2.48.070 Certificate of appropriateness procedure.
A. At any time after a designation report and notice have been filed with the City Manager and for a period of six months after notice of a preliminary determination of significance has been mailed to the owner and filed with the City Manager, a certificate of appropriateness must be obtained from the Board before any alterations may be made to the significant features of the landmark identified in the preliminary determination report or thereafter in the designation report. The designation report shall supersede the preliminary determination report. This requirement shall apply whether or not the proposed alteration also requires a building or other permit.
B. Ordinary repairs and maintenance which do not alter the appearance of a significant feature and do not utilize substitute materials do not require a certificate of appropriateness. Repairs to or replacement of utility systems do not require a certificate of appropriateness; provided, that such work does not alter a significant exterior feature.
C. There shall be three types of certificates of appropriateness, as follows:
1. Type I, for restorations and major repairs which utilize in-kind materials.
2. Type II, for alterations in appearance, replacement of historic materials and new construction.
3. Type III, for demolition, moving and excavation of archaeological sites.
D. The Historic Preservation Officer may approve Type I certificates of appropriateness administratively without public hearing, subject to procedures adopted by the Board. Alternatively the Historic Preservation Officer may refer applications for Type I certificates of appropriateness to the Board for decision.
E. Type II and III certificates of appropriateness shall be decided by the Board and the following general procedures shall apply to such Board actions:
1. Application for a certificate of appropriateness shall be made by filling out an application for such certificate with the Historic Preservation Officer on forms provided by the Board.
2. If an application is made to the City Manager or designee for a permit for any action which affects a landmark, the City Manager shall promptly refer such application to the Historic Preservation Officer and such application shall be deemed an application for a certificate of appropriateness. The City Manager or designee may continue to process such permit application, but shall not issue any such permit until the time has expired for filing with the City Manager the notice of denial of a certificate of appropriateness or a certificate of appropriateness has been issued pursuant to this chapter.
3. After the Board has commenced proceedings for the consideration of any application for a certificate of appropriateness by giving notice of a hearing pursuant to LMC 2.48.050(C), no other application for the same or similar alteration may be made until such proceedings and all administrative appeals therefrom pursuant to this chapter have been concluded.
4. Within 45 calendar days after the filing of an application for a certificate of appropriateness with the Board or the referral of an application to the Board by the City Manager, except those decided administratively by the Historic Preservation Officer pursuant to subsection D of this section, the Board shall hold a public hearing thereon. The Historic Preservation Officer shall mail notice of the hearing to owner, the applicant, and parties of record at the designation proceedings, not less than 10 calendar days before the date of the hearing. No hearing shall be required if the Board, the owner and the applicant agree in writing to a stipulated certificate approving the requested alterations thereof. This agreement shall be ratified by the Board in a public meeting and reflected in the Board meeting minutes. If the Board grants a certificate of appropriateness, such certificate shall be issued forthwith and the Historic Preservation Officer shall promptly file a copy of such certificate with the City Manager.
5. If the Board denies the application for a certificate of appropriateness, in whole or in part, it shall so notify the applicant, the owner, and interested persons of record setting forth the reasons why approval of the application is not warranted.
6. The Board shall adopt such other supplementary procedures consistent with the City Code as it determines are necessary to carry out the intent of this section. [Ord. 578 § 1, 2014; Ord. 251 § 1, 2000.]