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1998-116AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER I0 "FINANCE AND TAXATION'' OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DENTON BY ADDING ARTICLE VII TO PROVIDE FOR ABATING OF THE INCREASE IN THE ASSESSED VALUE OF HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT SITES FOR TAX PURPOSES WHICH RESULT FROM APPROPRIATE REPAIRS AND RENOVATION TO HISTORIC BUILDINGS IN THE DOWNTOWN COMMERCIAL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF DENTON, PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, Article 8, Section 1-F of the Texas Constitution and Section 11 24 of the Texas Property Tax Code enable the City of Denton to exempt from taxation part or all of the assessed value of certmn historically significant sites in need of tax relief to encourage their preservation, and WHEREAS, the C,ty Council of the City of Denton finds such tax relief is needed to encourage the preservation of historic structures and sites within the Downtown Commercial District of the City of Denton, and WHEREAS, the City Council also finds that such tax rehef will provide economic mcenUve to develop proJects m historic buildings worthy of preservation, NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS SECTION I That the "Finance and Taxation" Chapter of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Denton, Texas, be and the same is hereby amended by the addition of a new Article VII entitled "Tax Exemption for Historically Slgmficant Sites," so that hereafter said article shall be and read as follows ARTICLE VII, TAX EXEMPTION FOR HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT SITES Sec 10-130 GRANTING OF PARTIAL EXEMPTION Any property which is designated as a "historically significant site" pursuant to the terms of this article and which is substantially rehabilitated as provided herein shall have abated any increase in the assessed value for ad valorem tax purposes in excess of the assessed value of the property for the tax year immediately prior to the renovation, for a period of ten (10) years following the completion of the renovation Only the historic structure and the land reasonably necessary for access to, and use of, the structure shall be subject to the tax abatement The abatement period shall begin on the first day of the tax year following completion of the rehabilitation project sec 10-131 DESIGNATION OF HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT SITES For the purpose of this article, all structures, residential and commercial, 50 years old or older which are within the boundaries of the Downtown Commercial District as indicated on Attachment "A", which is attached hereto and made a part hereof for all purposes, are designated as historically significant sites in need of tax relief to encourage their preservation Sec 10-132 ELIGIBILITY To be eligible for a property tax abatement, a property must meet the following requirements 1 The property must meet the requirements for designation as a Mstoncally significant site in need of tax rehefas defined in Sec 10-131 oftMs article 2 The property must meet all reqmrements for application, certification and verification as set forth below Sec 10-133 APPLICATION PROCESS Applications for a historically significant site tax exemption pursuant to this article are to be filed with the Preservation Officer (or such other city official designated by the Cay Manager) of the City of Denton, who shall be the agent for the C~ty of Denton for the purposes of administering this article Each application must be signed by the owner of the property, be acknowledged before a notary pubhc and shall A State the legal description of the property proposed for Cemfication, B Include an affidavit by the owner stating the structure is 50 years old or older and is located within the Downtown Commercial District, C Include detailed plans and/or descriptions of the proposed work demonstrating rehabilitation is in accordance with the current Property Appearance Guidelines adopted by ordinance of the City Council, D Include cost estimates indicating the repair or rehabilitation of the exterior of the building will equal or exceed 25% of the most recent assessed ad valorem tax valuation of the structure or $20,000, wMchever is less Roof repair or replacement may comprise no more than 50% of the minimum threshold amount necessary to qualify for tax abatement, E Include a projection of the estimated construction time and predicted completion date of the Mstonc repair or rehabilitation, F Authorize the members of the Historic Landmark Commission, the City Manager or designee, and elected officials to visit and respect the property proposed for Certification to verify that it is in need of substantial repair or rehabilitation and to verify repair or rehabilitation, PAGE 2 G Sign an agreement to submit an apphcatlon for a Certificate of Appropriateness to determine compliance with Property Appearance Gmdehnes for any exterior modifications to the property for the duration of the period dunng which the tax abatement Is m effect, H Include a tax certificate showing all taxes due upon the property have been paid, and I Provide any additional information to the Historic Landmark Commission which the owner or Committee deems relevant or useful, such as the history of the structure, access to the structure by the public, or any proposed changes in use of the structure Each application shall contain sufficient documentation confirming or supporting the information submitted therein