectural features and the method of construction or repair, so as to avoid damage to original materials, hardware, design, and architectural features;
(e) Consideration shall be given to the use of the property, so as to maintain as nearly as possible the use of the property as originally intended;
(f) For buildings identified in division (F)(1) through (F)(12) above which are parts of complexes involving several buildings designed by the same architect to form a consistent, harmonious entity, exterior paint, or stain colors for all parts of the complex by the same architect irrespective of diversity of ownership shall be chosen with the approval of the Architectural Review Board, which reflect the character, style, and materials of the buildings;
(g) Window treatment shall take into consideration the size, shape, and materials of the individual window units, and the overall harmonious relationship of window openings. Windows shall be similar to those of adjacent landmark structures;
(h) Buildings shall have exterior material of painted wood, material that simulates painted wood, brick, stucco, stones, or stone masonry and take into consideration texture, color, and compatibility among various elements of the structure. The exterior color of all landmark structures shall be guided by the Village Historic Color Guidelines;
(i) Exterior detail and relationships shall take into consideration compatibility and appropriateness of design and details, including all projecting and receding elements of the exterior, including, but not limited to, porches, overhangs, and the horizontal or vertical expression which is conveyed by these elements. Signage shall also consider the above;
(j) Accessory buildings exceeding 100 square feet of floor area shall be of the same architectural style and same exterior material as the main building or a reasonable reconstructed facsimile of the original historic structure that previously existed on the lot; however, all garage replacements and improvements shall conform to the following:
1. Garages and their doors for each specific landmark structure shall be guided by the color requirements of the Architectural Review Board available in the Col. Donald L. Shanks Municipal Building.
(k) Any sign, in addition to fulfilling applicable elements of this section, shall fulfill the requirements of §§ 151.125 through 151.133, and be of material and style harmonious to the overall theme of the area. All such signs shall be presented to the Architectural Review Board for certificate of appropriateness approval prior to construction, alteration, restoration, or erection;
(l) Historical integrity of the landmark structure, including commercial signage, shall be maintained according to the original architects design, town plan, concepts, and philosophy of Mary M. Emery, John Nolan, and the Mariemont Company;
(m) Subdivision of lots containing landmark structures. The subdivision of any lot containing a landmark structure falls under the jurisdiction of the Planning Commission and shall adhere to the provisions in § 151.041, as well as the following.
1. The subdivision of any lot containing a landmark structure shall be accomplished in such way that both the new lot and reduced lot conform to the minimum lot size in the zoning district and shall provide sufficient space so that a minimum 30-foot distance is maintained between any landmark structure and any structure proposed on the new lot.
2. No new lot created from the subdivision of a lot containing a landmark structure shall be less than one-half the size of the remaining portion of the lot containing the landmark structure.
(n) Design requirements for other buildings in historic districts.
1. New buildings shall be similar in size, scale, mass, and architectural style to the surrounding landmark structures.
2. New buildings shall have exterior material of painted wood, material that simulates painted wood, brick, stucco, or stone masonry. Windows shall be similar to those of adjacent landmark structures.
3. Overall building height-to-width ratios, chimney construction, roof pitch, and other pertinent data, as deemed important to the overall building appearance, to assure reasonable adherence to the landmark structures adjacent shall be considered in the design of any new or replacement structure.
4. To maintain the stature of landmark structures, the footprint of any building erected on a lot that was created by the subdivision of a lot containing a landmark structure shall not exceed 100% of the area covered by the foot print of the landmark structure.
(o) Historical integrity of all landmark and historic sites shall be maintained according to the original architects design, town plan, concepts, and philosophy of Mary M. Emery, John Nolan, and the Mariemont Company. Any act or process that results in any change to an archaeological feature shall require a certificate of appropriateness.
(3) Exceptions. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any ordinary repair or maintenance or temporary emergency repair of any exterior architectural feature or any ordinary planting and landscaping now in the district. This exception shall not apply to repair and maintenance of structures where the repair or maintenance involves those considerations in “standards for review”, division (H)(2) above.
(I) Designation of historic districts, landmarks, and historic sites.
(1) Designation of landmarks. The Village Council may designate specific properties as landmarks, historic sites, or as portions of historic districts. Upon designation by the Village Council of any historic district, landmark, historic site, or background structure, it shall be numbered and listed in this section. Such designations shall occur after receiving recommendations from the Architectural Review Board and shall follow the procedures of division (I)(2) below.
(2) Applications.
(a) An application to designate a portion of the village as a historic district shall be initiated by 51% of the property owners of the proposed district or by the Village Council.
(b) An application to designate a property as a landmark shall be initiated by the owners of the property or by the Village Council.
(3) Review of applications. Any application to designate a portion of the village as a historic district shall be referred to the Architectural Review Board for review and recommendation. Its recommendation shall then be submitted to the Village Council. Any application to designate a landmark, historic site, or historic district shall be referred to the Architectural Review Board for review and recommendation. After the receipt of the Architectural Review Board’s recommendation, the Village Council shall schedule a public hearing and shall notify property owners of the proposed landmark, historic site, or historic district at least 30 days prior to holding the public hearing to consider such designation. Moreover, notification of such hearing shall be published at least 15 days in advance of such hearing, in a newspaper of general circulation in the village.
(4) Decision of Council. Within 30 days following such hearing, the Village Council shall take action on the designation by approving, disapproving, or remanding the application back to the Architectural Review Board for further review. Remanding the application back to the Architectural Review Board would then require a new public hearing in conformance with the requirements of division (I)(3) above.
(5) Criteria. In acting on such designation, the Village Council shall consider the recommendations of the Architectural Review Board, the public hearing and the following criteria of the property:
(a) Its character, interest, or value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of the village, the state, or the United States;
(b) A significant historic event occurred at a certain location;
(c) Its identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the culture and development of the village;
(d) Its exemplification of the cultural, economic, social, or historic heritage of the village;
(e) Its portrayal of the environment of a group of people in an era of history characterized by a distinctive architectural style;
(f) Its embodiment of distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type or specimen;
(g) Its identification as the work of an architect or master builder whose individual work has influenced the development of the village;
(h) Its embodiment of elements of architectural design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship which represent a significant architectural innovation;
(i) Its relationship to other distinctive areas which are eligible for preservation according to a plan based on a historic, cultural, or architectural motif;
(j) Its unique location or singular physical characteristic representing an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood or the village; or
(k) It has yielded or is likely to yield information important to historic understanding.
(6) Zoning district map. Upon the designation of a historic district, landmark, or historic site by ordinance, the zoning district map of the village shall be revised to indicate by an appropriate symbol or device that the parcel so marked is subject to the listed designation, and the Fiscal Officer of the Council shall send a certified copy of the ordinance by registered mail to the owner of record.
(2000 Code, § 151.075) (Ord. O-4-96, passed 3-25-1996; Ord. O-3-97, passed 2-10-1997; Ord. O-12-98, passed 1-12-1998; Ord. O-3-23, passed 3-13-2023; Ord O-4-23, passed 3-13-2023)