October 6, 2004, Introduced by Senator BIRKHOLZ and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
A bill to amend 1970 PA 169, entitled
"Local historic districts act,"
by amending sections 5, 9, and 11 (MCL 399.205, 399.209, and
399.211), section 5 as amended by 2004 PA 67, section 9 as
amended by 2001 PA 67, and section 11 as amended by 1992 PA 96.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 5. (1) A permit shall be obtained before any work
2 affecting the exterior appearance of a resource is performed
3 within a historic district or, if required under subsection (4),
4 work affecting the interior arrangements of a resource is
5 performed within a historic district. The person, individual,
6 partnership, firm, corporation, organization, institution, or
7 agency of government proposing to do that work shall file an
8 application for a permit with the inspector of buildings, the
9 commission, or other duly
delegated authority. If the
1 inspector of buildings or other delegated authority receives the
2 application, the application shall be immediately referred to the
3 commission together with all required supporting materials that
4 make the application
complete. to the commission. A permit
5 shall not be issued and proposed work shall not proceed until the
6 commission has acted on the application by issuing a certificate
7 of appropriateness or a notice to proceed as prescribed in this
8 act. A commission shall not issue a certificate of
9 appropriateness unless the applicant certifies in the application
10 that the property where work will be undertaken has, or will have
11 before the proposed project completion date, a fire alarm system
12 or a smoke alarm complying with the requirements of the
13 Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, 1972 PA
14 230, MCL 125.1501 to 125.1531. A local unit may charge a
15 reasonable fee to process a permit application.
16 (2) An applicant aggrieved by a decision of a commission
17 concerning a permit application may file an appeal with the
18 state historic
preservation review board within the department
19 legislative body of the local unit. The appeal shall be filed
20 within 60 days after the decision is furnished to the applicant.
21 The appellant may submit all or part of the appellant's evidence
22 and arguments in written
form. The review board legislative
23 body of the local unit shall consider an appeal at its first
24 regularly scheduled meeting after receiving the appeal, but may
25 not charge a fee for
considering an appeal. The review board
26 legislative body of the local unit may affirm, modify, or set
27 aside a the
commission's decision and may order a the
1 commission to issue a certificate of appropriateness or a notice
2 to proceed. A permit applicant aggrieved by the decision of the
3 state historic
preservation review board legislative
body of
4 the local unit may appeal the decision to the circuit court
5 having jurisdiction over the historic district commission whose
6 decision was appealed to
the state historic preservation review
7 board legislative body of the local unit.
8 (3) In reviewing plans, the commission shall follow the
9 United States secretary of the interior's standards for
10 rehabilitation and guidelines for rehabilitating historic
11 buildings, as set forth
in 36 C.F.R. CFR part 67. Design review
12 standards and guidelines that address special design
13 characteristics of historic districts administered by the
14 commission may be followed if they are equivalent in guidance to
15 the secretary of interior's standards and guidelines and are
16 established or approved by the department. The commission shall
17 also consider all of the following:
18 (a) The historic or architectural value and significance of
19 the resource and its relationship to the historic value of the
20 surrounding area.
21 (b) The relationship of any architectural features of the
22 resource to the rest of the resource and to the surrounding
23 area.
24 (c) The general compatibility of the design, arrangement,
25 texture, and materials proposed to be used.
26 (d) Other factors, such as aesthetic value, that the
27 commission finds relevant.
1 (e) Whether the applicant has certified in the application
2 that the property where work will be undertaken has, or will have
3 before the proposed project completion date, a fire alarm system
4 or a smoke alarm complying with the requirements of the
5 Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, 1972 PA
6 230, MCL 125.1501 to 125.1531.
7 (4) The commission shall review and act upon only exterior
8 features of a resource and, except for noting compliance with the
9 requirement to install a fire alarm system or a smoke alarm,
10 shall not review and act upon interior arrangements unless
11 specifically authorized
to do so by the local legislative body of
12 the local unit or unless interior work will cause visible change
13 to the exterior of the resource. The commission shall not
14 disapprove an application due to considerations not prescribed in
15 subsection (3).
16 (5) If an application is for work that will adversely affect
17 the exterior of a resource the commission considers valuable to
18 the local unit, state, or nation, and the commission determines
19 that the alteration or loss of that resource will adversely
20 affect the public purpose of the local unit, state, or nation,
21 the commission shall attempt to establish with the owner of the
22 resource an economically feasible plan for preservation of the
23 resource.
24 (6) Work The
commission shall issue a notice to proceed
25 authorizing work within a
historic district shall be permitted
26 through the issuance
of a notice to proceed by the commission if
27 any of the following conditions prevail and if the commission
1 finds that the proposed
work can be demonstrated by a finding of
2 the commission to be is necessary to substantially improve or
3 correct any of the following conditions:
4 (a) The resource constitutes a hazard to the safety of the
5 public or to the structure's occupants.
6 (b) The resource is a deterrent to a major improvement
7 program that will be of substantial benefit to the community and
8 the applicant proposing the work has obtained all necessary
9 planning and zoning approvals, financing, and environmental
10 clearances.
