HB-5952, As Passed House, April 30, 2008

SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 5952

     A bill to amend 1970 PA 169, entitled

"Local historic districts act,"

by amending section 3 (MCL 399.203), as amended by 2001 PA 67.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

     Sec. 3. (1) A local unit may, by ordinance, establish 1 or

more historic districts. The historic districts shall be

administered by a commission established pursuant to section 4.

Before establishing a historic district, 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 duly

organized local historic preservation organizations. The committee

shall do all of the following:

     (a) Conduct a photographic inventory of resources within each

proposed historic district following procedures established or

approved by the department.

     (b) Conduct basic research of each proposed historic district

and the historic resources located within that district.

     (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 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.

     (d) Prepare a preliminary historic district study committee

report that addresses at a minimum all of the following:

     (i) The charge of the committee.

     (ii) The composition of the committee membership.

     (iii) The historic district or districts studied.

     (iv) The boundaries for each proposed historic district in

writing and on maps.

     (v) The history of each proposed historic district.

     (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.

     (e) Transmit Within 1 year after appointment of the committee

or of referral of a proposed historic district to a standing

committee, transmit copies of the preliminary report for review and

recommendations to the local planning body, to the department, to

the Michigan historical commission, and to the state historic

preservation review board. By majority vote, the committee may

adopt a 1-time extension of the deadline to submit the preliminary

report, which shall allow no longer than 12 additional months.

     (f) Make copies of the preliminary report available to the

public pursuant to subsection (4) (6).

     (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 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.

     (3) After Within 6 months 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 authorized by the

legislative body of the local unit, to take the following actions:

     (a) The committee shall prepare and submit a final report

addressing the issues in subsection (1)(d) 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

include a draft of a proposed ordinance or ordinances and a list of

the historic and nonhistoric resources identified by street number

and address.

(4) (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 ordinance or ordinances. The local unit of government

shall not adopt an ordinance establishing 1 or more historic

districts later than 1 year after receipt of the final report

following the public hearing on the proposed district or districts.

Before the expiration of the period for considering the ordinance,

the local unit of government may adopt a resolution extending the

time limit for considering the adoption of the ordinance for not

more than 1 year. The local unit shall not adopt more than 1

resolution extending the time for consideration of any proposed

historic district or districts.

     (5) If the local unit passes an ordinance or ordinances

establishing 1 or more historic districts, the local unit shall

file do both of the following:

     (a) 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.

     (b) Within 45 days after adopting the ordinance, provide the

state historic preservation office of the Michigan historical

center of the department or its successor agency with a copy of the

final report of the historic district study committee and the

ordinance establishing the historic district.

(6) (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.