TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Kelly Olivera - Assistant City Manager
Dr. Gerald Newton, AICP - Development Services Director
FROM: Will Deaton, AICP - Planning and Zoning Division Manager
Lauren Long - Planner II
DATE: May 22, 2023
RE:
Title
New Design Standards for the locally designated historic districts and local landmarks to comply with Chapter 160D of the North Carolina General Statutes
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
Alll
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Strategic Plan FY 2022
Goals 2027
Goal 3: The City of Fayetteville will be invested in today and tomorrow.
• Objective 3.3 To sustain a favorable development and business climate through the timely and accurate construction review and building inspection services
• Objective 3.4 To revitalize neighborhoods with effective code enforcement and violations abatement
Executive Summary:
Updates to the Design Guidelines for Fayetteville’s Historic Districts and Local Landmarks have not occurred since 2000, however, the primary purpose of adopting new standards instead of updating the existing guidelines is to comply with the changes to the North Carolina General Statutes (NCGS) enabling legislation for local planning and development regulation (160D) that took effect in January of 2021. These changes are to the terminology used for design regulation in §160D-947 required for enforcement. In the process of updating the current ordinance to reflect this change in terminology, additional standards reflecting recent changes to the design of the built environment have been addressed in order to streamline the design review process. These new standards will effectively replace the Design Guidelines for Fayetteville’s Historic Districts and Local Landmarks and be the new design review standards for the Downtown Historic District, the Haymount Historic District and locally designated landmarks.
Background:
The American historic preservation movement began in the early 20th century alongside the expansion of the interstate highway system after the Federal Aid Road and Highway act of 1916 and 1921. During the early 20th century many municipalities witnessed the destruction of important landmarks and cultural sites that were swept away as collateral damage in the pursuit of improved interstate connectivity. Unfortunately, many of the locations of interstate highways were sited on top of cultural landmarks and the collective loss of these led to a nationwide movement, spurred by the Conference of Mayors, to preserve the remaining sites through the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916 and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1949.
Although these agencies and organizations were created at the highest levels of government, they are the result of a grass-roots movement that began at the local level. Continuing in this tradition, the state and local function of preservation is the most important and effective form of administration, enabled by federal legislation, for preserving our nation’s cultural heritage and history. In the early 1970’s the City of Fayetteville began registering landmarks and districts that were of national importance such as Liberty Row and the Market House. The first local historic district was adopted for the Haymount residential area in 1983 and for downtown in 1997. A national register district for the downtown was created along similar boundary lines in 1999. The Fayetteville Historic Resources Commission (HRC) was established in 1986. With these acts, the city became a part of the national endeavor to preserve the material history of the city and the nation’s evolution by creating a bridge between past and future generations using the built environment.
The City of Fayetteville derives many benefits from its locally and nationally registered districts and landmarks. Some of these benefits are hard to quantify, such as community and real estate market resiliency through the adaptive reuse of historic buildings. Historic buildings tend to appreciate at a greater rate than the market at large and are less vulnerable to market volatility. Historic districts also encourage tourism, which in turn is a local stimulus to the economy because many of the business’ downtown are locally based and owner-run establishments. Other benefits are easier to define because they are monetarily connected to grants and tax credits that are received by the city and property owners in the district.
The local designation of historic property by ordinance and administration of the districts qualifies the City of Fayetteville to participate in the Certified Local Government (CLG) program run by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). As a CLG municipality, the city, and landowners through the city’s certification, have access to annual appropriations the state receives from the Federal Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) administered by the National Park Service (NPS). These funds are obtained in the form of grants and have been received multiple times in the past, and presently, for architectural surveys and for preservation and restoration projects. The North Carolina Department of Commerce classifies Fayetteville as a Tier 1 County based on its County Distress Ranking system comparing unemployment rates, household incomes, population growth, and adjusted property taxes. This Tier 1 classification gives the City of Fayetteville first ranking in access to HPF funds as a certified CLG based on the HPF grant manual’s three-tiered apportionment formula.
In addition to HPF grant fund access, ordinances designating local landmarks also enables landowners of real property designated as historic to qualify for property tax deferment of up to 50% as enabled by NCGS § 105-258 from the state, administered by the county. The tax deferments are conferred on the property as long as the landmark retains the significance for the period or event it was originally recognized for by local ordinance. Local landmarks maintain their significance by bringing all exterior modifications before the HRC and complying with the Secretary of the Interiors’ Standards for Rehabilitation.
A reduction in tax burden can also be obtained in the form of credits at the federal level by contributing commercial structures and buildings that are located in the nationally registered historic districts. Once registered, these districts maintain their status through the oversight of a local historic district commission. The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive program is run by the Internal Revenue Service in partnership with SHPO. Under this program a 20% income tax credit is available for the rehabilitation of income producing buildings and sites that comply with the Secretary’s Standards for Rehabilitation. To date, 43 property owners between the Haymount Historic District and the Downtown Historic District have applied for participation in the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive program. 17 of those applicants have received tax credits, 26 are pending.
To assist property owners in preserving the special character of the historic districts, the City Council appoints the HRC to review requests to modify the exteriors of buildings that have been identified as having historic value. The HRC reviews the requested modifications and compares the request against the adopted guidelines that incorporate the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, issued by NPS. Adherence to these standards maintains the city’s qualifications to participate in the CLG program and validates a qualified property owner’s application for tax deferment from the state or participation in the tax credit program run at the federal level. The current guidelines in place were last adopted in 2000 and require updates to better address the changes in modern construction and preservation techniques as well as to comply with the changes to local planning and development regulation (160D).
