(A) It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity to directly or indirectly alter, remodel, demolish, grade, remove, construct, reconstruct or restore any property within any historic district without first obtaining a city permit and written approval of the Planning Commission.
(B) Upon receipt of an application or proposal for a demolition, grading, removal or building permit for any property within any historic district, the city department or agency receiving same shall, within five calendar days, notify the Secretary and forward said permit application or proposal and accompanying documentation to the Secretary and shall not process the permit or proposal without the authorization of the Commission. The Commission may approve non-substantial alterations to the property based on the application presented.
(C) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the ordinary maintenance or repair of any exterior architectural feature in or on any property covered by this chapter that does not involve a change in design, materials or external appearance.
(D) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the Planning Director from issuing a building permit if it is determined that demolition, removal or substantial alteration of a property within any historic district is immediately necessary to protect the public health, safety or general welfare.
(E) After consideration of the final environmental document, all evidence and testimony, the Commission shall have the authority to approve, deny or approve with modifications, any proposed application or permit application.
(F) No application shall be approved with modifications unless the Commission makes the following findings:
(1) For a contributor to any historic district, the proposed work is found to be consistent with the general purposes of this chapter and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards, not detrimental to the special historical, architectural or aesthetic interest or value of the Contributor or the respective historic district in general and consistent with the district's adopted design standards; or
(2) For a non-contributor to any historic district, the proposed work is found not detrimental to the historical or architectural values of the respective historic district in general and consistent with the district's adopted design standards; or
(3) For new in-fill construction within any historic district, the proposed work is found not detrimental to the historical or architectural values of the respective historic district in general and consistent with the district's adopted design standards; or
(4) The action proposed is necessary to correct an unsafe or dangerous condition on the property; or
(5) Denial of the application will result in unreasonable economic hardship to the owner. In order to approve the application, the Commission must find facts and circumstances, not of the applicant's own making, which establish that there are no feasible measures that can be taken that will enable the property owner to make a reasonable economic beneficial use of the property or derive a reasonable economic return from the property in its current form; or
(6) For applications for relocation of a contributor from any historic district, the Commission shall find that one or more of the above conditions exist, that relocation will not destroy the historical, architectural or aesthetic value of the resource and that the relocation is part of a definitive series of actions which will assure the preservation of the resource.
(G) Any finding that denial of the permit application will result in unreasonable economic hardship to the owner, pursuant to division (F)(5) above, may be based upon the application of the following factors:
(1) An economic feasibility analysis conducted pursuant to this section shall include the determination of an "after-rehabilitation" value of the property calculated on an income approach utilizing the capitalization rate determined appropriate by the Development Services. This "after-rehabilitation" value shall be determined in the following manner:
(a) The potential residential or commercial rental rate(s) which could be generated by the property after an appropriate rehabilitation shall be determined by a review of current market rates for comparable properties within comparable neighborhoods.
(b) The potential annual net income that could be generated by the property after an appropriate rehabilitation, taking into consideration standard vacancy and expense factors, shall be determined.
(c) The appropriate capitalization rate shall be applied to the potential annual net income to determine the "after-rehabilitation" value of the property.
(2) The fair market value of the land, exclusive of improvements and without development restrictions pursuant to this chapter, shall be determined by a standard appraisal.
(3) The monetary cost of an appropriate rehabilitation of the resource, in accordance with the standards of this chapter, shall be determined by professionals qualified to make such a determination.
(4) If the fair market value of the land, combined with the costs of rehabilitation, exceeds the "after-rehabilitation" value of the property by more than 20%, the Commission shall find that denial of the application will result in an unreasonable economic hardship to the owner.
(H) A decision relating to the approval with modifications or disapproval of an application for any permit may be appealed pursuant to section § 10.96.160.
(I) If the Commission determines a permit should not be issued for the demolition, alteration, relocation or new construction, or the City Council on appeal concurs, a new application affecting the same property may be submitted during the 12-month period after the disapproval only if a substantial change is made in the plans for the project.
(J) The Secretary shall give written notice of the decision regarding the regulated permit to the property owner/applicant. The notice shall contain the Commission's findings in support thereof.
(Ord. 07-28, passed 12-18-2007)