Sec 10-134 CERTIFICATION PROCESS Upon receipt of the sworn application, the Preservation Officer shall forward the apphcatlon to the Historic Landmark Commission for review The Historic Landmark Commission shall review the proposed rehabilitation for conformance with the current version of the Property Appearance Gmdehnes The Historic Landmark Commission shall recommend to the City Council whether the structure shall be eligible for the tax exemption The Commission may recommend approval of the application as submitted, approval with conditions, or denial The Historic Landmark Commission shall review the application within forty-five (45) days of its submittal to the Preservation Officer The written recommendation of the Historic Landmark Commission shall be delivered to the City Manager no more than ten (10) days after the Commission's decision is rendered If the decision of the Commission is for approval with conditions, and the applicant concurs with such conditions, the above ten (10) days for delivery will not commence until the application is amended to comply with the conditions approved by the Commission Upon receipt of the recommendation of the Historic Landmark Commission, the City Manager shall, within a reasonable time, place the matter upon the City Council Agenda for determination of eligibility In determining eligibility, the City Council shall first determine that all the requirements of this article have been met and that only the historic structure and the land reasonably necessary for access to, and use thereof, is to be provided favorable tax relief as provided in Section 10-130 of this article If ehgibihty is determined, the Council shall authorize the City Manager to execute a tax exemption certificate upon verification of completion of repairs or renovation If required by the Denton County Appraisal District, the City Manager or designee shall provide annually a hat of structures ehglble for tax exemption under this article Sec 10-135 VERIFICATION PROCESS Upon completion of the repair or rehablhtatlon, the Certified applicant shall submit to the Preservation Officer a sworn statement of completion acknowledging that the structure has been substantially repaired or rehabilitated in accordance with the plan approved by PAGE 3 the C~ty Councd Applicant must also present documentation verifying that the cost of repmr or rehabd~tat~on meets or exceeds the amounts estabhshed ~n Sec 10-133 of th~s article The Preservation Officer or designee, upon receipt of the sworn statement of completton, but no later than thirty (30) days thereat~er, shall make an investigation of the property and shall approve or d~sapprove the fact that the property has been completed as reqmred for Certification If the repatr or renovation deviates m any way from the construction plan approved by Council, the H~stonc Landmark Commission shall determine whether or not the modifications are m accordance w~th the Property A~ppearance Guidelines If verification of completion shall be deemed unfavorable, the Certtfied Apphcant shall be reqmred to complete or correct the repmr or rehabditat~on ~n order to obt~un the tax exemption prowded by this article or appeal the Commtss~on's decision to the C~ty Councd When the verification of completion receives a favorable rewew by the Preservation Officer, or the Commiss~on or the Council, whichever is apphcable, the Preservation Officer shall notify the C~ty Manager ~n writing of compliance Thereat~er, the City Manager shall execute a tax exemption certificate and forward same to the Denton County Appraisal D~stnct Sec 10-136 PROPERTY APPEARANCE GUIDELINES The Property Appearance Guidelines on file in the office of the Preservation Officer, the Planning and Commumty Development Department and such other office as the City Manager may designate, are hereby approved and incorporated herein and made a part hereof for all purposes The Property Appearance Guidelines shall be periodically reviewed by the Historical Landmark Commission and desired changes by the Commissmn to such guidelines shall be recommended to the C~ty Council Any changes tO the Property Appearance Guidehnes shall not be effective until such changes are approved by the City Councd The City Council may d~rect the City Manager or the Preservation Officer to propose certmn changes to the Property Appearance Guidelines but such changes shall not be adopted by C~ty Council without a recommendation from the Historic Landmark Commission Sec 10-137 ALTERATION OR DESTRUCTION (A) During the exemption period, if the Preservation Officer or a member of the H~stonc Landmark Comm~ssion has reason to believe that an exempted structure has been altered or totally or partmlly destroyed by the willful act or neghgence of the owner or h~s representative, the Preservation Officer shall immediately cause the matter to be scheduled for the earliest possible consideration by the City Council If, at~er ~wng ngttce and hearing to the owner, the C~ty Council determines that the exempted structure has been totally or partially destroyed or altered by the willful act or negligence of the owner or hts representatwe, the owner shall immediately repay to the C~ty all of the tax revenues that were not paid because of the exemption plus interest calculated at an annual rate of seven percent (7%) PAGE4 (B) Where an exempted structure xs totally or partxally destroyed or altered by other than the willful act or neghgence of the owner or tus representative, the owner shall, whenever feasible, request a budding permit to reconstruct