There is hereby created a city of Murrieta historic preservation advisory commission (HPAC) whose membership and duties shall be prescribed by the Murrieta city council.
A. Membership.
1. The HPAC shall consist of the Murrieta community services commission (CSC) with an additional two to four members appointed by the city council. To the extent possible, the HPAC shall have among its membership at least one business owner or one resident from each preservation district, one member from a citizens historic interest group, and two at large members with backgrounds in one of the following disciplines: architecture, urban planning, history. cultural geography/archaeology or other closely related fields. Non-voting members are to include a Native American representative and staff liaison. On matters pertaining to archaeological resources, the Native American representative shall be a voting member.
2. The appointment of members to the HPAC shall be for staggered terms. Appointments shall be made for a three-year term, following initial appointments.
B. Meetings.
1. A quorum of the HPAC shall be a simple majority of voting members.
2. The HPAC shall operate under procedural rules and bylaws consistent with its authority as set forth be-low. Rules and bylaws shall be approved by the city council.
3 . The HPAC shall meet at least four times per year, with meetings at regular intervals and/or when re-quested by the community services director or the city council.
4. The HPAC shall keep minutes and records of all meetings and proceedings. All materials shall be of public record.
C. Duties. The historic preservation advisory' commission shall have the following duties and other specific tasks as may be assigned on an ad-hoc basis by the city council:
1. The HPAC shall act solely in an advisory capacity to the city council, through the CSC, staff and other city commissions in matters affecting the preservation of cultural and archaeological resources. The HPAC shall not exercise any independent final decision-making authority or expend city funds. Actions of the HPAC shall not be considered actions of the city and shall not be represented as such:
2. Recommend to the city council, through the CSC, the designation of cultural resources, including individual properties, archaeological districts and historic preservation districts;
3. Maintain the register of cultural resources within the city, including all pertinent information for each designation;
4. Review and comment on land use, redevelopment, municipal improvement and other planning matters and programs undertaken by the city. as they relate to cultural resources of the community when so directed by the community services director or city council:
5. Make recommendations to the city council, through the CSC, on the use of various federal, state, local or private funding sources and mechanisms available to promote cultural resource preservation in the city;
6. Review applications for certificates of appropriateness related to demolition permits for any designated cultural resource within the city and make recommendations to the city council, through the CSC, including considerations of economic hardship. (See "Demolition/Relocation Permit," Section 16.26.100);
7. Review and make recommendations on applications for development plan approval in compliance with the development code when so requested by the community services director. In general, the following projects shall be submitted to the HPAC for their review and recommendation:
a. Any exterior alteration or addition to and improvement that requires a building permit and that is a designated cultural resource or contributing resource; and
b. The new construction of a non-residential structure over five thousand (5,000) square feet within a historic preservation district. (Modifications and approvals to the town square project are exempt from this review.)
8. Make recommendations to the city council, through the CSC, for recognition of owners of cultural re-sources who have rehabilitated their property in an exemplary manner; and
9. Undertake any other action or activity directed by the city council to fulfill the objectives of cultural re-source preservation in the city.
(Ord. 237 (part), 2001)