TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Kristoff Bauer, ICMA-CM - Deputy City Manager
Gerald Newton, AICP - Development Services Director
FROM: Taurus Freeman - Planning & Zoning Divisional Manager
Jennifer C Baptiste - Senior Planner
DATE: May 6, 2019
RE:
Title
Discussion regarding the current Historic Districts and Standards.
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
Implications for all of city
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
2024 Goals, Goal II: Diverse and Viable Economy is achieved through the expansion of an existing local business and the redevelopment of a vacant commercial property.
2024 Goals, Goal III: High Quality Build Environment is achieved through managing the City’s future growth, providing timely reviews, and revitalization.
Executive Summary:
A discussion of several updates to the Historic Resource Commission is being requested by the City Council. First, the City’s current Design Guidelines for Fayetteville’s Historic Districts and Local Landmarks is eighteen (18) years-old and was approved by City Council in December 2000. A review and update is highly recommended to ensure that the document is current and meets the needs of the community and its future. Secondly, a review and potential update to the City’s current Downtown Locally Approved Historic District Map is presented. Lastly, the planners will apprise the City Council on information of what a Certified Local Government (CLG) means for City Council authorities.
Background:
With the present changes unfolding within the City, the proper protection of historically significant properties should be balanced with new development. Not all old buildings are considered as historically significant as later explained. With limited conversations happening over the past several years over this balance of old and new, this CCAM is designed to reinvigorate the conversation so the city is intentional in its design.
It is also important to realize that the existing HRC is involved in more than the downtown and reaches to other parts of the City through an overlay district. The title, Design Guidelines for Fayetteville’s Historic Districts and Local Landmarks is not fully accurate as portions of the “guidelines” serve as a city ordinance through reference from Chapter 30 of the City Code of Ordinances. Other parts of the City likely have important and historically significant structures but are not presently covered by the city ordinances.
The structure of the ordinance requires certain activities to be reviewed and approved by the Historic Resources Commission with any appeals moving to the Zoning Commission and then to the court system. All actions of the HRC do not come back the City Council under present organizational designs. Other items of changes to structures are staff reviewed and approved. These actions and approvals are covered with issued Major and Minor Certificates of Appropriateness.
Issues/Analysis:
The current system requires all properties under the historic district to have some review and action. Other communities require the review of the significant and contributing structures and features. Any adjustments to the review and approval, procedural organizational structure, and modifications to the various authorities are within the Fayetteville City Council’s authority as city ordinances. Any action should be measured with impact on the City’s designation as a Certified Local Government, the community’s long-term values, and the individual property owners affected. The following covers these areas in some detail.
Historic Resources Commission
The Fayetteville Historic Resources Commission (HRC) is responsible for reviewing and approving all exterior changes within the designated historic districts. Items of maintenance are not under any approval and are exempt from HRC review. HRC is also responsible for conducting public awareness and education programs concerning historic properties and districts within the City of Fayetteville.
Design Guidelines for Fayetteville’s Historic Districts and Local Landmarks
The Design Guidelines for the Fayetteville Historic Districts and Local Landmarks is designed to assist all those involved with historic properties within the City of Fayetteville. It provides guidance for property owners, contractors, and tenants wishing to restore or make changes to landmark properties or properties in a historic district. For planning staff, city code enforcement, and inspectors, and commission members it serves as a guide for evaluating proposed changes. It serves as a handbook for those who wish to preserve, protect, and educate the community regarding historic resources.
Significantly, these design guidelines are incorporated in the City’s ordinances, Chapter 30, also known as the Unified Development Ordinance.
In 2017, the City was awarded the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) Pass-Through Grant to update the Design Guidelines for Fayetteville’s Historic Districts and Local Landmarks. The grant total was $25,000. No consultant was willing to work on the update for that amount of funding. Therefore, the City was unable to utilize the funding, and returned the grant back to the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (HPO) with no penalty but allowing a future request to occur.
The grant is a federal matching grant program that supports state and local preservation programs and project. The HPF funds are made available to the HPO through the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior. Only Certified Local Governments (CLG) are eligible.
On March 20th, Planning Staff submitted an application for the 2019 grant to be applied for the same purpose. Awards should be announced by June 2019.
