January 26, 2016, Introduced by Reps. Afendoulis, Chatfield, Theis, Lucido, Poleski, Lyons, Cox, Sheppard, Hughes, Hooker, Smiley, Price, LaFontaine, Callton, Yonker, Garcia, Victory, Cole, Johnson, Kivela, Jenkins, Bumstead, Kelly and Glenn and referred to the Committee on Local Government.
A bill to amend 1970 PA 169, entitled
"Local historic districts act,"
by amending sections 1a, 3, 5, 9, and 14 (MCL 399.201a, 399.203,
399.205, 399.209, and 399.214), sections 1a and 5 as amended by
2004 PA 67, sections 3 and 9 as amended by 2001 PA 67, and section
14 as added by 1992 PA 96.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1a. As used in this act:
(a) "Alteration" means work that changes the detail of a
resource but does not change its basic size or shape.
(b) "Authority" means the Michigan state housing development
authority created by section 21 of the state housing development
authority act of 1966, 1966 PA 346, MCL 125.1421.
(c) (b)
"Certificate of
appropriateness" means the written
approval of a permit application for work that is appropriate and
that does not adversely affect a resource.
(d) (c)
"Commission" means a
historic district commission
created by the legislative body of a local unit under section 4.
(e) (d)
"Committee" means a
historic district study committee
appointed by the legislative body of a local unit under section 3
or 14.
(f) (e)
"Demolition" means the
razing or destruction, whether
entirely or in part, of a resource and includes, but is not limited
to, demolition by neglect.
(g) (f)
"Demolition by neglect"
means neglect in maintaining,
repairing, or securing a resource that results in deterioration of
an exterior feature of the resource or the loss of structural
integrity of the resource.
(h) (g)
"Denial" means the
written rejection of a permit
application for work that is inappropriate and that adversely
affects a resource.
(h)
"Department" means the department of history, arts, and
libraries.
(i) "Fire alarm system" means a system designed to detect and
annunciate the presence of fire or by-products of fire. Fire alarm
system includes smoke alarms.
(j) "Historic district" means an area, or group of areas not
necessarily having contiguous boundaries, that contains 1 resource
or a group of resources that are related by history, architecture,
archaeology, engineering, or culture.
(k) "Historic preservation" means the identification,
evaluation, establishment, and protection of resources significant
in history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture.
(l) "Historic resource" means a publicly or privately owned
building, structure, site, object, feature, or open space that is
significant in the history, architecture, archaeology, engineering,
or culture of this state or a community within this state, or of
the United States.
(m) "Local unit" means a county, city, village, or township.
(n) "Notice to proceed" means the written permission to issue
a permit for work that is inappropriate and that adversely affects
a resource, pursuant to a finding under section 5(6).
(o) "Open space" means undeveloped land, a naturally
landscaped area, or a formal or man-made landscaped area that
provides a connective link or a buffer between other resources.
(p) "Ordinary maintenance" means keeping a resource unimpaired
and in good condition through ongoing minor intervention,
undertaken from time to time, in its exterior condition. Ordinary
maintenance does not change the external appearance of the resource
except through the elimination of the usual and expected effects of
weathering. Ordinary maintenance does not constitute work for
purposes of this act.
(q) "Proposed historic district" means an area, or group of
areas not necessarily having contiguous boundaries, that has
delineated
boundaries and that is under review by a committee or a
standing
committee subject to the
review process set forth in
section
3(1)(a) to (d)(iii) or 14(1) for the purpose of making a
recommendation
as to deciding whether it should be established as a
historic district or added to an established historic district.
(r) "Repair" means to restore a decayed or damaged resource to
a good or sound condition by any process. A repair that changes the
external appearance of a resource constitutes work for purposes of
this act.
(s) "Resource" means 1 or more publicly or privately owned
historic or nonhistoric buildings, structures, sites, objects,
features, or open spaces located within a historic district.
(t) "Smoke alarm" means a single-station or multiple-station
alarm responsive to smoke and not connected to a system. As used in
this subdivision, "single-station alarm" means an assembly
incorporating a detector, the control equipment, and the alarm
sounding device into a single unit, operated from a power supply
either in the unit or obtained at the point of installation.
"Multiple-station alarm" means 2 or more single-station alarms that
are capable of interconnection such that actuation of 1 alarm
causes all integrated separate audible alarms to operate.