In October 2020, the City of Fayetteville was awarded a Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) Grant by SHPO to update the Design Guidelines. In December of the same year, the city sent out a request for proposal and entered into a contract with the Walker Collaborative and Common Ground Urban Design + Planning to revise and update the guidelines. On May 25, 2021 and May 26, 2021 the Walker Collaborative held two public meetings to gather information and initial feedback from stakeholders, the Advisory Committee, the HRC, and members of staff. Two additional meetings were held on August 31, 2021 and September 8, 2021 between the Walker Collaborative, Common Ground Urban Design + Planning, the Advisory Committee, HRC, Staff, and representatives from SHPO to receive feedback as each draft version of the standards was submitted and reviewed.
In August of 2021, the Walker Collaborative delivered the final draft and the Historic Resources Commission recommended approval of the new standards on April 16, 2022. On October 13, 2022, a community meeting was held at the FAST Center where residents and property owners within the two locally designated historic districts provided feedback concerning the new standards as drafted and approved by the HRC. These comments have been summarized and attached to this report.
Issues/Analysis:
The revision of terminology from the use of the term “guidelines” to “standards” is to assure consistency with NCGS §160D-947 and to clarify that any design review regulation adopted by a municipality is binding for decisions on quasi-judicial certificate of appropriateness decisions. The term “guidelines” could imply that the standards are advisory in nature rather than the necessary criteria for decision making. These changes are required for enforcement and mandated by the State Legislature.
Revisions to the Design Guideline’s organization and the addition of new sections is to streamline the review process and provide clarification by quantifying defined standards that assist both applicants and reviewers of a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) through the application review process. Both the Design Guidelines and the newly drafted Design Standards are similarly organized around the treatment of specific architectural elements such as doors, windows, roofs, etc., and follow the principles set out for preservation by the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards (National Park Service). However, while the existing guidelines provide guidance on what is acceptable treatment for a variety of architectural elements, the new standards will organize all treatment into categories. These new categories are preserve, repair, and replace and provide specific direction tailored to the actions of the property owner. This re-organization helps to provide better direction when determining the decision-making authority for a COA and clearly defines what work is not reviewable. The new standards provide better quantification of definable measures such as those for permitted building heights, setbacks, etc.,. The new standards also identify relevant National Park Service publications as references that outline best preservation practices to assist in guiding owners of historic properties in making repairs and preserving original materials.
In the process of revising the existing guidelines, certain sections have been re-categorized. The bullet points below outline the sections that have been re-categorized:
• Signage, new reference: § D.7 (D.65); old reference: p.38
• Relocation of Buildings and Structures: new reference: §D.5 (D.59); old reference p. 72
• Artificial and Contemporary Materials: new reference: §D.1 (D.34-D.35); old reference: p. 44
• Material Deterioration: new reference: §D (D.6); old reference: p.44
• New Buildings: Design § D.3 (D.40); old reference p. 68
• Site Design: § D.4 (D.51); old reference: p. 29
The following sections will remain categorically the same but have been expanded with additional standards to address changes in preservation practices and to accommodate the use of new building materials where appropriate:
• Historic Buildings: Maintenance and Alterations
o Walls
o Foundations
o Roofs
o Doors and Windows
o Storefronts
o Canopies and Awnings
o Porches, Porticoes, Balconies and Decks
• Historic Buildings: Additions
A detailed list of these additional standards under section D of the draft Design Standards are attached to this report in an excel spreadsheet.
The following sections are entirely new additions:
• Murals: § D.8 (D.72)
• Disaster Preparedness: §D.6 (D.63)
The new standards have also been updated to reference the enabling legislation under 160D and the appeals process has been updated to reflect the current board that would review an initial appeal of any decision made by the Historic Resources Commission. The new standards also clarify applicability of the Historic District Design Standards as they relate to any development standards in the underlying base zoning districts. Appendices have also been added to the document to include a list of the city’s local landmarks, development standards for the Fire District Overlay, and additional design standards for murals. Although a list of local landmarks has been added to the appendices, the Unified Development Ordinance does not contain a provision for local landmarks being included in the Historic District/ Landmark Overlay (HLO) and therefore local landmarks are not regulated by the existing Design Guidelines.
The new draft standards have been reviewed by the Historic Resources Commission, an advisory committee, representatives from the State Historic Preservation Office, Development Services Staff, as well as by property owners and residents of the two local historic districts. The newly drafted standards are in accordance with the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Rehabilitation and Chapter 160D of the North Carolina General Statutes. The Historic Resources Commission has voted to recommend approval of the draft standards attached to this report. All the benefits the city receives from the local and national historic districts and landmarks are based on the standards the city enforces for rehabilitation and preservation through the Historic Resources Commission. These standards must be consistent with those established by the Secretary of the Interior and the State of North Carolina’s General Statutes. If the new standards are not in compliance with the state and federal legislation, then the City risks being out of compliance with the Local Government Certification Agreement the city signed in 1999 and therefore loosing its certification as a CLG municipality.
Budget Impact:
Any matching component for the HPF Grant has already been disbursed in FY 2020 and will have no impact on this fiscal year or hereafter.
Options:
1. Move to approve the adoption of the revised Historic District Design Standards as submitted.
2. Remand the draft version of the Historic District Design Standards as submitted back to Staff for further review and modification.
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends that Council move to approve the adoption of the Historic District Design Standards because many of the changes are necessary to bring our ordinance into compliance with Chapter 160D of the North Carolina General Statutes. If revisions to the existing guidelines are not adopted, enforcement of the existing regulation would no longer be enabled through the State’s Legislature and would disqualify the City of Fayetteville from meeting the certification criteria for Certified Local Government Status. Having undergone the required revision and review process with public input, this item is now ready for review by the City Council for action.
Attachments:
1. Historic District Design Standards
2. Summarized public comments provided at the 10/13/2022 community meeting
3. New Design Review Standards for Section D
4. Draft Ordinance
5. Power Point Presentation