(A) A permit shall be obtained before any work affecting the exterior appearance of a resource is performed within a historic district. Application for a building permit for work on any resource in an historic district shall be made to the Chief Inspector (or his or her designee). The fee for such application shall be established by Council and posted in the office of the City Clerk. It shall be the responsibility of the Chief Inspector to determine whether the property is in an established historic district. The Chief Inspector shall immediately refer a complete application and all required supporting materials to the Historic District Commission. 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 subchapter.
(B) In reviewing the application and supporting materials, the Historic District Commission must give the applicant an opportunity to present his or her application at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Historic District Commission.
(C) The Historic District Commission shall meet at least once each month in which there are pending applications, the meeting to be at a regularly scheduled day of each month as determined by the Historic District Commission. The business of the Historic District Commission shall be conducted at a public meeting held in compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Public Act 267 of 1976, being M.C.L. §§ 15.261 et seq. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the meeting shall be given in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. A meeting agenda shall be part of the notice and shall include a listing of each permit application to be reviewed or considered by the Historic District Commission.
(D) The Historic District Commission shall approve or deny such plans, and if approved shall issue a certificate of appropriateness which is to be signed by the Chairperson, attached to the application for a building permit, and immediately transmitted to the Chief Inspector. The Chairperson shall stamp all prints submitted to the Historic District Commission signifying its approval. The Historic District Commission shall not issue a certificate of appropriateness unless 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-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, Public Act 230 of 1972, being M.C.L. §§ 125.1501 et seq. The Commission shall file certificates of appropriateness, notices to proceed, and denials of applications for permits with the Chief Inspector.
(E) If a permit application is denied, the decision shall be binding. A denial shall be accompanied by a written explanation by the Commission of the reasons for the denial and, if appropriate, a notice that an application may be re-submitted for Commission review when the suggested changes have been made. A record of such action and reasons therefor shall be transmitted in writing to the Chief Inspector and to the applicant. The denial shall also include the notification of the applicant's right to appeal to the State Historic Preservation Review Board.
(F) The failure of the Historic District Commission to approve or disapprove of such plans within 60 days from the date the complete application is filed with the Historic District Commission, unless an extension is otherwise mutually agreed upon by the applicant and Historic District Commission, shall be deemed to constitute approval and the Chief Inspector shall proceed to process the application without regard to a certificate of appropriateness or notice to proceed.
(G) After the certificate of appropriateness has been issued and the building permit granted to the applicant, the Chief Inspector shall, from time to time, inspect the construction, alteration, or repair approved by such certificate and shall take such action as is necessary to ensure compliance with the approved plans.
(H) The Historic District Commission shall have all the powers, duties, and authority as conferred upon it by the Local Historic Districts Act, Public Act 169 of 1970, being M.C.L. §§ 399.201 et seq., as amended. It shall be the duty of the Historic District Commission to review all applications for work affecting the exterior appearance of a resource in an historic district before a permit for such work can be granted. In reviewing the application, the Commission shall follow the guidelines set forth in the U.S. Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation as set forth in 36 C.F.R. Part 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 are established or approved by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office. The Historic District Commission shall also give consideration to:
(1) The historical or architectural value and significance of the structure and its relationship to the historic value of the surrounding area;
(2) The relationship of the exterior architectural features of such resource to the rest of the resources and to the surrounding area;
(3) The general compatibility of the exterior design, arrangement, texture, and materials proposed to be used; and
(4) To any other factor, including aesthetic, which it deems pertinent.
(Prior Code, § 153.574) (Ord. D-1418, § 2505, passed 11-22-1982, effective 1-21-1983; Ord. D-1679, passed 11-9-1992, effective 11-19-1992; Ord. O-10, passed 8-11-2003, effective 8-21-2003; Ord. O-144, passed 4-15-2013, effective 4-25-2013; Ord. O-248, passed 5-9-2022, effective 5-19-2022)