Salt Lake City will consider the local designation of a landmark site, local historic district or thematic designation in order to protect the best examples of historic resources which represent significant elements of the city's prehistory, history, development patterns or architecture. Local designation must be in the best interest of the city and achieve a reasonable balance between private property rights and the public interest in preserving the city's cultural, historic, and architectural heritage.
A. Process for Designation of a Local Historic District or Thematic Designation:
1. Procedures Required Before an Application Can be Submitted: Prior to the submittal of an application for the designation or amendment local historic district or thematic designation, and prior to gathering any signatures for an application, the following steps must be completed:
a. Pre-application Conference: A potential applicant shall attend a pre-application conference with the planning director or designee. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the merits of the proposed designation and the amendment processes as outlined in this section.
b. Notification to Affected Property Owners: Following the preapplication conference outlined in Subsection A.1.a of this section, the city shall send by first class mail a neutral informational pamphlet to owners of record for each property potentially affected by a forthcoming application. The informational pamphlet shall be mailed after a potential applicant submits to the city a finalized proposed boundary of an area to be included in the H Historic Preservation Overlay District. The informational pamphlet shall contain, at a minimum, a description of the process to create a local historic district or thematic designation and will also list the pros and cons of a local historic district or thematic designation. Once the city sends the informational pamphlet, gathering of property owner signatures may begin per Subsection A.2 of this section. The informational pamphlet sent shall remain valid for ninety (90) days. If an application is not filed with the city within ninety (90) days after the date that the informational pamphlet was mailed, the city shall close its file on the matter. Any subsequent proposal must begin the application process again.
2. Application:
a. Parties Entitled to Submit Application: The mayor or the city council, by a majority vote, may initiate a petition to consider designation of a local historic district or thematic designation. A property owner submitting such application shall demonstrate, in writing, support of more than thirty three percent (33%) of the property owners of lots or parcels within the proposed boundaries of an area to be included in the H Historic Preservation Overlay District.
(1) For purposes of this subsection, a lot or parcel of real property may not be included in the calculation of the required percentage unless the application is signed by property owners representing at least fifty percent (50%) of the interest in that lot or parcel.
(2) Each lot or parcel of real property may only be counted once toward the thirty three percent (33%), regardless of the number of owner signatures obtained for that lot or parcel.
(3) Signatures obtained to demonstrate support of more than thirty three percent (33%) of the property owners within the boundary of the proposed local historic district or thematic designation must be gathered within a period of ninety (90) days as counted between the date that the informational pamphlet was mailed as required per Subsection 21A.51.030.A.1.b and the date of the last required signature.
b. Submittal Requirements: An application shall be made to the zoning administrator on a form or forms provided by the office of the zoning administrator, which shall include at least the following information unless deemed unnecessary by the zoning administrator:
(1) Information demonstrating the procedures in Subsections 21A.51.030.A.1.a and 21A.51.030.A.1.b have been followed;
(2) Information demonstrating the requirements in Subsection 21A.51.030.A.2.a have been met;
(3) Street addresses and parcel numbers of all properties included in the proposed local designation;
(4) Photos of all properties included in the proposed designation;
(5) Narrative demonstrating compliance with the standards and considerations in Section 21A.51.040; and
(6) Any other information the zoning administrator deems necessary for consideration of a particular application.
c. Fees: Application and noticing fees for designation of a local historic district or thematic designation shall not be required.
3. Notice of Designation Application Letter: Following the receipt by the city of an application for the designation of a local historic district or thematic designation, the city shall send a notice of designation application letter to owner(s) of record for each property affected by said application along with a second copy of the informational pamphlet described in Subsection 21A.51.030.A.1.b. In the event that no application is received following the ninety (90) day period of property owner signature gathering, the city will send a letter to property owner(s) of record stating that no application has been filed, and that the city has closed its file on the matter.
4. Planning Director Report to the City Council: Following the receipt by the city of an application for the designation to a local historic district or thematic designation and following mailing of the notice of designation application letter described in Subsection 21A.51.030.A.3, the planning director shall submit a report based on the following considerations to the city council:
a. Whether a current historic survey meeting the standards prescribed by the State Historic Preservation Office is available for the landmark site or the area proposed for a local historic district or thematic designation. If a suitable survey is not available, the report shall propose a strategy to gather the needed survey data.
b. The city administration will determine the priority of the petition and determine whether there is sufficient funding and staff resources available to allow the planning division to complete a community outreach process, historic resource analysis and to provide ongoing administration of the new local historic district or thematic designation if the designation is approved by the city council. If sufficient funding is not available, the report shall include a proposed budget.
c. Whether the proposed designation is generally consistent with the purposes, goals, objectives and policies of the city as stated through its various adopted planning documents.
d. Whether the proposed designation would generally be in the public interest.
e. Whether there is probable cause to believe that the proposed landmark site, local historic district or thematic designation may be eligible for designation consistent with the purposes and designation criteria in Section 21A.51.040 and the zoning map amendment criteria in Section 21A.50.050, "Standards for General Amendments", of this title.
f. Verification that a neutral informational pamphlet was sent per Subsection 21A.51.030.A.3 of this section to all property owners within a proposed local historic district following the preapplication process outlined in Subsections 21A.51.030.A.1.a and 21A.51.030.A.1.b.
5. Notification to Recognized Community Organizations: Notification to recognized community organizations shall be provided as set forth in Section 2.60.050 of this code.
