City Council Study Session Agenda and Packet 2004 02 24

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COUNCIL COMMUNICATION TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL FROM: WILLIAM A. SIMMONS CITY MANAGER DATE: FEBRUARY 24, 2004 SUBJECT: DRAFT HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDINANCE ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT: CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE SUMMARY: The Historic Preservation Commission was appointed in February 2003 and has have been working on a draft preservation and Iandmarking ordinance. Commission members would like to see a friendly preservation program that offers incentives for residents to preserve historic buildings and their defining characteristics. They feel the ordinance presented here shows a balance between private property rights and the public interest of preserving Louisville's history. A draft of the ordinance is attached for your review. To help explain the ordinance, four flow charts outlining the major processes in the ordinance are included. • Landmarking with the Owner's Consent • Landmarking without the Owner's Consent • Approval of Alterations to Landmarked Site • Demolition or Removal of Non - Landmarked Buildings over 50 Years Old Also included is a comparison of preservation ordinances from around the state, a list of proposed incentives from the Commission, and a letter from the Commission members. Items of note in the ordinance: • The ordinance allows the property owner, owners within a proposed historical district, the City Council, the Preservation Commission, or a recognized preservation organization to submit an application for landmark designation. • The ability to "Landmark without the Owner's Consent" varies by community, many allow for nonconsensual designation in some form. This ordinance would require a supermajority of the City Council to approve an application without the owner's consent. In addition, the application would have to show that the site meets the higher standard of "overwhelming historical value" as defined in the ordinance. Regulations for Iandmarking of historic districts also vary by community. This ordinance would require an application to have the consent of at least 25% of the owners in a proposed district to be considered as an application with the owner's consent. Any application with less than 25% would be processed as without the owners consent. The idea is that the applicants would do their own work to generate support for the application within the proposed district. However, any application that receives written opposition from 51 % or more of the owners in a proposed district SUBJECT AGENDA ITEM DRAFT PRESERVATION ORDINANCE • 1