(A) A permit shall be obtained before any work affecting the exterior appearance 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 Building Department of the township.
(B) Upon receipt of a complete application, the Building Department shall immediately refer the application, along with all required supporting materials that make the application complete, to the Commission.
(C) 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. 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, being M.C.L.A. §§ 125.1501 to 125.1531.
(D) The Commission shall file certificates of appropriateness, notices to proceed and denials of applications for permits with the Building Department. A permit shall not be issued until the Commission has acted as prescribed by this chapter.
(E) If an application is for work that will adversely affect the exterior of a resource, and the Commission determines that the alteration or loss of that resource will adversely affect the public interest of the township, the state or the nation, the Commission shall attempt to establish with the owner of the resource an economically feasible plan for the preservation of the resource.
(F) The failure of the Commission to act on an application within 60 calendar days after the date a complete application is filed, unless an extension is agreed upon in writing by the applicant and the Commission shall be considered to constitute approval.
(G) The Commission may charge a reasonable fee to process a permit application.
(H) If a permit application is denied, the decision shall be binding on the Building Department and the township. A denial shall be accompanied by a written explanation by the Commission of the reasons for denial and, if appropriate, a notice that an application may be re-submitted for Commission review when the suggested changes have been made. The denial shall also include the notification of the applicant’s right to appeal to the State Historic Preservation Review Board and thereafter, to the circuit court.
(I) 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) Retaining 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) Retaining the resource is not in the interest of the majority of the community.
(Ord. 1016, Amendment 23, passed 4-23-2019)