The following standards shall be used to guide decisions on all types of rehabilitation projects undertaken within the Downtown Design Improvement Area:
(a) A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use which requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building, its site and the environment.
(b) The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic materials, or the alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property, shall be avoided.
(c) Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place and use. Changes that create a false sense of historic development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.
(d) Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.
(e) Distinctive features, finishes and construction techniques, or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a historic property, shall be preserved.
(f) Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture and other visual qualities and, where possible, in materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical or pictorial evidence.
(g) Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials, shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible.
(h) Significant archaeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.
(i) New additions, exterior alterations or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment.
(j) New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
(Ord. A-1985. Passed 2-13-95.)