(u) "Standing committee" means a permanent body established by
the legislative body of a local unit under section 14 to conduct
the activities of a historic district study committee on a
continuing basis.
(v) "Work" means construction, addition, alteration, repair,
moving, excavation, or demolition.
Sec. 3. (1) A local unit may, by ordinance, establish 1 or
more
historic districts. The historic districts, which shall be
administered
by a commission established pursuant to under section
4, .
Before establishing a historic district, subject to all of the
following:
(a) The local unit shall obtain preliminary approval of a
proposed historic district from at least 2/3 of the property owners
within the proposed historic district, as listed on the tax rolls
of the local unit, pursuant to a written petition that includes a
precise description of the boundaries of the proposed historic
district.
(b) For purposes of further considering 1 or more proposed
historic districts approved under subdivision (a), the legislative
body of the local unit shall appoint a historic district study
committee.
The committee shall contain a majority of persons who
have
a clearly demonstrated interest in or knowledge of historic
preservation,
and shall contain representation from 1 or more
consist of 4 to 7 individuals, 1 of whom is an elected member of
the legislative body of the local unit, 1 of whom is a
representative of a duly organized local historic preservation
organizations.
organization, and at least 1
of whom is engaged in
the business of residential or commercial construction. The
committee shall do all of the following:
(i) (a)
Conduct a photographic inventory of
resources within
each
proposed historic district. following procedures established
or
approved by the department.
(ii) (b)
Conduct basic research of each
proposed historic
district and the historic resources located within that district.
(iii) (c)
Determine the total number of
historic and
nonhistoric resources within a proposed historic district and the
percentage of historic resources of that total. In evaluating the
significance of historic resources, the committee shall be guided
by the selection criteria for evaluation issued by the United
States
secretary of the interior Secretary
of the Interior for
inclusion of resources in the national register of historic places,
as
set forth in 36 C.F.R. CFR
part 60. , and criteria
established
or
approved by the department, if any.
(iv) (d)
Prepare a preliminary historic
district study
committee report that addresses at a minimum all of the following:
(A) (i) The
charge of the committee.
(B) (ii) The
composition of the committee membership.
(C) (iii) The
historic district or districts studied.
(D) (iv) The
boundaries for each proposed historic district in
writing and on maps.
(E) (v) The
history of each proposed historic district.
(F) (vi) The
significance of each district as a whole, as well
as a sufficient number of its individual resources to fully
represent the variety of resources found within the district,
relative to the evaluation criteria.
(v) (e)
Transmit copies of the preliminary
report for review
and
recommendations to the local planning body, to the department,
authority,
and to the Michigan historical
commission. , and to the
state
historic preservation review board.
(vi) (f)
Make copies of the preliminary
report available to
the
public pursuant to subsection (4).(2).
(c) (2)
Not less than 60 calendar days
after the transmittal
of the preliminary report, the committee shall hold a public
hearing in compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL
15.261 to 15.275. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the
hearing shall be given in the manner required by the open meetings
act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275. Written notice shall be
mailed
by first-class mail not less than at least 14 calendar days
before the hearing to the owners of properties within the proposed
historic district, as listed on the tax rolls of the local unit.
(d) (3)
After All of the following
must occur within 1 year
after
the date of the public hearing, the
committee and the
legislative
body of the local unit shall have not more than 1 year,
unless
otherwise some other time
frame is authorized by the
legislative
body of the local unit: , to take the following
actions:
(i) (a)
The committee shall prepare and
submit a final report
with its recommendations and the recommendations, if any, of the
local planning body to the legislative body of the local unit. If
the recommendation is to establish a historic district or
districts,
the final report shall may
include a draft of a proposed
ordinance or ordinances.
(ii) (b)
After receiving a final report that
recommends the
establishment of a historic district or districts, the legislative
body of the local unit, at its discretion, may introduce and pass
or
reject an a conditionally
effective ordinance or ordinances that
will establish a historic district or districts only if approved
under subparagraph (iii).
(iii) A conditionally effective ordinance or ordinances passed
under subparagraph (ii) establishes a historic district or
districts only if a majority of the electors in the local unit
voting at an election approve that establishment of the historic
district or districts. This vote shall be taken at the next regular
election held in the local unit that occurs at least 70 days after
the passage of the conditionally effective ordinance or ordinances
described in subparagraph (ii).
