1993-032A:\HISTLAND.ORD
/I I
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, AMENDING THE ZONING
REGULATIONS OF CHAPTER 35 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES RELATING TO
HISTORIC LANDMARKS PRESERVATION AND HISTORIC DISTRICTS BY CHANGING
THE TITLE OF SECTION 35-219 FROM "EXTERIOR ALTERATIONS AND CHANGES;
ORDINARY MAINTENANCE; APPEALS" TO "EXTERIOR ALTERATIONS AND
CHANGES; MINOR EXTERIOR ALTERATION; ORDINARY MAINTENANCE; APPEALS;
HISTORIC LANDMARKS" AND BY AMENDING SUBSECTION (A) OF SECTION 35-
219 ENTITLED "CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS" TO PROVIDE FOR AN
APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR PROPOSED WORK IN A HISTORIC DISTRICT TO
BE FILED PURSUANT TO AN ORDINARY MAINTENANCE PROCEDURE, MINOR EX-
TERIOR ALTERATION PROCEDURE, STANDARD PROCEDURE, OR EMERGENCY
PROCEDURE AND SETTING FORTH CRITERIA FOR DENIALS OF APPLICATIONS
AND APPEALS TO THE CITY COUNCIL AND AMENDMENTS TO CERTIFICATES OF
APPROPRIATENESS; AND BY REPEALING SUBSECTIONS (B), (C), (D) AND (E)
OF SAID SECTION 35-219 RELATING GENERALLY TO BUILDING PERMITS; PRO-
VIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A MAXIMUM PENALTY OF
$2,000 FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS:
SECTION I: That Chapter 35 of the Code of ordinances relating
to "Zoning" is hereby amended by revising and adding to the title
to Sec. 35-219 and subsection (a) of Section 35-219, entitled
"Certificate of Appropriateness," and repealing subsections (b),
(c), (d) and (e) of Section 35-219 so that hereafter said section
shall read as follows:
Section 35-219. Exterior alterations and changes; minor
exterior alteration, ordinary maintenance; appeals; historic
landmarks.
(a) Certificate of appropriateness. No person shall alter,
change, construct, reconstruct, expand, restore, remove or
demolish any exterior architectural feature of a designated
historic landmark or allow the results of such action to be
maintained unless application is made in compliance with this
section for a certificate of appropriateness and such a cert-
ificate is granted. As used in this section, the term "exter-
ior architectural feature" shall include but not be limited to
architectural style and general arrangement of such portion of
the exterior of a structure as is designed to be open to view
from a public way. A certificate of appropriateness shall be
obtained prior to the issuance of any building permit, although
the certificate of appropriateness review and building permit
and other required permit review processes may be conducted
simultaneously. A certificate of appropriateness may also be
required for work not otherwise requiring a building permit.
The certificate of appropriateness shall be required in ad-
dition to, and not in lieu of, any required building permit.
(1) Application. Prior to commencement of any work, the
owner shall file an application for a certificate of ap-
propriateness with the city preservation officer. The
application shall contain such information as is requested
from a form prepared by the preservation officer, the pro-
visions of which have been approved by the city attorney.
(2) Determination of procedure. Upon receipt of an ap-
plication for a certificate of appropriateness, the pre-
servation officer shall determine whether the application
is to be reviewed under the ordinary maintenance review
procedure, the minor exterior alteration procedure or the
standard procedure for certificate of appropriateness
review.
(b) Ordinary maintenance. Ordinary maintenance shall be de-
fined as the process of stabilizing deteriorated or damaged
architectural features (including but not limited to roofing,
windows, columns, and siding), and will include any work that
does not constitute a change in design, material, color or out-
ward appearance, and include in-kind replacement or repair.
(1) If the applicant is seeking a certificate of approp-
riateness to authorize only ordinary maintenance, the
preservation officer shall review the application to de-
termine whether the proposed work complies with the reg-
ulations contained in this section and all applicable
ordinances and approve or deny the application within five
(5) days of its receipt.
(2) If no action is taken within five (5) working days a
certificate of appropriateness is deemed to be approved.
The applicant may appeal the preservation officer's
decision to deny by submitting to the preservation officer
a written request for appeal within ten (10) days of the
decision. The written request for appeal starts the
standard certificate of appropriateness review procedure by
the historic landmark commission.
(c) Minor exterior alteration. Minor exterior alteration shall
be defined as the installation of or alteration to awnings,
fences, gutters and downspouts; incandescent lighting fixtures;
hardscaping comprising more than twenty-five (25) percent of
the front or side yard; restoration of original architectural
features that constitute a change from existing condition;
painting of wood or other appropriate elements that constitutes
a change in color from existing color; and additions and
changes not visible from any street to the rear of the main
structure or to an accessory structure.
