Unless specifically defined below or elsewhere in the land development code, words or phrases in this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the same meanings as they have in common usage and so as to give this chapter its most reasonable application. The word "shall" is mandatory and the words "should" and "may" are permissive. When used in this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings herein ascribed to them:
ALTERATION: Any act or process that changes one or more of the existing features of a structure, including, but not limited to, exterior changes or modifications of a structure or any of its architectural details or visual characteristics, including paint color and surface texture, facade materials, surface paving, landscape features, and placement or removal of signs, plaques, light fixtures, walls, fences, and street furniture.
APPLICANT: A person seeking a designation or authorization under this chapter or the person's designated and duly authorized agent or representative. This term may include the property owner, occupant of the site, the historic preservation commission ("HPC") or city commission.
APPURTENANT FEATURES: The features that define the design of a building or property including, but not limited to, porches, railings; columns, shutters, steps, fences, attic vents, sidewalks, driveways, garages, carports, outbuildings, gazebos, and arbors.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROPERTY/SITE: Any locale where there is physical evidence of past human activity that is either prehistoric or historic in age.
AREA OF SIGN: The area of the largest rectangle, square, or triangle required to enclose the sign. In the case of an irregularly shaped sign, or a sign made of individual cutout letters, the area shall be the sum of the areas of the squares, rectangles, or triangles necessary to enclose each letter or part of the sign. The area of any two (2) sided sign shall be the area of one side.
BUILDING: Shall refer to a dwelling, such as a house, barn, church, school, hotel, bar, restaurant, retail store, municipal building, or similar structure created to shelter any form of human activity. The term may also be used to refer to a historically and functionally related unit, such as a courthouse and jail or a house and barn. The term also includes mobile homes, manufactured homes, industrial housing and other movable structures intended to be stationary for an indefinite period of time.
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: A certificate issued by the historic preservation commission indicating its approval of plans for alteration, restoration, reconstruction, removal, or demolition of a historic landmark; or for alteration, new construction, removal, or demolition of nonhistoric structures within a historic preservation district.
CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT: A local government certified or approved by the state historic preservation office (SHPO), which has an appointed commission to oversee the survey and inventory of historic resources, to review areas for historically significant structures, and to develop and maintain community planning and education programs.
CONTRIBUTING BUILDING: A historic building that is at least fifty (50) years old or older that retains a significant amount of its physical integrity and character defining features including location, setting, design, construction, workmanship, and/or association with historical persons or events.
DEMOLITION BY NEGLECT: Allowing a building to fall into such a state of disrepair that it becomes necessary or desirable to demolish it.
DESIGN GUIDELINES: Guidelines of appropriateness or compatibility of building design within a community or historic preservation district. Often in the form of a handbook, design guidelines contain drawings accompanying "do's and don'ts" for the property owner. The historic preservation commission has authority to administer design guidelines.
EXTERIOR ARCHITECTURAL APPEARANCE: The architectural character and general composition of the exterior of a structure, including, but not limited to, the kind, color, and texture of the building material, and the type, design, and character of all windows, doors, walls, roofs, overhangs, light fixtures, signs, and appurtenant elements, and yards and/or open spaces.
FACADE: The entire building front including the parapet.
HEIGHT: The vertical distance measured between the highest point of a structure and the finished floor elevation of the lowest floor where any portion of floor is at or above finish grade.
HISTORIC DESIGNATIONS: An official recognition of the significance of a building, property or district. Designation can occur on three (3) different levels:
Federal: The national register of historic places (for both individual buildings and entire districts);
State: Recorded Arizona historic landmarks (only for individual buildings) and state archaeological landmarks; or
Local: Designated under a municipal historic ordinance either individually as a landmark or as a locally designated district.
