No person shall undertake the demolition, alteration, or construction of any historic structure or historic site without obtaining a Certificate of Appropriateness as set forth herein. Certificates of Appropriateness are issued by the Historic Preservation Commission in accordance with the stipulations of this section.

(a)   A Certificate of Appropriateness shall be required for designated historic structures for the following types of construction, alteration, or demolition:

(1)   Demolition requiring a permit;

(2)   Alterations of exterior features/materials identified as significant in the ordinance designating the historic structure;

(3)   Construction of additions;

(4)   Construction of new structures;

(5)   Alterations of the building site;

(6)   Alteration of spaces, features, and finishes within designated interiors.

(b)   A Certificate of Appropriateness shall be required for designated historic sites

(c)   Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements from other historic properties, shall not be undertaken.

(d)   Changes to a property that have occurred may be retained and preserved.

(e)   Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved.

(f)   Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence.

(g)   Significant architectural and/or archaeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved; if such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

(h)   New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.

(i)    New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.

(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)