There is hereby established a Louisburg Register of Historic Places, which shall include all historic structures and historic sites designated as significant pursuant to this article and exist within the City.
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020; Ord. 1156)
Nomination of a historic structure or historic site for placement on the Louisburg Register of Historic Places shall be made to the Historic Preservation Commission on a form adopted by the Governing Body and may be submitted by a member of the Historic Preservation Commission; owner(s} of record of the nominated property; the City Council; or any other person or organization. Any nomination for a historic structure or a historic site that is submitted by any other than the owner(s) of record shall not be considered valid unless proof of owner consent is included. Any nomination for a historic structure or a historic site that does not reside within the boundaries listed for the Louisburg Register of Historic Places shall not be considered valid for inclusion in such Register.
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)
City staff shall, within thirty (30) days of receipt of a nomination for designation of a historic structure or historic site certify that the nomination provides adequate evidence that the owner(s) of record of the nominated property have provided the required consent for designation.
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)
Once a nomination has been certified, it shall be presented at the next available meeting of the Commission for the purpose of a public hearing.
(a) Hearings: The Commission shall hold at least one public hearing on each nomination considered for designation as a significant historic structure or historic site at a reasonable time and place established by the Commission. The hearing shall be held no later than forty-five (45) days following certification of a completed nomination. The hearing may be held during a regular meeting of the Commission or during a special meeting of the Commission called in part for that purpose.
(b) Notice of Hearing: At least twenty (20) days in advance of the public hearing on the proposed designation, notice of same shall be published in the official City newspaper. The notice shall state the date, time, and place of the hearing and contain the street address and legal description of the nominated property. The City shall also send by regular mail a written notice of the public hearing, containing the same information as the published notice, to the owners of record of all properties proposed for designation at least twenty (20) days prior to the hearing.
(c) Conduct of Hearing: Any person or party may be present and heard at the meeting in person, by agent or by attorney.
(d) Findings/Criteria for Designation: The Commission shall, based upon evidence submitted at the hearing, make a recommendation to the Governing Body as to whether or not a nominated structure or site should be designated historic. In order for the Commission to make a recommendation that a nominated structure or site should be designated as historic, the Commission shall make findings that such structure or site has sufficient integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, or association to make it worthy of preservation or restoration; and possesses significant historical, archeological and/or architectural qualities, and thus qualifies for designation pursuant to one or more of the following criteria:
(1) Its character, interest, or value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of the community, county, state, or country;
(2) Its location as a site of a significant local, county, state, or national event;
(3) Its identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the community, county, state, or country;
(4) Its embodiment of distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style valuable for the study of a period, type, method of construction, or use of materials;
(5) Its identification as the work of a master builder, designer, architect, or landscape architect whose individual work has influenced the development of the community, county, state, or country;
(6) Its embodiment of elements of design, detailing, materials, or craftsmanship that render it architecturally significant;
(7) Its embodiment of design elements that make it structurally or architecturally innovative;
(8) Its unique location or singular physical characteristics that make it an established or familiar visual feature;
(9) Its character as a particularly fine or unique example of a utilitarian structure, including, but not limited to farmhouses, gas stations, or other commercial structures, with a high level of integrity or architectural significance; and/or
(10) It has yielded or is likely to yield important historical or prehistorical information.
(e) Recommendations: Within thirty (30) days after the close of the public hearing, if the Commission finds that the evidence submitted at the hearings meets the criteria for designation, it shall submit a recommendation to the Governing Body that the nominated historic structure or historic site meets the criteria for designation. The recommendation shall be accompanied by the following information:
(1) Explanation of the integrity of the nominated historic structure or historic site as it relates to the criteria for designation;
(2) Explanation of the significance of the nominated historic structure or historic site as it relates to the criteria for designation;
(3) The Commission shall also set forth the following:
(A) The significant architectural features of the nominated historic structure or historic site that should be protected;
(B) The types of construction, alteration, demolition, and removal that should be reviewed for appropriateness;
(C) Proposed design guidelines for applying the criteria for review of Certificates of Appropriateness to the nominated historic structure or historic site, which shall be based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Treatment of Historic Properties;
(D) The relationship of the nominated historic structure or historic site to the ongoing effort of the Commission to identify and designate historic structures and historic sites that meet the criteria for designation;
(E) Recommendations as to appropriate height and area regulations, setbacks, minimum dwelling size, floor area, sign regulations, and parking regulations necessary or appropriate to the preservation of the nominated historic structure or historic site; and
(F) A map showing the location of the nominated landmark, if applicable.
(f) Evidence of owner’s (s’) consent for designation: For historic structures and sites, all owners of record must provide consent.
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)
The Governing Body shall, after receiving the recommendation from the Historic Preservation Commission, either designate the historic structure or historic site, or reject the recommendation. If the Governing Body makes the designation, it shall do so by ordinance. The Governing Body shall not designate any structure or site unless the designation meets the public purpose of this Chapter. If the Governing Body chooses to reject the recommendation, it shall respond to the Commission with reasons for rejection of the nomination. The City Clerk shall provide a copy of the designation ordinance by regular mail to the owner(s) of record of the historic structure or historic site. The failure of the City Clerk to provide a copy of the designation ordinance to the owner(s) of record does not nullify the designation ordinance.
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)
The designation ordinance shall prescribe the significant architectural features; height and area regulations; setbacks; minimum dwelling size; floor of construction, alteration, demolition, and removal that shall be reviewed for appropriateness; the design guidelines for applying the criteria for review of area; sign regulation; and parking regulation. After the designation ordinance is effective, the City Clerk shall record the historic structure or historic site within the Louisburg Register of Historic Places, setting forth the description of the real estate upon which the same is located, the fact that same has been designated historic and the nature and extent of the designation.
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)
No building permit shall be issued by the City of Louisburg for alteration, construction, demolition, or removal of a nominated historic structure or historic site from the date the complete nomination form with consent of owner(s) is first received by the City until the final disposition of the nomination by the Governing Body unless such alteration, removal, or demolition is authorized by formal resolution of the Governing Body. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any application for permit that complies with other ordinances will not be denied if more than 180 days have passed since a complete nomination form was received by the City.
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)
A determination by the Historic Preservation Commission that the nominated structure or site does not meet the criteria for designation may be appealed to the Governing Body. Rejection of a recommendation for designation by the Governing Body shall be a final administrative decision. Nominations for structures and sites which have been denied designation within the prior 12-month period will not be considered by the Commission.
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)
Designation may be amended or rescinded upon petition to the Historic Preservation Commission and compliance with the same procedure and according to the same criteria set forth herein for designation, except that designation cannot be amended or rescinded because of a change in consent of the owner(s).
(Ord. 1026, Code 2020)