(iv) If the local unit
passes actions taken under
subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) result in the passage of an ordinance
or ordinances establishing 1 or more historic districts, the local
unit shall file a copy of that ordinance or those ordinances,
including a legal description of the property or properties located
within the historic district or districts, with the register of
deeds.
A local unit shall not pass an ordinance establishing a
contiguous
historic district less than 60 days after a majority of
the
property owners within the proposed historic district, as
listed
on the tax rolls of the local unit, have approved the
establishment
of the historic district pursuant to a written
petition.
(2) (4)
A writing prepared, owned, used, in
the possession of,
or retained by a committee in the performance of an official
function shall be made available to the public in compliance with
the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
Sec. 5. (1) A permit shall be obtained before any work
affecting the exterior appearance of a resource is performed within
a historic district or, if required under subsection (4), work
affecting the interior arrangements of a resource is performed
within a historic district. The person, individual, partnership,
firm, corporation, organization, institution, or agency of
government proposing to do that work shall file an application for
a permit with the inspector of buildings, the commission, or other
duly delegated authority. If the inspector of buildings or other
authority receives the application, the application shall be
immediately referred together with all required supporting
materials that make the application complete to the commission. A
permit shall not be issued and proposed work shall not proceed
until the commission has acted on the application by issuing a
certificate of appropriateness or a notice to proceed as prescribed
in this act. A commission shall not issue a certificate of
appropriateness unless the applicant certifies in the application
that the property where work will be undertaken has, or will have
before the proposed project completion date, a fire alarm system or
a smoke alarm complying with the requirements of the Stille-
DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, 1972 PA 230, MCL
125.1501 to 125.1531. A local unit may charge a reasonable fee to
process a permit application.
(2) An applicant aggrieved by a decision of a commission
concerning
a permit application may file an appeal with the state
historic
preservation review board within the department.
legislative body of the local unit. The appeal shall be filed
within 60 days after the decision is furnished to the applicant.
The appellant may submit all or part of the appellant's evidence
and
arguments in written form. The review board legislative body of
the local unit shall consider an appeal at its first regularly
scheduled meeting after receiving the appeal, but may not charge a
fee
for considering an appeal. The review board legislative body of
the local unit may affirm, modify, or set aside a commission's
decision and may order a commission to issue a certificate of
appropriateness or a notice to proceed. A permit applicant
aggrieved
by the decision of the state historic preservation review
board
legislative body of the local
unit may appeal the decision to
the circuit court having jurisdiction over the historic district
commission
whose decision was appealed to the state historic
preservation
review board.legislative body
of the local unit.
(3)
In reviewing plans, the commission shall follow consult
the
United States secretary Secretary
of the interior's Interior's
standards for rehabilitation and guidelines for rehabilitating
historic
buildings, as set forth in 36 C.F.R. CFR part 67, unless
the commission finds that a different standard is in the best
interest of the community. Design review standards and guidelines
that address special design characteristics of historic districts
administered
by the commission may be followed if they are
equivalent
in guidance to the secretary of interior's standards and
guidelines
and are established or approved by the department. the
commission finds that they are in the best interest of the
community. The commission shall also consider all of the following:
(a) The historic or architectural value and significance of
the resource and its relationship to the historic value of the
surrounding area.
(b) The relationship of any architectural features of the
resource to the rest of the resource and to the surrounding area.
(c) The general compatibility of the design, arrangement,
texture, and materials proposed to be used.
(d) Other factors that the commission finds relevant, such as
aesthetic
value , that the commission finds relevant.and the
reasonableness of the additional costs required to complete a
historically accurate rehabilitation.
(e) Whether the applicant has certified in the application
that the property where work will be undertaken has, or will have
before the proposed project completion date, a fire alarm system or
a smoke alarm complying with the requirements of the Stille-
DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, 1972 PA 230, MCL
125.1501 to 125.1531.
(4) The commission shall review and act upon only exterior
features of a resource and, except for noting compliance with the
requirement to install a fire alarm system or a smoke alarm, shall
not
review and act upon interior arrangements unless specifically
authorized
to do so by the local legislative body or unless
interior work will cause visible change to the exterior of the
resource. The commission shall not disapprove an application due to
considerations not prescribed in subsection (3).
(5) If an application is for work that will adversely affect
the exterior of a resource the commission considers valuable to the
local unit, state, or nation, and the commission determines that
the alteration or loss of that resource will adversely affect the
public purpose of the local unit, state, or nation, the commission
shall attempt to establish with the owner of the resource an
economically feasible plan for preservation of the resource.