HISTORIC LANDMARK: A building, structure, object or site designated by city council as a historic landmark.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION: The protection, reconstruction, rehabilitation, repair and restoration of places and structures of historic, architectural, or archaeological significance.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION (HPC): The seven (7) member board established under section 2-1-1 of this code and appointed by city council.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION DISTRICT: An area designated as a "historic preservation district" by ordinance of the mayor and common council, including, but not limited to, the Schieffelin historic preservation district, and which may contain within definable geographic boundaries one or more generally recognized historic landmarks, or which may have within its boundaries other properties or structures that, while not of such historic and/or architectural significance to be designated as landmarks, nevertheless contribute to the overall visual characteristics of the city.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION INSPECTOR: A person recommended by the historic preservation commission, and confirmed by the mayor and common council, who shall receive applications from the public and perform inspections for the commission, as described elsewhere in this chapter. Such person may be either the city building inspector, or a separate person reporting to the commission.
HISTORIC REHABILITATION: The process of returning a property to a state of utility, through repair or alteration, which makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions and features of the property which are significant to its historic, architectural, and cultural values.
HISTORIC RESOURCE: Any building, structure, object or site that is fifty (50) years or older or any resource that has been identified as a high or medium priority because of its unique history or architectural characteristics.
HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY: A systematic, detailed examination of an area designed to gather information about historic properties sufficient to evaluate them against predetermined criteria of significance.
HISTORIC SITE, HISTORIC STRUCTURE, OR HISTORIC LANDMARK: A site, structure or property which has historic and/or architectural significance, and is at least fifty (50) years old from the date of construction; and which contributes to the historic, architectural, cultural, archaeological or other significant value as part of the heritage or history of the city, the state of Arizona, or the nation.
INTEGRITY: The authenticity of a property's historic identity, evidenced by survival of physical characteristics that existed during the property's historic or prehistoric period.
INVENTORY: A list of historic properties that have been identified and evaluated as meeting specified criteria of significance.
LANDMARK: See definition of Historic Landmark.
LOCAL HISTORIC LANDMARK: Any site, building, structure, or landscape of historic significance that receives designation by the city pursuant to this chapter.
LOCAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION DISTRICT: A geographically and locally defined area that possesses a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of buildings, objects, sites, structures, or landscapes united by past events, periods, or styles of architecture, and that, by reason of such factors constitute a distinct section of the city. Historic sites within a local district need not be contiguous for an area to constitute a district. All sites, buildings, and structures within a local historic preservation district, whether individually contributing or not are subject to the regulations of the district.
MINOR ALTERATIONS: The installation or alteration to awnings, fences, gutters, downspouts, and incandescent lighting fixtures; restoration of original architectural features that constitute a change from the existing condition; alterations to signs; and additions and changes not visible from any street to the rear of the main structure or to an accessory structure.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES: The nation's official list of buildings, districts, and sites (including structures and objects) significant in American history and culture, architecture, archaeology and engineering maintained by the national park service and administered on a statewide basis by the Arizona historical commission. Restrictions on these properties exist only when there is an undertaking that uses federal funds or that requires a federal permit or license.
NEIGHBORHOOD: An area of a community with characteristics that distinguish it from other community areas and which may include distinct ethnic or economic characteristics, schools, or social clubs, or boundaries defined by physical barriers such as major highways or railroads or natural features such as rivers.
OBJECT: A physical item associated with a specific setting or environment that is movable by nature or design, such as statuary in a designed landscape. The term object is used to distinguish from buildings and structures those constructions that are primarily artistic in nature or are relatively small in scale and simply constructed.
ORDER OF DEMOLITION: An order issued by the HPC, in accordance with the planning and zoning commission, indicating approval of plans for demolition of a designated landmark or property within a designated district.
ORDINARY MAINTENANCE: Repair of any exterior or architectural feature of a landmark or property within a historic preservation district which does not involve a change to the architectural or historic value, style or general design. In-kind replacement or repair is included in this definition of ordinary maintenance.
OVERLAY DISTRICT: Zoning, applied over one or more other districts, creates a second, mapped zone that is superimposed over the conventional zoning districts. Overlay district typically provides for a higher level of regulations in certain areas such as transit station areas, downtown areas, and historic preservation districts, but may also be used to permit exceptions or less restrictive standards (fewer parking spaces in a downtown or transit station area, or more density in an economic development area).
OWNER: The individual, corporation, partnership, or other legal entity in whom is vested the ownership, dominion, or title of property and who is responsible for payment of ad valorem taxes on that property; including a lessor or lessee if responsible for payment of ad valorem taxes.