6. Property Owner Meeting: Following the submission of the planning director's report and acceptance of the report by the city council, the planning division will conduct a community outreach process to inform the owners of property within the proposed boundaries of the proposed local historic district or thematic designation about the following:
a. The designation process, including determining the level of property owner support, the public hearing process, and final decision-making process by the city council; and
b. Zoning ordinance requirements affecting properties located within the H Historic Preservation Overlay District, adopted design guidelines, the design review process for alterations and new construction, the demolition process and the economic hardship process.
7. Open House: The planning division will conduct an open house pursuant to Section 2.60.050.
8. Public Hearings: A public hearing shall be held with both the historic landmark commission and the planning commission in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in Chapter 21A.10, "General Application and Public Hearing Procedures", of this title. The historic landmark commission and planning commission shall recommend approval or denial of the proposal or the approval of some modification of the proposal.
9. Property Owner Opinion Balloting:
a. Following the completion of the historic landmark commission and planning commission public hearings, the city will deliver property owner opinion ballots via first class mail to property owners of record within the boundary of the proposed local historic district or thematic designation. The property owner opinion ballot is a nonbinding opinion poll to inform the city council of property owner interest regarding the designation of a local historic district. Each individual property in the proposed designation boundary, regardless of the number of owners having interest in any given property, will receive one property owner opinion ballot.
(1) A property owner is eligible to vote regardless of whether or not the property owner is an individual, a private entity, or a public entity;
(2) The city shall count no more than one property owner opinion ballot for:
(a) Each parcel within the boundaries of the proposed local historic district or area; or
(b) If the parcel contains a condominium project, each unit within the boundaries of the proposed local historic district or area; and
(c) If a parcel or unit has more than one owner of record, the city shall count a property owner opinion ballot for the parcel or unit only if the property owner opinion ballot reflects the vote of the property owners who own at least fifty percent (50%) interest in the parcel or unit.
b. Property owners of record will have thirty (30) days from the postmark date of the property owner opinion ballot to submit a response to the city indicating the property owner's support or nonsupport of the proposed designation.
c. A letter shall be mailed to all property owners within the proposed local historic district or thematic designation whose property owner opinion ballot has not been received by the city within fifteen (15) days from the original postmark date. This follow up letter will encourage the property owners to submit a property owner opinion ballot prior to the thirty (30) day deadline date set by the mailing of the first property owner opinion ballot.
10. Notification of Property Owner Opinion Balloting Results: Following the public opinion balloting for the proposed designation, the city will send notice of the results to all property owners within the proposed local historic district or thematic designation.
11. City Council Consideration: Following the transmittal of the recommendations of the historic landmark commission and the planning commission and the results of the property owner opinion ballot process, the city council shall hold a public hearing to consider the designation of a local historic district or thematic designation in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in Chapter 21A.10, "General Application and Public Hearing Procedures", of this title and the following:
a. If the property owner opinion ballots returned equals at least two-thirds (2/3) of the total number of returned property owner support ballots and represents more than fifty percent (50%) of the parcels and units (in the case of a condominium) within the proposed local historic district, area, or thematic designation, the city council may designate a local historic district or a thematic district by a simple majority vote.
b. If the number of property owner opinion ballots received does not meet the threshold identified in Subsection 21A.51.030.A.11.a the city council may only designate a local historic district, area, or a thematic district by an affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the city council.
c. If the number of property owner opinion ballots received in support and in opposition is equal, the city council may only designate a local historic district or a thematic district by a super majority vote.
B. Process for Designation of a Landmark Site:
1. Application:
a. Parties Entitled to Submit Application: Any owner of property proposed for a landmark site, the mayor or the city council, by majority vote, may initiate a petition to consider the designation of a landmark site.
b. Submittal Requirements: Applications for landmark sites shall provide at least all of the information in Subsection 21A.51.030.A.2.b unless deemed unnecessary by the zoning administrator.
c. Fees: Application and noticing fees for designation of a landmark site shall not be required.
2. Notification to Community Organizations: Notification to recognized community organizations shall be provided as set forth in Section 2.60.050 of this code.
3. Public Hearings: A public hearing shall be held with both the historic landmark commission and the planning commission in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in Chapter 21A.10, "General Application and Public Hearing Procedures", of this title. The historic landmark commission and planning commission shall recommend approval or denial of the proposal or the approval of some modification of the proposal and the recommendation will be submitted to the city council.
4. City Council Consideration: Following the transmittal of the recommendations of the historic landmark commission and the planning commission, the city council shall hold a public hearing to consider the designation of a landmark site in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in Chapter 21A.10, "General Application and Public Hearing Procedures", of this title. The city council may, by a majority vote, designate a landmark site.
C. City Council Decision: Following city council designation of a landmark site, local historic district or thematic designation, all of the properties located within the boundaries of the local historic district, landmark site, or thematic designation will be subject to the H Historic Preservation Overlay District and subject to the provisions of Section 21A.34.020. The zoning regulations will go into effect on the date of the publication of the ordinance unless otherwise noted on the adopted ordinance.
1. Designation Adoption: Designation of a landmark site, local historic district or thematic designation includes adoption of the historic survey and associated report submitted for the designation. Historic resource surveys may be updated pursuant to the provisions in Section 21A.51.080 or Subsection 21A.34.020.D.
2. Notice of Designation: Within thirty (30) days following the designation of a landmark site, local historic district or thematic designation, the city shall provide notice of the action to all owners of property within the boundaries of the H Historic Preservation Overlay District. In addition, a notice shall be recorded in the office of the Salt Lake County Recorder for all lots or parcels within the area added to the H Historic Preservation Overlay District. (Ord. 67-23, 2023)