(6) Work within a historic district shall be permitted through
the issuance of a notice to proceed by the commission if any of the
following conditions prevail and if the proposed work can be
demonstrated by a finding of the commission to be necessary to
substantially improve or correct any of the following conditions:
(a) The resource constitutes a hazard to the safety of the
public or to the structure's occupants.
(b) The resource is a deterrent to a major improvement program
that will be of substantial benefit to the community and the
applicant proposing the work has obtained all necessary planning
and zoning approvals, financing, and environmental clearances.
(c) Retaining the resource will cause undue financial hardship
to the owner when a governmental action, an act of God, or other
events beyond the owner's control created the hardship, and all
feasible alternatives to eliminate the financial hardship, which
may include offering the resource for sale at its fair market value
or moving the resource to a vacant site within the historic
district, have been attempted and exhausted by the owner.
(d) Retaining the resource is not in the interest of the
majority of the community.
(7) The business that the commission may perform shall be
conducted at a public meeting of the commission held in compliance
with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.
Public notice of the time, date, and place of the meeting shall be
given in the manner required by the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267,
MCL 15.261 to 15.275. A meeting agenda shall be part of the notice
and shall include a listing of each permit application to be
reviewed or considered by the commission.
(8) The commission shall keep a record of its resolutions,
proceedings, and actions. A writing prepared, owned, used, in the
possession of, or retained by the commission in the performance of
an official function shall be made available to the public in
compliance with the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL
15.231 to 15.246.
(9) The commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure and
shall adopt design review standards and guidelines for resource
treatment to carry out its duties under this act.
(10) The commission may delegate the issuance of certificates
of appropriateness for specified minor classes of work to its
staff, to the inspector of buildings, or to another delegated
authority. The commission shall provide to the delegated authority
specific written standards for issuing certificates of
appropriateness under this subsection. On at least a quarterly
basis, the commission shall review the certificates of
appropriateness, if any, issued for work by its staff, the
inspector, or another authority to determine whether or not the
delegated responsibilities should be continued.
(11) Upon a finding by a commission that a historic resource
within a historic district or a proposed historic district subject
to its review and approval is threatened with demolition by
neglect, the commission may do either of the following with the
approval of the legislative body of the local unit:
(a) Require the owner of the resource to repair all conditions
contributing to demolition by neglect.
(b) If the owner does not make repairs within a reasonable
time, the commission or its agents may enter the property and make
such repairs as are necessary to prevent demolition by neglect. The
costs of the work shall be charged to the owner, and may be levied
by the local unit as a special assessment against the property. The
commission or its agents may enter the property for purposes of
this section upon obtaining an order from the circuit court.
(12) When work has been done upon a resource without a permit,
and the commission finds that the work does not qualify for a
certificate of appropriateness, the commission may require an owner
to restore the resource to the condition the resource was in before
the inappropriate work or to modify the work so that it qualifies
for a certificate of appropriateness. If the owner does not comply
with the restoration or modification requirement within a
reasonable time, the commission may seek an order from the circuit
court to require the owner to restore the resource to its former
condition or to modify the work so that it qualifies for a
certificate of appropriateness. If the owner does not comply or
cannot comply with the order of the court, the commission or its
agents may enter the property and conduct work necessary to restore
the resource to its former condition or modify the work so that it
qualifies for a certificate of appropriateness in accordance with
the court's order. The costs of the work shall be charged to the
owner, and may be levied by the local unit as a special assessment
against the property. When acting pursuant to an order of the
circuit court, a commission or its agents may enter a property for
purposes of this section.
Sec. 9. (1) The commission shall file certificates of
appropriateness, notices to proceed, and denials of applications
for permits with the inspector of buildings or other delegated
authority. A permit shall not be issued until the commission has
acted as prescribed by this act. If a permit application is denied,
the decision shall be binding on the inspector or other authority.
A denial shall be accompanied with a written explanation by the
commission of the reasons for denial and, if appropriate, a notice
that an application may be resubmitted for commission review when
suggested changes have been made. The denial shall also include
notification
of the applicant's rights of appeal to the state
historic
preservation review board legislative
body of the local
unit and to the circuit court. The failure of the commission to act
within 60 calendar days after the date a complete application is
filed with the commission, unless an extension is agreed upon in
writing by the applicant and the commission, shall be considered to
constitute approval.