the historically slgmficant site an accordance w~th plans and spec~ficaUons (plans) that comply w~th the Property Appearance Guidelines and budding and development codes of the City of Denton The cost of RenovaUon xs hereby deemed feasible when destructxon or alteration ~s fifty percent (50%) or less of the assessed ad valorem tax value of the budding wxthout deduction for the abatement hereunder The plans for the structure must be approved by the Preservation Officer or designee If there ~s any quesuon that the plans do not comply w~th the Property Appearance Gmdelines the Hxstonc Landmark Commxsslon shall determine ~f such plans are m comphance with such gu~dehnes A dec~slon by the Commission, denying the issuance of the budding permit for failure of the plans to comply w~th the Property Appearance Gmdehnes, may be appealed by the owner to the C~ty Council If rebuilding actxvmes are not completed wxthm one (1) year of the damage to the structure, the repayment of the tax revenues not pond because of the exemption shall be required as set forth ~n subsection (a) above, unless C~ty Council grants an extension for such permits (C) If the owner of a damaged h~stonc structure exempted under thxs Article apphes for a demolmon permit, the building official shall follow the regulations contained m Sec 35-220 (Demolmon or removal of h~stonc landmarks) of the Zoning Chapter, as amended, ~n processing such permit In cases where a demolition permit is issued by the C~ty because renovation is not feasible, repayment of tax revenue ~s not required (D) If the owner of a h~stonc structure whxch is damaged by a willful or neghgent act of the owner or h~s representative has such structure demolished or such structure ~s not reponred w~th~n one (1) year of the damage, such owner will not be ehg~ble for future abatement unless a rewsed apphcat~on for such structure is approved by the City Council Sec 10-138 TRANSFERABILITY TO FUTURE OWNER(S) If the tax exempUon cemficate executed by the City Manager per Sec 10-135 is umely recorded by the Owner of the structure m the Deed Records of Denton County with the approved apphcat~on, the tax exemption authorized above shall constitute a covenant running w~th the land for the ten (10) year period provided m th~s article Should the owner of the structure ever cease to comply with the terms of the apphcat~on and of this article dunng such ten (10) year period, th~s abatement may be revoked for the years remaining wxth~n such ten (10) year period, upon the finding of such mcomphance by the Cxty Courted, after g~wng notice and hearing to the owner The C~ty Manager or h~s designee shall advise the Chxef Appraiser of the Denton County Appronsal D~stnct of the revocation of the abatement and shall file an appropriate document ~n the Deed Records of Denton County revoking the tax exempuon PAGE 5 Sec 10-139 AUTHORITY OF CHIEF APPRAISER The chief appraiser for the county appraisal district shall determine that portion of land which is reasonably necessary for access to and use of Nstonc structures for which applications for exemptions are granted and shall assess for taxation all such excess land m the same equal and uniform manner as all other taxable properties in the City It shall be m the &screuon of the cNef appraiser as to whether or not owners of historically s~gmficant structures under th~s article must file an apphcatlon with such appraiser's office annually to obtain the exemption granted above or if one application can be executed by the owner of the h~stoncally slgmficant structure to obtain the ten (10) year h~stonc exemptmn Sec 10-140 USE IN CONJUCTION WITH OTHER TAX INCENTIVES At the &scretion of City Council, the tax abatement prowded m this article may be used m conjunction with tax abatements for I-hstonc Landmark zomng as provided m Article VI Chapter 10 of the Denton C~ty Code The apphcant must meet all reqmrements for each tax abatement separately m order to be considered for both abatements This tax abatement may be used m conjunction with other types of abatements that may be developed m the future, unless otherwise prohlNted by statute or by ordinance Sec 10-141 DEFINITIONS Should the exact meamng of terms contained in this article be ~n d~spute, the meaning of such terms as utilized in the lnterpretauon or definmon of such terms m Amcle V "Historic Landmark Preservation and Historic D~stncts' of Chapter 35 (Zoning) of the C~ty Code, as amended, or m this Chapter shall comrol SECTION II That if any section, subsectton, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word xn this ordinance, or application thereof to any person or c~rcumstances ~s held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and the C~ty Council of the Cay of Denton, Texas hereby declares it would have enacted such remaining portxons despite any such invalidity SECTION III That save and except as amended hereby, all the provisions, sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of Chapter 10 of the Code of Ordinances shall remain m full force and effect E TI.~_C~_O_~_~ That this ordinance shall become effective fourteen (14) days fi.om the date of tts passage, and the C~ty Secretary is hereby directed to cause the caption of this ordinance to be pubhshed twice ~n the Denton Record-Chronicle, a daily newspaper published in the City of Denton, Texas, within ten (10) days of the date of~ts passage PAGE6 PASSED AND APPROVED this the ay of ,1998 ATTEST JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY AP~ROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY PAGE7