SENATE BILL NO. 733 September 22, 1999, Introduced by Senators SIKKEMA, DUNASKISS, JOHNSON, BULLARD and GOSCHKA and referred to the Committee on Local, Urban and State Affairs. 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), 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 per- 5 formed within a historic district. The person, individual, part- 6 nership, firm, corporation, organization, institution, or agency 7 of government proposing to do that work shall file an application 8 for a permit with the inspector of buildings, the commission, or 9 otherdulydelegated authority. If the inspector of buildings 10 or other DELEGATED authority receives the application, the 03839'99 FDD 2 1 application shall be immediately referred TO THE COMMISSION, 2 together with all required supporting materials that make the 3 application complete.to the commission.A permit shall not be 4 issued and proposed work shall not proceed until the commission 5 has acted on the application by issuing a certificate of appro- 6 priateness or a notice to proceed as prescribed in this act. A 7 local unit may charge a reasonable fee to process a permit 8 application. 9 (2) An applicant aggrieved by a decision of a commission 10 concerning a permit application may file an appeal with the 11state historic preservation review board of the Michigan histor-12ical commission within the department of stateLEGISLATIVE BODY 13 OF THE LOCAL UNIT. The appeal shall be filed within 60 days 14 after the decision is furnished to the applicant. The appellant 15 may submit all or part of the appellant's evidence and arguments 16 in written form. Thereview boardLEGISLATIVE BODY OF THE 17 LOCAL UNIT shall consider an appeal at its first regularly sched- 18 uled meeting after receiving the appeal, but may not charge a fee 19 for considering an appeal. Thereview boardLEGISLATIVE BODY 20 OF THE LOCAL UNIT may affirm, modify, or set asideaTHE 21 commission's decision and may orderaTHE commission to issue a 22 certificate of appropriateness or a notice to proceed. A permit 23 applicant aggrieved by the decision of thestate historic pre-24servation review boardLEGISLATIVE BODY OF THE LOCAL UNIT may 25 appeal the decision to the circuit court having jurisdiction over 26 the historic district commission whose decision was appealed to 03839'99 3 1 thestate historic preservation review boardLEGISLATIVE BODY 2 OF THE LOCAL UNIT. 3 (3) In reviewing plans, the commission shall follow the 4 U.S. secretary of the interior's standards for rehabilitation 5 and guidelines for rehabilitating historic buildings, as set 6 forth in 36 C.F.R. part 67. Design review standards and guide- 7 lines that address special design characteristics of historic 8 districts administered by the commission may be followed if they 9 are equivalent in guidance to the secretary of interior's stan- 10 dards and guidelines and are established or approved by the 11 bureau. The commission shall also consider all of the 12 following: 13 (a) The historic or architectural value and significance of 14 the resource and its relationship to the historic value of the 15 surrounding area. 16 (b) The relationship of any architectural features of the 17 resource to the rest of the resource and to the surrounding 18 area. 19 (c) The general compatibility of the design, arrangement, 20 texture, and materials proposed to be used. 21 (d) Other factors, such as aesthetic value, that the commis- 22 sion finds relevant. 23 (4) The commission shall review and act upon only exterior 24 features of a resource and shall not review and act upon interior 25 arrangements unless specifically authorized to do so by the 26locallegislative body OF THE LOCAL UNIT or unless interior 27 work will cause visible change to the exterior of the resource. 03839'99 4 1 The commission shall not disapprove an application due to 2 considerations not prescribed in subsection (3). 3 (5) If an application is for work that will adversely affect 4 the exterior of a resource the commission considers valuable to 5 the local unit, state, or nation, and the commission determines 6 that the alteration or loss of that resource will adversely 7 affect the public purpose of the local unit, state, or nation, 8 the commission shall attempt to establish with the owner of the 9 resource an economically feasible plan for preservation of the 10 resource. 11 (6)WorkTHE COMMISSION SHALL ISSUE A NOTICE TO PROCEED 12 AUTHORIZING WORK within a historic districtshall be permitted13through the issuance of a notice to proceed by the commissionif 14 any of the following conditions prevail and if the COMMISSION 15 FINDS THAT THE proposed workcan be demonstrated by a finding of16the commission to beIS necessary to substantially improve or 17 correct any of the following conditions: 18 (a) The resource constitutes a hazard to the safety of the 19 public or to the structure's occupants. 20 (b) The resource is a deterrent to a major improvement pro- 21 gram that will be of substantial benefit to the community and the 22 applicant proposing the work has obtained all necessary planning 23 and zoning approvals, financing, and environmental clearances. 24 (c) Retaining the resource will cause undue financial hard- 25 ship to the owner when a governmental action, an act of God, or 26 other events beyond the owner's control created the hardship, and 27 all feasible alternatives to eliminate the financial hardship, 03839'99 5 1 which may include offering the resource for sale at its fair 2 market value or moving the resource to a vacant site within the 3 historic district, have been attempted and exhausted by the 4 owner. 5 (d) Retaining the resource is not in the interest of the 6 majority of the community. 7 (7) The business that the commission may perform shall be 8 conducted at a public meeting of the commission held in compli- 9 ance with the open meetings act,Act No. 267 of the Public Acts10of 1976, as amended, being sections 15.261 to 15.275 of the11Michigan Compiled Laws1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 TO 15.275. 