No satellite dishes, antenna, air conditioners, heat pumps, outdoor grills or other similar modern devices shall be installed or placed in the front yards, front of buildings or along their facades within the historic district. All air conditioners, heat pumps, outdoor grills or other similar modern devices shall be located to the rear of the main dwelling unit. Antenna and satellite dishes may be installed in the rear or on the roof of the main dwelling unit. A roof-mounted satellite dish or antenna shall not be visible from public rights of way. For double frontage lots, the antenna or satellite dish must not be visible from the street frontage for which the property is addressed.
(a) Purpose. The City established the historic district in part to protect the beauty of the architecture within the district. The installation of satellite dishes and other modern accessories, devices or fixtures without proper oversight can specifically damage properties and buildings if done without care for the integrity of the structure and can harm the integrity of the district satellite dishes are installed without respect for the historic aspect of the district. The purpose of this article is to allow the use of such devices in the historic area, while protecting the beauty and physical structure of buildings in the area.
(b) Exceptions.
(1) Satellite dishes may be installed in the front of buildings in the historic district only if no other means of reception can be provided. In such cases, the owner or tenant of the property shall notify the building official in writing signed by a professional installer of the need to install the satellite dish in the front of a building. Such satellite dishes shall be installed to be as unobtrusive as reasonably possible and shall be screened from view through the use of landscaping, fencing and/or architectural building features. The building officials shall approve the installation to ensure the user can receive proper signals, while protecting the historic nature of the district.
(2) Portable window air conditioners, outdoor grills and similar devices that are to be used for a temporary period shall be exempt from the requirements of this article as long as those devices are not stored in front yards or the front of buildings when they are not to be in use.
(c) Removal of Existing Satellite Dishes. Any satellite dishes installed in the front of buildings before the enactment of this article shall be removed to meet the requirements of the article if and when the device requires replacement or when the owner or tenant who installed the device no longer inhabits the property.
(d) Appeals. Any decision by the Building Official may be appealed so that the decision would have to follow the process of review of the Historic Architecture Review Board.
(e) Penalty. Any person who violates the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a summary offense punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and the costs of prosecution. (Ord. 18-2014. Passed 9-2-14.)