The purpose of this Chapter is to promote the educational, cultural, economic, and general welfare of the community by:

(a)   Providing a mechanism to identify and conserve the distinctive historic and architectural characteristics and other historic resources of the City which represent elements of the City’s cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history;

(b)   Conserving and improving the value of property in and around designated historic properties within the community;

(c)   Enhancing the attractiveness of the City to residents, current and prospective homeowners, visitors and shoppers and thereby supporting and promoting business, commerce, industry, and providing economic benefit to the City; and

(d)   Encouraging preservation, restoration, and rehabilitation of historic properties within the City.

(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)

Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases in this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the same meaning as they have in common usage and so as to give this ordinance its most reasonable application.

(a)   Alteration: Any act or process that changes one or more of the architectural features of a site or structure, including, but not limited to, the erection, construction, reconstruction, or removal of any structure.

(b)   Architectural Features: The physical elements of a structure or designed landscape which may include the setting, scale, detailing and decorative elements, size and shape of the structure/landscape or components of the structure/landscape (for example: roofs, cupolas, windows, doors, fireplaces, stairways, retaining walls, benches, lighting, paths, materials, textures, colors, and spaces).

(c)   Certification of Appropriateness: A certificate issued by the Historic Preservation Commission indicating its approval of plans for alteration, construction, removal, or demolition of a historic structure or historic site.

(d)   Commission: Historic Preservation Commission.

(e)   Construction: The act of making an addition to an existing structure or the erection of a new principal or accessory structure on a lot or property.

(f)   Criteria for Review: A standard of appropriate activity that will preserve the historic and architectural character of a historic structure or historic site.

(g)   Demolition: Any act or process that destroys in part or in whole a historic structure or historic site.

(h)   Historic Site: The location of a significant event, a prehistoric or historic occupation or activity, or a building or a structure, whether standing, ruined or vanished, where the location itself possesses historic, cultural, or archeological value, regardless of the value of any existing structure.

(i)    Historic Structure: Anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on the ground that is worthy of preservation because of its particular historic, architectural, archeological, or cultural significance. Structure types that may be worthy of preservation include - but are not limited to - buildings, walls, fences, signs, billboards, sheds, towers, and bins.

(j)    Integrity of Association: A property’s direct connection with a significant event or person. To have integrity of association, the property must be where the significant event or activity occurred, and it must be sufficiently intact to convey the connection to an observer.

(k)   Integrity of Design: The combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, style, and regional character of a property as it was originally conceived. It includes such elements as organization of space, proportion, skill, technology, ornamentation, and materials.

(l)    Integrity of Materials: The physical elements that originally were combined to form a property. For a rehabilitated property to have integrity of materials, most of its historical materials must have been preserved; it must be an actual historic property, not a recreation.

(m)  Integrity of Setting: The physical environment (including natural or manmade features) related to a property’s functions, its significant role, or its design. Setting refers to the character of the place where a property played its significant role in history.

(n)   Integrity of Workmanship: The physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during the period in history or prehistory when a property was created.

(o)   Owner of Record: The individual(s), corporation(s), or other legal entity(s) listed as owner on the records of the Register of Deeds of Miami County.

(p)   Removal: Any relocation of a structure in whole or in part on its site or to another site.

(q)   Repair: Any change to a structure or site that is not construction, removal, alteration, or demolition.

(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)