(A) Basis.
(1) The City Council has determined that several aspects of architectural design have a significant impact on the character and value of the city’s historic districts and that preserving and enhancing this character requires the existence of a certain harmony and compatibility in these aspects, from one building to the next and throughout the district.
(2) These design guidelines are based on existing design characteristics commonly observed in the city and will serve as a baseline description against which plans for new construction and reconstruction can be judged for harmony, compatibility, and appropriateness.
(B) Intent. The intent of these guidelines is not to require particular architectural features or dictate architectural style; rather, it is to identify a range of design options which will encourage development compatible with the existing character of the city and which will discourage the introduction of incompatible features.
(1) Contemporary designs and materials, used in a manner compatible with the sense of the past that is being preserved, are not only permitted, but encouraged.
(2) Economic feasibility and durability of proposed improvements, along with aesthetic harmony, are primary concerns.
(C) Interpretation. A strict interpretation of these guidelines may be waived by the Historic Preservation Commission if the applicant develops a design solution which meets the spirit and intent of these design guidelines in a better manner. In the same sense, the guidelines presented here are not fixed and immutable through time, but are subject to continuing study and revision by the Historic Preservation Commission as the desirability for such modification becomes apparent.
(D) Historic period. Although the criteria for historic designation set forth in §§ 155.040 through 155.043 covers a range of architectural styles and historic periods, the city’s predominant architectural character is primarily derived from the numerous buildings and homes that were erected during the period of 1890 through 1920. It was also during this time that the city rose to prominence and acquired its greatest historical significance. In the guidelines that follow, this period from 1890 to 1920 is referred to as the HISTORIC PERIOD and shall represent a general benchmark to which new and reconstruction building designs should compatibly relate.
(E) Exceptions.
(1) Exceptions may occur in cases where reconstruction work is proposed for buildings of a distinct style but which are different from that which was typical of the “historic period.”
(2) In these cases, the appropriate design choice shall be to respect the distinct style significant, in its own right and seek to retain the building’s particular architectural character, especially in terms of its unique form, scale, proportions, rhythm, modeling, and massing.
(Prior Code, § 12-8-1) (Ord. 492, passed 7-14-1987)