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(1) If the applicant is seeking a certificate of approp-
riateness to authorize only minor exterior alterations, as
defined in this section, the executive director of planning
and development shall review the application to determine
whether the proposed work complies with the regulations
contained in this section and all applicable ordinances and
approve or deny the application within five (5) working
days of its receipt.
(2) If no action is taken within five (5) working days of
its receipt, a certificate of appropriateness is deemed to
be approved. The applicant may appeal the decision to deny
by submitting to the Executive Director of Planning and
Development a written request for appeal within ten (10)
days of the decision. The written request for appeal
starts the standard procedure certificate of appropriate-
ness review by the historic landmark commission.
(d) Standard procedure for certificate of appropriateness
review.
(1) If the applicant is seeking a certificate of appro-
priateness to authorize work that is not ordinary main-
tenance or a minor exterior alteration, the preservation
officer shall forward the application to the historic land-
mark commission for review. The commission shall deny, ap-
prove, or approve with conditions any certificate of appro-
priateness application within thirty-five (35) days of
receipt of a completed application. The historic landmark
commission shall conduct a public hearing on the applic-
ation to allow applicants and interested persons to present
their views.
(2) All decisions of the commission shall be in writing,
stating its approval or the specific reasons for denying or
modifying any applications. A copy of the certificate
shall be sent to the applicant and a copy filed with plan-
ning and development department.
(3) If a certificate of appropriateness has been approved
by the historic landmark commission:
(a) it shall issue the certificate to applicant; and
(b) if a building permit is required for the proposed
work, a copy of the certificate of appropriateness
shall be forwarded to the building official.
(4) If a certificate of appropriateness has been denied,
the applicant may appeal the decision in writing to the
city council by filing a written notice with the city
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secretary within ten (10) days of receiving notice of the
denial.
(5) After a final decision is reached denying a certificate
of appropriateness, no further applications may be con-
sidered for the subject matter of the denied certificate
for one year from the date of the final decision unless:
(a) the historic landmark commission waives the time
limitation because the historic landmark commission
finds that there are changed circumstances regarding
the property sufficient to warrant a new hearing. A
simple majority vote by the historic landmark commis-
sion is required to grant the request for waiver of the
time limitation. If the historic landmark commission
denies the request, the applicant may appeal in writing
to the city council by filing written notice with the
city secretary within ten (10) days of receiving notice
of the denial.
(6) If final action has not been taken by the landmark com-
mission within sixty (60) days of the preservation of-
ficer's receipt of the application:
(a) the preservation officer shall issue a certificate
of appropriateness to the applicant for the proposed
work; and
(b) if all other requirements of the city code are met
and a building permit is required for the proposed
work, the building official shall issue a building per-
mit to the applicant for the proposed work.
(e) Criteria for denial of certificate of appropriateness. A
certificate of appropriateness must be denied if there is a
final decision that the proposed work will have an adverse
effect on:
(1) the external architectural features of the historic
landmark;
(2) the external architectural features of the properties
in the block or in the historic district as a whole; or
(3) the future preservation, maintenance and use of the
historic landmark and the historic district.
(f) Amendments to a certificate of appropriateness. A cer-
tificate of appropriateness may be amended by submitting an
application for amendment to the preservation officer. The
application shall then be subject to the standard certificate
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of appropriateness review procedure.
(g) Emergency procedure. If a landmark is damaged and the
building official determines that the landmark will suffer
additional damage without immediate repair, the building of-
ficial may allow the property owner to temporarily protect the
landmark. In such a case, the property owner shall apply for
a certificate of appropriateness within ten (10) days of the
occurrence which caused the damage. The protection authorized
under this subsection must not permanently alter the architect-
ural features of the landmark.
SECTION III: The provisions of this ordinance are separable,
and the invalidity of any phrase or part of this ordinance shall
not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remainder of the
ordinance.
SECTION IV: That any person violating any provision of this
ordinance shall, upon conviction, be fined a sum not exceeding
$2,000. Each day that a provision of this ordinance is violated
shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
SECTION V: That this ordinance shall become effective fourteen
(14) days from the date of its passage, and the City Secretary is
hereby directed to cause the caption of this ordinance to be pub-
lished twice in the Denton Record-Chronicle, the official newspaper
of the City of Denton, Texas, within ten (10) days of the date of
its passage.
PASSED AND APPROVED this the, l " day of
1993.
ATTEST:
JENNIFER WALTERS,C~ITY SECRETARY
BY lV
APPRO AS LEGAL FORM:
DEBRA DRAYITCH, CITY ATTORNEY
BY: A4~4NX Q- Z
CASTLEBERRY,
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