12 Public notice of the time, date, and place of the meeting shall 13 be given in the manner required byAct No. 267 of the Public14Acts of 1976, as amendedTHE OPEN MEETINGS ACT, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15 15.261 TO 15.275. A meeting agenda shall be part of the notice 16 and shallinclude a listing ofLIST each permit application to 17 be reviewed or considered by the commission. 18 (8) The commission shall keep a record of its resolutions, 19 proceedings, and actions. A writing prepared, owned, used, in 20 the possession of, or retained by the commission in the per- 21 formance of an official function shall be made available to the 22 public in compliance with the freedom of information act,Act23No. 442 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended, being24sections 15.231 to 15.246 of the Michigan Compiled Laws1976 PA 25 442, MCL 15.231 TO 15.246. 03839'99 6 1 (9) The commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure 2 and shall adopt design review standards and guidelines for 3 resource treatment to carry out its duties under this act. 4 (10) The commission may delegate the issuance of certifi- 5 cates of appropriateness for specified minor classes of work to 6 its staff,tothe inspector of buildings, orto anotherOTHER 7 delegated authority. The commission shall provide totheITS, 8 STAFF, THE INSPECTOR OF BUILDINGS, OR OTHER delegated authority 9 specific written standards for issuing certificates of appropri- 10 ateness under this subsection. On at least a quarterly basis, 11 the commission shall review the certificates of appropriateness, 12 if any, issued for work by its staff, the inspector, oranother13 OTHER DELEGATED authority to determine whether or not the dele- 14 gated responsibilities should be continued. 15 (11) Upon a finding by a commission that a historic resource 16 within a historic district or a proposed historic district 17 subject to its review and approval is threatened with demolition 18 by neglect, the commission may do either of the following: 19 (a) Require the owner of the resource to repair all condi- 20 tions contributing to demolition by neglect. 21 (b) If the owner does not make repairs within a reasonable 22 time, the commission or its agents may enter the property and 23 makesuchTHE repairsas arenecessary to prevent demolition 24 by neglect. The costs of the work shall be charged to the owner 25,and may be levied by the local unit as a special assessment 26 against the property. The commission or its agents may enter the 03839'99 7 1 property for purposes of this section upon obtaining an order 2 from the circuit court. 3 (12)WhenIF work has been done upon a resource without a 4 permit,and the commission finds that the work does not qual- 5 ify for a certificate of appropriateness, the commission may 6 require an owner to restore the resource to the condition the 7 resource was in before the inappropriate work or to modify the 8 work so that it qualifies for a certificate of appropriateness. 9 If the owner does not comply with the restoration or modification 10 requirement within a reasonable time, the commission may seek an 11 order from the circuit court to require the owner to restore the 12 resource to its former condition or to modify the work so that it 13 qualifies for a certificate of appropriateness. If the owner 14 does not comply or cannot comply with the order of the CIRCUIT 15 court, the commission or its agents may enter the property and 16 conduct work necessary to restore the resource to its former con- 17 dition or modify the work so that it qualifies for a certificate 18 of appropriateness in accordance with the CIRCUIT court's order. 19 The costs of the work shall be charged to the owner,and may 20 be levied by the local unit as a special assessment against the 21 property.WhenIF acting pursuant to an order of the circuit 22 court, a commission or its agents may enter a property for pur- 23 poses of this section. 24 Sec. 9. (1) The commission shall file certificates of 25 appropriateness, notices to proceed, and denials of applications 26 for permits with the inspector of buildings or other delegated 27 authority. A permit shall not be issued until the commission has 03839'99 8 1 acted as prescribedbyUNDER this act. If a permit application 2 is denied, the decisionshall beIS binding on the inspector OF 3 BUILDINGS or other DELEGATED authority. A denial shall be accom- 4 panied with a written explanation by the commission of the rea- 5 sons for denial and, if appropriate, a notice that an application 6 may be resubmitted for commission reviewwhenIF suggested 7 changeshave beenARE made. The denial shall also include 8 notification of the applicant's rights of appeal to thestate9historic preservation review boardLEGISLATIVE BODY OF THE LOCAL 10 UNIT and to the circuit court.The failure ofIF the commis- 11 sion FAILS to act within 60 calendar days after the date a com- 12 plete application is filed with the commission, unless an exten- 13 sion is agreed upon in writing by the applicant and the commis- 14 sion, THE PERMIT APPLICATION shall be consideredto constitute15approvalAPPROVED. 16 (2) Local public officials and employees shall provide 17 information and records to committees, commissions, and standing 18 committees, and shall meet with those bodies upon request to 19 assist with their activities. 20 (3) The bureau shall cooperate with and assist local units, 21 committees, commissions, and standing committees in carrying out 22 the purposes of this act and may establish or approve standards, 23 guidelines, and procedures that encourage uniform administration 24 of this act in this state, but that are not legally binding on 25 any individual or other legal entity. 26 Sec. 11. (1)AnyEXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN 27 SUBSECTION (2), A citizenorIN THE LOCAL UNIT, A duly 03839'99 9 1 organized historic preservation organization in the local unit, 2as well asOR 1 OR MORE resource property owners, jointly or 3 severally aggrieved by a decision of the historic district 4 commission, may appeal the decision to the circuit court.,5except that a6 (2) A permit applicant aggrieved by a decision rendered 7 under section 5(1) may not appeal to the CIRCUIT court without 8 first exhausting the right to appeal to thestate historic pre-9servation review boardLEGISLATIVE BODY OF THE LOCAL UNIT under 10 section 5(2). 03839'99 Final page. FDD