§ 6.123. Demolition of historic resources.

A.

No demolition permit shall be issued by the City to move or demolish all or any part of a building, structure, object or Landmark in an HP District without a Certificate of Demolition Approval. Requests for a Certificate of Demolition Approval shall be considered in the following manner:

1.

Applications for a Certificate of Demolition Approval shall be filed with or referred to the Historic Preservation Officer. If the property owner is using economic hardship to justify the demolition, an application for a Certificate of Economic Hardship shall be filed with the application for a Certificate of Demolition Approval. The Historic Preservation Commission may establish criteria, for certain types of structures or actions, authorizing the Historic Preservation Officer to staff approve an application for a Certificate of Demolition Approval and to waive a public hearing.

2.

A certificate of Demolition Approval shall be issued if the Building Official has determined that the structure, building or object is an imminent hazard to public safety and that repairs would be impractical.

3.

The Historic Preservation Officer shall review the application for a Certificate of Demolition Approval and, if applicable, a Certificate for Economic Hardship, and shall schedule a public hearing before the Historic Preservation Commission within thirty (30) days of the application(s). Notice of the hearing shall be posted on the property at least ten (10) days before the hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be mailed by first class mail to the property owner at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing.

4.

The Historic Preservation Commission shall conduct a public hearing and shall make a determination whether a Certificate of Demolition Approval should be approved and a demolition permit should be issued. The criteria used to make this determination shall be:

a.

The structure, building, or object is of no historic or architectural value or significance and does not contribute to the historic value of the resource; or

b.

Loss of the structure, building or object would not adversely affect the integrity of the HP District or the historic, architectural, or aesthetic relationship to adjacent properties, and its demolition is inconsequential to historic preservation needs of the area; or

c.

The Commission has determined that a Certificate of Economic Hardship should be granted for the historic resource based upon the property owner clearly demonstrating this hardship.

5.

A Certificate of Demolition Approval may be conditioned on stipulations that provide for rights of access to the property for the City or its designee for purposes of documentation or for agreed upon removal of artifacts. Additionally, the Historic Preservation Commission may stipulate that the property owner supplement the approved Historic Preservation Plan for the historic resource with additional documentation prior to approval of demolition.

B.

The decision of the Historic Preservation Commission to grant or deny demolition approval shall be final unless the property owner appeals in writing within twenty (20) days of the decision, or a majority of the City Council initiates its own review of the decision within twenty (20) days of that decision.

C.

The City Clerk shall schedule any such appeal for a City Council agenda, not more than forty (40) or less than fifteen (15) days following submittal of the appeal. Notice of the hearing shall be mailed by first class mail to the property owner at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing and shall be posted on the property at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing. The City Council shall review the application in light of economic hardship, the subject property's lack of historic or architectural value and significance, alone or as part of an HP District, and the evidence presented at the hearing. The City Council shall either grant, grant with conditions, or deny the Certificate of Demolition Approval.

D.

In the event the initial hearing on an appeal to the City Council is not held within one hundred twenty (120) days of the date the appeal was filed, the application for a Certificate of Demolition Approval shall be deemed approved.

E.

If an application for a Certificate of Demolition Approval of any historic resource is denied, no Certificate of Demolition Approval or demolition permit shall be issued for a period of one year from the date on which the Historic Preservation Commission denied the application.

F.

Upon denial of a Certificate of Demolition Approval by the Historic Preservation Commission, the Historic Preservation Officer shall contact the property owner to determine what available assistance might be feasible to place the property into productive use. If a feasible rehabilitation or use is not found for the property the Historic Preservation Officer and Historic Preservation Commission shall investigate with the property owner methods of private or public acquisition of the property.

G.

For properties designated Landmarks, the restraint of demolition is presumptively a minimum of two (2) years from the date on which the application was denied by the Historic Preservation Commission. Review upon request by the property owner may be made after one year. Procedures shall be as follows: one year after the denial of a demolition approval, if no feasible use or ownership is found for the Landmark, the property owner may request that the Historic Preservation Commission issue a waiver of all or a part of the balance of the restraint of demolition

H.

If a Certificate of Demolition Approval is granted on any basis other than that of an imminent hazard to public safety or economic hardship, or is denied and the restraint of demolition under the above provisions has expired, the Historic Preservation Officer shall not issue a Certificate of Demolition Approval and the Building Official shall not issue a demolition permit until a Replacement/Reuse Plan for the property has been filed with the Historic Preservation Officer. The plan may be filed at any time following denial of the application for a Certificate of Demolition Approval and shall be in compliance with existing zoning, the General Plan, and any adopted Neighborhood or Character Area Plan, and the Historic Preservation Plan applicable to the property. Vacant land or non-use shall not be considered responsive to this requirement.

1.

The requirement for filing a Replacement/Reuse Plan shall be waived by the Historic Preservation Officer if, following demolition, no historic feature will remain in the HP District and upon a finding that such a requirement is unnecessary to assure compatibility with other resources designated historic in the vicinity.

2.

The Historic Preservation Officer shall make a decision on a request for a waiver of the Replacement/Reuse Plan requirement within thirty (30) days of receipt of the request.

3.

The property owner may appeal the decision of the Historic Preservation Officer within twenty (20) days of the action. The Historic Preservation Commission shall conduct a public hearing on the appeal. Notice of the hearing shall be posted on the property at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing.

4.

The Commission's decision shall be final unless appealed by the property owner in writing within twenty (20) days following the hearing. If a waiver is approved, the Commission shall, upon demolition or removal of the structure, building, or object, initiate an application to remove the HP District designation from the property.

I.

Any new development on the property shall be in conformance with the replacement/reuse Plan submitted in conjunction with the Certificate of Demolition Approval. Any changes from the plan shall require a Certificate of Appropriateness.

J.

A Certificate of Demolition Approval shall expire and become null and void one (1) year from the date of issuance unless demolition is started within that time.

(Ord. No. 3242, § 7, 7-13-99; Ord. No. 4143, § 1(Res. No. 9678, Exh. A, § 132), 5-6-14)