Certificate of Appropriateness (COA)
Currently, all structures within the two Historic Districts are required to go through a review by the HRC. The review is tied to having areas designated as a historic district. Properties outside the overlay of the Historic District are not required to be reviewed by The Historic Resources Commission. The owner of a property within the district cannot demolish the property, move it, or change its exterior features without a certificate of appropriateness issued by the Historic Resources Commission.
Owners who wish to make exterior changes to properties in the historic districts must first have their plans reviewed and approved by the HRC. This requirement applies to contributing and noncontributing properties, vacant lots, and public rights-of-way. Considerable discussion continues as to the various approvals and reviews within the downtown and the appropriateness of the reviews.
The HRC's primary responsibility is to prevent changes within the district that would not be in keeping with the special characteristics of the two districts. An owner proposing changes to a historic property in a historic district must apply to the HRC for a Certificate of Appropriateness. Proposed changes requiring a certificate of appropriateness include alteration, restoration, construction, reconstruction, relocation, or demolition of buildings, other structures, site work, landscaping, awnings, or outdoor advertising signs.
The provisions for a certificate of appropriateness only apply to exterior features of the property within the Historic district. Exterior features include the architectural style, general design, and general arrangement of the exterior of the building or other structure, including the kind and texture of the building material, the size and scale of the building, and the type and style of all windows, doors, lights, signs, and other appurtenant fixtures. In the case of outdoor advertising signs, "exterior features" include, style, material, size, and location of all signs. This also includes major landscaping and natural land features such as creeks or rivers, or creek banks.
The City started taking applications for Certificate of Appropriateness in 2002. Since that time, a total of 1,575 applications have been processed. Minor applications accounted for 1,137; whereas, major applications totaled 438. Prior to the current Chapter 30 regulations, many additional reviews were required. Only 18 applications have been denied by the Historic Resource Commission. Also, the applicants have withdrawn their request six times in the 18 year history of the HRC.
Minor Work
Rather than require a full formal commission review of proposals for relatively minor alterations, the ordinance establishing the commission allows certificates of appropriateness for minor works to be reviewed and approved by the Inspections Director, now the Director of Development Services, in conjunction with the Historic Properties Manager. The director in conjunction with the Historic Properties Manager may issue Certificates of Appropriateness for minor works consistent with the design guidelines in the following instances:
A. Where the historic character of the structure is not changed.
B. Renewal of an expired Certificate of Appropriateness where no change to approved plans is being proposed and there has been no change to the circumstances under which the certificate was approved initially.
C. Replacement of missing architectural details provided that one of the following conditions is met:
1. At least one example of the detail to be replaced exists on the structure.
2. Physical or documentary evidence exists which illustrates or describes the missing detail or details. Examples of documentary evidence include photographs, drawings, or physical examples on the structure.
3. The proposed detail is very similar to original details found on at least one structure within a City of Fayetteville Historic District that is comparable in terms of style, size, and age.
D. Minor alterations are at the rear of a structure which do not change the essential character and which are not in public view.
UDO Exemptions
The following activities are exempt from the requirements of needing a Certificate of Appropriateness, per Section 30-2.C.8.b.2:
a. The ordinary maintenance or repair of any exterior architectural feature that does not involve a change in design, materials, or outer appearance;
b. The ordinary maintenance or repair of streets, sidewalks, pavement markings, street signs, or traffic signs;
c. The construction, reconstruction, alteration, restoration, or demolition of any of the above features where the City Manager certifies the activity is required for the public's safety because of an unsafe or dangerous condition; and
d. The maintenance of any above ground utility structure or the immediate restoration of such a structure in the event of an emergency.
Certified Local Government (CLG)
The National Historic Preservation Act established a nationwide program of financial and technical assistance to preserve historic properties-- buildings, structures, sites, neighborhoods, and other places of importance in the historical and cultural life of the nation. A local government can participate directly in this program when the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) certifies that the local government has established its own historic preservation commission and a program meeting federal and state standards. A local government that receives such certification is known as a “Certified Local Government” or “CLG”.
Historic preservation review commission: in the federal CLG requirements, the board, council, commission or other similar collegial body which is established by state or local legislation as provided in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (16 USC 470 et seq.), and the members of which are appointed, unless otherwise provided by state or local legislation, by the chief local elected official of the jurisdiction concerned from among
a) professionals in the disciplines of architecture, history, architectural history, planning, prehistoric and historic archaeology, folklore, cultural anthropology, curation, conservation, landscape architecture, or related disciplines, to the extent such professionals are available in the community concerned, and
b) such other persons as have demonstrated special interest, experience, or knowledge in history, architecture or related disciplines and as will provide for an adequate and qualified commission.
