Legal Documents of Sweetwater

No ordinance designating a historic district or a historic landmark shall be forwarded to the mayor and board of commissioners for consideration until the designation report has been approved by the Sweetwater Historic Zoning Commission and has received a recommendation from the Sweetwater Planning Commission.

1. Prepared by the historic zoning commission. If the commission decides that a property or area should be considered for designation, the commission shall make or cause to be made an investigation and report meeting the minimum standards contained in sub-section (3) of this section.
2. Prepared by the property owner. To receive consideration for designation of a property as historic, a property owner must submit to the historic zoning commission an application meeting the minimum standards contained in sub-section (3) of this section. Applications prepared by owners will be reviewed and evaluated by the same standards as those prepared by the commission.
3. Contents. Designation reports shall include the following:
   
   1. The name of the property, both common and historic names if they can be determined.
   2. The name and address of the current property owner.
   3. Identification of property by tax map and parcel.
   4. The date of construction; if available.
   5. An assessment of the significance of the site, structure, or area pursuant to the criteria for designation established in sub-section (7) below.
   6. An architectural or archaeological description of the site, structure, or area.
   7. A historical discussion of the site, structure, or area with its type, period, locality, and significance.
   8. An overall photograph that clearly depicts the property proposed for designation and supplementary photographs showing facades, details and setting.
   9. Tax map with the boundaries of the designated properties marked.
4. Submission of reports. A designation report prepared by or for the historic zoning commission may be considered at any meeting of the commission provided that the notification requirements contained in section (5) are met. An application for designation prepared by the property owner and meeting the standards contained in section (3), as identified above, must be received at least 30 days prior to the next meeting of the commission in order to be considered at the meeting.
5. Notification procedures. When a designation report is to be considered at a commission meeting, the chairperson shall notify by certified mail the owners of the property proposed for designation prior to the meeting at which the matter is to be heard, unless the report has been submitted by the property owner. The chairperson shall also have a notice published in the local paper, not less than 10 days prior to the meeting date, the agenda for the upcoming meeting including the name of all property owners and street addresses of any properties proposed for designation.
6. Consideration of report. Once the designation report has been prepared, either by the commission or by the property owner, and once the notification requirements of this section have been met, the commission shall consider the report. The commission may accept it, amend it, reject it or recommend further study. Prior to the final action of adopting the designation report, the commission shall indicate the extent to which the property or properties meets the criteria for designation contained in section (7) below.
7. Criteria for designation. For the purpose of this section, historic designation is defined as geographically definable areas which have a significant individual structure or a concentration, linkage or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects which are united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development, and which meet one or more of the following criteria for designation:
   
   1. Association with an event which has made a significant contribution to local, state or national history;
   2. Association with the lives of persons significant in local, state or national history;
   3. Structures or groups of structures which embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction;
   4. It has yielded or may likely yield archaeological information important in history or prehistory; or
   5. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. (as added by Ord. #781, April 2006)