PRESERVATION: Shall refer to the decision making process conducted by the historic preservation commission or an appointed historic preservation inspector that is guided by established terms.
PRESERVATION: The stabilization of a historic building, its materials and features in their present condition to prevent future deterioration. Preservation focuses on the maintenance and repair of existing historic materials and retention of a property's form as it has evolved over time. (Protection and stabilization have now been consolidated under this treatment.)
RECONSTRUCTION: "The act or process of reproducing by new construction the exact form and detail of a vanished building, structure, or object, or a part thereof, as it appeared at a specific period of time" (secretary of the interior's standards).
RECORDED ARIZONA HISTORICAL LANDMARK: A state designation for buildings important for their historical associations and which have retained a high degree of their original historic fabric. They must be at least fifty (50) years of age and retain their original exterior appearance. State historical landmarks receive greater legal protection than national register of historic places designations.
REHABILITATION: "The act or process of returning a property to a state of utility through repair or alteration that makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions or features of the property that are significant to its historical, architectural, and cultural values" (secretary of the interior's standards).
REMOVAL: Any relocation of a structure or portion of a structure on its site or to another site.
REPAIR: Any restoration of a structure by replacing or fixing broken or deteriorated elements, which is not considered to be construction, removal or alteration.
RESTORATION: "The act or process of accurately recovering the form and details of a property and its setting as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of later work or by the replacement of missing earlier work" (secretary of the interior's standards).
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR STANDARDS FOR REHABILITATION: The standards established by the secretary of the interior for advising federal agencies on the preservation/rehabilitation of historic properties listed or eligible for listing on the national register of historic places (36 CFR part 67, historic preservation certifications). They pertain to historic buildings of all materials, construction types, sizes, and occupancy, and encompass the exterior and the interior of historic buildings.
SIGN; ADVERTISING STRUCTURE: Any physical object or structure which is erected, affixed, hung, leaned or propped against another object or structure, or standing by itself independently, or otherwise used for advertising purposes, whether portable or fixed, upon which any bill, poster, bulleting, printing, lettering, painting, device or other advertisement of any kind whatsoever is placed, posted, tacked, nailed, glued, painted, or otherwise fastened or affixed, regardless of whether the intent or purpose of said physical object or structure is permanent or temporary, and regardless of whether said physical object or structure is located at or on the site where the product or service being advertised is located, or at a different site or location. This definition shall not be held to include any board, object or surface used exclusively to display official notices issued by any court or public office, or posted by any public officer in performance of a public duty, or by a private person in giving required legal notice.
SITE: The location of a significant event, a prehistoric or historic occupation or activity, or a building or structure, whether standing, ruined, or vanished, where the location itself possesses historical, cultural, or archaeological value regardless of the value of any existing structure.
STABILIZATION: "The act or process of applying measures designed to reestablish a weather resistant enclosure and the structural stability of unsafe or deteriorated property while maintaining the essential form as it exists at present" (secretary of the interior's standards).
STANDARD APPLICATION FORM: A form processed by the historic preservation inspector, city clerk, and the commission.
STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDMARK: A designation made by the Arizona historical commission and, in the case of privately owned property, with the landowner's permission. Although called "archaeological" landmarks, this designation can include buildings as well as archaeological sites. For a building to be designated as a state archaeological landmark, it must first be listed on the national register of historic places. Damage to a state archaeological landmark is subject to criminal, not civil, penalties.
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE (SHPO): The state office responsible for administering federal historic preservation programs as defined in the national historic preservation act of 1966, as amended and subsequent legislation. The executive director of the Arizona historical commission serves as SHPO for the state of Arizona.
STRUCTURE: Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent or temporary location on or in the ground, including, but not limited to, buildings, fences, walls, advertising signs, billboards, communication towers, satellite dishes, and tennis courts.
ZONING: A police power measure, enacted by a municipality, including the city, in which the community is divided into districts or zones within which permitted and special uses are established as are regulations governing lot size, building bulk, placement, and other development standards. (Ord. 2015-01, 7-14-2015)