11 (c) Retaining the resource will cause undue financial
12 hardship to the owner when a governmental action, an act of God,
13 or other events beyond the owner's control created the hardship,
14 and all feasible alternatives to eliminate the financial
15 hardship, which may include offering the resource for sale at its
16 fair market value or moving the resource to a vacant site within
17 the historic district, have been attempted and exhausted by the
18 owner.
19 (d) Retaining the resource is not in the interest of the
20 majority of the community.
21 (7) The business that the commission may perform shall be
22 conducted at a public meeting of the commission held in
23 compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to
24 15.275. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the
25 meeting shall be given in the manner required by the open
26 meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275. A meeting
27 agenda shall be part of
the notice and shall include a listing
1 of list each permit application to be reviewed or
considered by
2 the commission.
3 (8) The commission shall keep a record of its resolutions,
4 proceedings, and actions. A writing prepared, owned, used, in
5 the possession of, or retained by the commission in the
6 performance of an official function shall be made available to
7 the public in compliance with the freedom of information act,
8 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
9 (9) The commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure and
10 shall adopt design review standards and guidelines for resource
11 treatment to carry out its duties under this act.
12 (10) The commission may delegate the issuance of certificates
13 of appropriateness for specified minor classes of work to its
14 staff, to the
inspector of buildings, or to another other
15 delegated authority. The
commission shall provide to the its
16 staff, the inspector of buildings, or other delegated authority
17 specific written standards for issuing certificates of
18 appropriateness under this subsection. On at least a quarterly
19 basis, the commission shall review the certificates of
20 appropriateness, if any, issued for work by its staff, the
21 inspector, or another
other delegated authority to determine
22 whether or not the delegated responsibilities should be
23 continued.
24 (11) Upon a finding by a commission that a historic resource
25 within a historic district or a proposed historic district
26 subject to its review and approval is threatened with demolition
27 by neglect, the commission may do either of the following:
1 (a) Require the owner of the resource to repair all
2 conditions contributing to demolition by neglect.
3 (b) If the owner does not make repairs within a reasonable
4 time, the commission or its agents may enter the property and
5 make such the
repairs as are necessary to prevent demolition
6 by neglect. The costs of the work shall be charged to the owner
7 , and may be levied by the local unit as a special
assessment
8 against the property. The commission or its agents may enter the
9 property for purposes of this section upon obtaining an order
10 from the circuit court.
11 (12) When If
work has been done upon a resource without a
12 permit , and the
commission finds that the work does not
13 qualify for a certificate of appropriateness, the commission may
14 require an owner to restore the resource to the condition the
15 resource was in before the inappropriate work or to modify the
16 work so that it qualifies for a certificate of appropriateness.
17 If the owner does not comply with the restoration or modification
18 requirement within a reasonable time, the commission may seek an
19 order from the circuit court to require the owner to restore the
20 resource to its former condition or to modify the work so that it
21 qualifies for a certificate of appropriateness. If the owner
22 does not comply or cannot comply with the order of the circuit
23 court, the commission or its agents may enter the property and
24 conduct work necessary to restore the resource to its former
25 condition or modify the work so that it qualifies for a
26 certificate of appropriateness in accordance with the circuit
27 court's order. The costs of the work shall be charged to the
1 owner , and may
be levied by the local unit as a special
2 assessment against the
property. When If acting pursuant to an
3 order of the circuit court, a commission or its agents may enter
4 a property for purposes of this section.
5 Sec. 9. (1) The commission shall file certificates of
6 appropriateness, notices to proceed, and denials of applications
7 for permits with the inspector of buildings or other delegated
8 authority. A permit shall not be issued until the commission has
9 acted as prescribed by
under this act. If a permit application
10 is denied, the decision shall
be is binding on the inspector of
11 buildings or other delegated authority. A denial shall be
12 accompanied with a written explanation by the commission of the
13 reasons for denial and, if appropriate, a notice that an
14 application may be
resubmitted for commission review when if
15 suggested changes have
been are made. The denial shall also
16 include notification of the applicant's rights of appeal to the
17 state historic
preservation review board legislative
body of
18 the local unit and to the
circuit court. The failure of If the
19 commission fails to act within 60 calendar days after the date a
20 complete application is filed with the commission, unless an
21 extension is agreed upon in writing by the applicant and the
22 commission, the permit
application shall be considered to
23 constitute approval approved.
24 (2) Local public officials and employees shall provide
25 information and records to committees, commissions, and standing
26 committees, and shall meet with those bodies upon request to
27 assist with their activities.
1 (3) The department shall cooperate with and assist local
2 units, committees, commissions, and standing committees in
3 carrying out the purposes of this act and may establish or
4 approve standards, guidelines, and procedures that encourage
5 uniform administration of this act in this state but that are not
6 legally binding on any individual or other legal entity.
7 Sec. 11. (1) Any
citizen or Except as otherwise provided
8 in subsection (2), a citizen in the local unit, a duly organized
9 historic preservation
organization in the local unit, as well
10 as or 1 or more resource property owners, jointly
or severally
11 aggrieved by a decision of the historic district commission may
12 appeal the decision to
the circuit court. , except that a
13 (2) A permit applicant aggrieved by a decision rendered
14 under section 5(1) may not appeal to the circuit court without
15 first exhausting the
right to appeal to the state historic
16 preservation review
board legislative body of the
local unit
17 under section 5(2).