(2) Local public officials and employees shall provide
information and records to committees, commissions, and standing
committees, and shall meet with those bodies upon request to assist
with their activities.
(3)
The department authority shall cooperate with and assist
local units, committees, commissions, and standing committees in
carrying out the purposes of this act and may establish or approve
standards, guidelines, and procedures that encourage uniform
administration of this act in this state but that are not legally
binding on any individual or other legal entity.
Sec.
14. (1) A Except as
otherwise provided in this
subsection, a local unit may at any time establish by ordinance
additional historic districts, including proposed districts
previously considered and rejected, may modify boundaries of an
existing historic district, or may eliminate an existing historic
district.
Before establishing, modifying, or eliminating a historic
district,
a historic district study committee appointed by the
legislative
body of the local unit When
considering the
establishment of an additional historic district or the
modification of the boundaries of an existing one, the local unit
shall first obtain the petition described in section 3(1)(a) before
the legislative body of the local unit may appoint a historic
district study committee or authorize the services of a retained
initial committee, a standing committee, or a committee established
to consider only specific proposed districts and then be dissolved.
If a committee is appointed or its services are authorized by the
legislative body of the local unit, further consideration of the
establishment of an additional historic district or modification of
the boundaries of an existing one shall follow the procedures set
forth in section 3(1)(b) to (d) and the committee shall also
consider any previously written committee reports pertinent to the
proposed action. When considering the elimination of a historic
district, the legislative body of the local unit may appoint a
historic district study committee and may do so without the
petition described in section 3(1)(a) first being obtained; that
committee
shall , except as provided in
subsection (2), comply with
the
procedures set forth in section 3 3(1)(b) to (d) and shall
consider any previously written committee reports pertinent to the
proposed action; and any ordinance that the legislative body of the
local unit passes for purposes of eliminating the historic district
is effective without the electors' approval described in section
3(1)(d)(ii) to (iii) subsequently being obtained. To conduct these
the activities described in this subsection, local units may,
subject to the petition procedure referenced in this subsection,
retain the initial committee, establish a standing committee, or
establish a committee to consider only specific proposed districts
and then be dissolved.
(2)
If considering elimination of a historic district, a
committee
shall follow the procedures set forth in section 3 for
issuing
a preliminary report, holding a public hearing, and issuing
a
final report but with the intent of showing 1 or more of the
following:
(i) The historic district has lost those physical
characteristics
that enabled establishment of the district.
(ii) The historic district was not significant in the
way
previously
defined.
(iii) The historic district was established pursuant to
defective
procedures.
(2) (3)
Upon receipt of substantial
evidence showing the
presence of historic, architectural, archaeological, engineering,
or cultural significance of a proposed historic district, the
legislative body of a local unit may, at its discretion, adopt a
resolution requiring that all applications for permits within the
proposed historic district be referred to the commission as
prescribed in sections 5 and 9. The commission shall review permit
applications with the same powers that would apply if the proposed
historic district was an established historic district. The review
may continue in the proposed historic district for not more than 1
year,
or until such time as the local unit approves or rejects the
establishment
of the historic district by ordinance, is approved or
rejected pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 3 or 14,
whichever occurs first.
(3) (4)
If the legislative body of a local
unit determines
that pending work will cause irreparable harm to resources located
within an established historic district or a proposed historic
district, the legislative body may by resolution declare an
emergency moratorium of all such work for a period not to exceed 6
months. The legislative body may extend the emergency moratorium
for an additional period not to exceed 6 months upon finding that
the threat of irreparable harm to resources is still present. Any
pending permit application concerning a resource subject to an
emergency moratorium may be summarily denied.
(4) A historic district in existence on the effective date of
the amendatory act that added this subsection shall dissolve 10
years after the effective date of the amendatory act that added
this subsection unless the question of its renewal is submitted to
the electors in the local unit at the regular election immediately
preceding the date that the historic district would otherwise
dissolve and a majority of those electors voting at the election
approve the renewal of the historic district. A historic district
established under this act or renewed under this subsection after
the effective date of the amendatory act that added this subsection
shall dissolve 10 years after the date of that establishment or
renewal unless the question of its renewal is submitted to the
electors in the local unit at the regular election immediately
preceding the date that the historic district would otherwise
dissolve and a majority of those electors voting at the election
approve the renewal of the historic district. A renewal approved
under this subsection is effective on the date that the historic
district would have otherwise dissolved.