It is the local government that is certified, not the historic resources commission. The commission is the entity responsible for certain preservation activities as the representative of the CLG.
In North Carolina, a local historic preservation commission is established by a local historic preservation ordinance adopted by a local government. The ordinance may provide for locally designated historic districts or locally designated historic landmarks (individual properties), or both. If only districts are provided for, the commission is typically called “historic district commission” or “historic districts commission.” If only landmarks are provided for, the commission is typically called “historic landmarks commission” or “historic properties commission.” If both types of designation are provided for, the commission is typically called “historic preservation commission” or “historic resources commission.” The term “preservation commission” is often used as a general term referring to any of the commission types. When a local government becomes a CLG, its preservation commission becomes known as a CLG commission.
As a CLG commission, the preservation commission must meet federal and state requirements concerning qualifications of members. It carries out duties specified in the local preservation ordinance and in the certification agreement with the SHPO. It has responsibilities beyond administering the local preservation ordinance; for example, it reviews National Register nominations for properties anywhere in the territorial jurisdiction of the local government.
1. Responsibilities. The responsibilities of the CLG commission must be complementary to and coordinated with those of the HPO. The HPO's tasks are enumerated in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (16 USC 470 et seq.), and in state and federal preservation standards, guidelines, and regulations.
2. Number and Qualifications. In North Carolina, the CLG commission shall have a minimum of five (5) members. The members must be appointed by the chief local elected official unless local legislation provides for a different method of appointment. In accordance with the state enabling statute, NCGS 160A-400.7, all the members shall reside within the territorial jurisdiction of the local government; except, where a joint commission is established, the county and municipalities involved shall determine the residency requirements of the commission members. All members shall have demonstrated special interest, experience or knowledge in history, architecture or related disciplines that is supported by resume information sufficient to allow the SHPO to confirm the qualifications of members, pursuant to 36 CFR Part 61.
Below are benefits of being a Certified Local Government:
• Special grants from the State Historic Preservation Officer
• Local historic preservation expertise recognized by state and federal agencies
• Technical assistance and training from the State Historic Preservation Office
• Participation in nominations to the National Register of Historic Places
• National historic preservation assistance network: publications, professional assistance
• Information exchange with the State Historic Preservation Office
• Participation in statewide preservation programs and planning
Certified Local Governments are eligible to apply for specially earmarked grants from the SHPO. At least ten percent of the annual Historic Preservation Fund grant made to the State Historic Preservation Office--Washington’s Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) under the National Historic Preservation Act is distributed among CLGs.
Types of Economic Impacts
There are three main economic impacts associated with Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation. The first impact is the direct economic benefit. Direct economic benefit is associated with the money actually spent on the historic rehabilitation of a building or site. At the onset of a project, this benefit includes the funds spent on the labor and materials for a project. The degree of specialized work that goes into the restoration of a historic building can be quite extensive and so detailed that it may require various specialists in specific fields. Once a project is completed, the money spent by visitor to the site is also included in the direct benefit. Lastly, the tax income a municipality receives from the reuse of a renovated structure is also considered a direct benefit.
The second economic benefit is the indirect economic benefits. Indirect economic benefits consist of the purchasing of goods and services from vendors that are used during the rehabilitation project. Goods can range from the purchase of lumber or specialty tools. Services can include worker meals and waste disposal. Once the rehabilitation is complete, another indirect economic benefit seen is the money that a tourist spends as it relates to visiting the site. Tourist spend funds on food, drinks, transportation, lodging, etc. Tourism also indirectly impact a development because in this social media age, the amount of free publicity generated through social media is invaluable to any development or site.
The last type of economic impact is the financial impact that is generated when companies, employers, and workers reinvest earned funds back into the economy. This benefit is known as an induced impact. Induced impacts include money spent on daily living items including purchasing groceries, paying rent or mortgages, etc.
In balance, the proper community balance of protection of historically significant and contributing structures and landmarks can create additional responsibilities and costs on the land and property structure owners. Ensuring the viability of the community and private interests remain creates the suggested need to review the nearly 20 year-old document and current review practices.
Funding Options
The Historic Tax Credit program provide tax incentives to owners of historic building to encourage the rehabilitation and re - use of historic buildings. The tax credit an owner is eligible to receive depends on several factors. The first consideration is the cost of the rehabilitation project. The project has to be of a “substantial” nature to qualify. A project is considered as “substantial” when the amount spent on the project is equal to or greater than the adjusted value of the building. Eligible projects may receive a 20% federal tax credit regardless of the cost of the project. However, the state tax credit percentage varies depending on the total cost of the project. State tax credits are awarded on a graduated scale ranging from 15% - 25%. An additional 5% credit is given to projects in a Tier 1 or Tier 2 community. Tiers are established by a set economic formula established by the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Tier 1 communities are counties that are determined to be economically distressed, Tier 2 communities are economically border line while Tier 3 communities are recognized as being the least economically distressed. As of the November 2018, Cumberland County has been ranked as a Tier 1 community. Previously, the County was ranked as a Tier 2 community.
Secondly, in order to qualify for the tax credits, a building has to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places or be a contributing building in a National Register Historic District. Currently, Fayetteville has four National Register Historic Districts - Liberty Row, Market House Square, Haymount, and the Market House Square.
Lastly, all rehabilitation work must meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standard for Rehabilitation. The intent of the Standards are to ensure that materials used ensure that the features of the interior and exterior of building are consistent with prior building standards.
Fayetteville has several programs that assist businesses throughout the City. Although there are no longer any programs that specifically assist business in the downtown area, downtown businesses are eligible for four other funding options available through the City. The first is the Business Assistance Loan Program. This program provides the gap financing or down payment required for obtaining a primary loan from an approved financial institution. The City has loaned approximately $343,000 through this program.
Another program offered through the City is the Commercial Exterior Improvement Grant Program. This program is designed to promote the revitalization of small business properties through the rehabilitation of commercial building exteriors, parking lots, and landscapes. The City of Fayetteville provides a matching grant up to $10,000 for each exterior renovated. The City has awarded approximately $295,000 to businesses through this program.
Another City program that benefits the downtown area is the Small Business Development Grant Program. The Small Business Development Grant Program is designed to assist with the further development of existing small businesses within the limits of Fayetteville. The program offers a maximum of $5,000 for eligible small business expenses. An estimated $93,000 in development grants have been awarded to support businesses in the downtown area.
Finally, the Small Business Retention Grant Program is designed to assist with the expansion costs of existing small businesses. Expansion cost range from furniture, fixtures, inventory, to interior and exterior renovations. The City provides a matching grant up to $5,000 through this program. An estimated $328,000 has been provided through this grant program.
New Construction vs. Rehabilitation
As with any other development in a City, the decision to either rehabilitate an existing building or demolish the structure in order to accommodate a new use is an issue. This decision, however, is more critical within the City’s historic district or involving historic structures. Historic buildings evoke a visceral response in many people. Hence, a tender balance between historic rehabilitation and new construction has to be found and maintained.
The disadvantage most developers see when looking at historic structures is that they are generally built to the standards of the time and, among other things, are not typically ADA compliant and need extensive renovations. To make these buildings more attractive for development, the before mentioned grants are available to assist business rehab historic buildings. Rehabilitation of historic buildings not only preserve historic structures, it may also renew a blighted building and give it a new use and purpose.
However, as inspiring and beneficial as restoring historic structures and sites may be, sometimes it is necessary for new construction to be built in order to facilitate the growth of a city. With any city, it is inevitable that new construction to accommodate new uses are going to be done. In a historic district, how to blend new construction without losing or compromising valuable historic structures is a delicate process.
In the case of New Orleans, there are eighteen historic districts that are administered by two historic commissions - the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission and the Central Business District Historic District Landmarks Commission. All districts combined, there are over 2,000 parcels that the commissions have governance. The key to success in New Orleans is that all buildings, although they are located in a historic district, are not all treated the same. Buildings are judged based on several factors to determine if they are required to be preserved or not and as to whether or not full commission review is required. If full commission review is not required, the project still has to go through staff and architectural review.
Budget Impact:
N/A
Options:
(1) Receive the report.
(2) Request the City management to explore options to modify, amend, incorporate, any city council policies to balance the development and preservation activities.
(3) Establish a sub-committee of the City council to further review the issues and impacts with the city management and present findings and recommendations back to the city council.
(4) Any combinations of the above.
Recommended Action:
Option 1 and 2
Attachments:
• Conservation and Historic Preservation Agreements Act
• Historic Districts Map