ORDER
Alderman Lloyd Smith made a motion which was duly seconded by Alderman Gyrone Kenniel that the Mayor and Board of Alderman of the City of Charleston adopt as the following resolution which is set out in Addendum “A” which is attached hereto and herein:
ORDER ADOPTING ORDINANCE TO CREATE A PRESERVATION COMMISSION: TO ESTABLISH THE MEMBERSHIP, OFFICERS, TERMS OF OFFICE OF ITS MEMBERS AND DUTIES OF SUCH COMMISSION; PROVIDING A PROCEDURE FOR ADOPTION OF THE ORDINANCES TO ESTABLISH HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND TO DESIGNATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL, ARCHITECTURAL, CULTURAL, AND HISTORICAL LANDMARKS AND LANDMARK SITES; PROVIDING THAT THE PRESERVATION COMMISSION SHALL SERVE AS A REVIEW BODY TO REVIEW PROPOSED WORK IN HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND ON LANDMARKS AND LANDMARK SITES;P PROVIDING THE CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING A PROPOSED ACTIVITY; PROVIDING STANDARDS AND A PROCEDURE TO PREVENT DEMOLITION OF LANDMARKS BY INTENT OR NEGLECT; PROVIDING A PROCEDURE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS AND RELATED PURPOSES.
Following the discussion, said motion by vote was carried:
Alderman Lloyd Smith voted Yes
Alderman Brenda Willis voted Yes
Alderman Gyrone Kenniel voted Yes
Alderman Sandy Smith voted Yes
Alderman Perry Herron voted Yes
The Mayor, Sedrick Smith, declared the motion adopted and the resolution agreed to and adopted by the Mayor and Board of Alderman of the City of Charleston.
SO ORDERED, ORDAINED, AND FOUND, by the Mayor and Board of Alderman for the City of Charleston on this the 1st day of August, 2023.
-s- Mayor, Sedrick Smith, City of Charleston, Mississippi
Attest: Vanisha Powell, City Clerk for the City of Charleston, Mississippi
CERTIFICATION
I, Vanisha Powell, Municipal City Clerk for Charleston, Mississippi, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing Ordinance is a true and correct copy of the Ordinance that was passed by the Mayor of Charleston, Mississippi, and the Board of Alderman for Charleston, Mississippi, on the 1st day of August 2023, and same is recorded in the Ordinance Book 1 at Page 132 of the City of Charleston, Mississippi.
So certified on this 8th day of December 2023.
-s- Vanisha Powell, City Clerk of the City of Charleston, Mississippi
AN ORDINANCE TO CREATE A PRESERVATION COMMISSION: TO ESTABLISH THE MEMBERSHIP, OFFICERS, TERMS OF OFFICE OF ITS MEMBERS AND DUTIES OF SUCH COMMISSION; PROVIDING A PROCEDURE FOR ADOPTION OF ORDINANCES TO ESTABLISH HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND TO DESIGNATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL, ARCHITECTURAL, CULTURAL, AND HISTORICAL LANDMARKS AND LANDMARK SITES; PROVIDING THAT THE PRESERVATION COMMISSION SHALL SERVE AS A REVIEW BODY TO REVIEW PROPOSED WORK IN HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND ON LANDMARKS AND LANDMARK SITES; PROVIDING THE CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING A PROPOSED ACTIVITY; PROVIDING STANDARDS AND A PROCEDURE TO PREVENT DEMOLITION OF LANDMARKS BY INTENT OR NEGLECT; PROVIDING A PROCEDURE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS AND RELATED PURPOSES.
SECTION I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The City hereby recognizes that the City of Charleston is known for its extensive and concentrated collection of Queen Anne Style Homes (this listing could include items such as prominent architectural types and/or styles such as Southern mansion estates, vernacular houses, as well as urban groupings of historic public, commercial, and residential buildings, as well as archaeological sites). Charleston’s unique qualities have proven increasingly attractive to residents, business interests, and tourists.
As a matter of public policy, the city aims to preserve, enhance, and perpetuate those aspects of the city having historical, cultural, architectural, and archaeological merit. Such historic activities will promote and protect the health, safety, prosperity, education, and general welfare of the people living in and visiting Charleston, Mississippi.
More specifically, this historic preservation ordinance is designed to achieve the following goals:
A. Protect, enhance and perpetuate resources which represent distinctive and significant elements of the city’s historical, cultural, social, economic, political, archaeological, and architectural identity;
B. Insure the harmonious, orderly, and efficient growth and development of the city;
C. Strengthen civic pride and cultural stability through neighborhood conservation;
D. Stabilize the economy of the city through the continued use, preservation, and revitalization of its resources;
E. Protect and enhance the city’s attractions to tourists and visitors and the support and stimulus to business and industry thereby provided;
F. Promote the use of resources for the education, pleasure, and welfare of the people of the city of Charleston, Mississippi.
G. Provide a review process for the preservation and appropriate development of the city's resources.
SECTION II. DEFINITIONS
Unless specifically noted otherwise, the following definitions are standard throughout this ordinance:
Alteration: Any change in the exterior appearance or materials of a landmark or a structure within a historic district or on a landmark site.
Applicant: The owner of record of a resource; the lessee thereof with the approval of the owner of record in notarized form; or a person holding a "bona fide" contract to purchase a resource.
Appurtenance: An accessory to a building, structure, object, or site, including, but not limited to, landscaping features, walls, fences, light fixtures, steps, paving, sidewalks, shutters, awnings, solar panels, satellite dishes, and signs.
Building: A structure created to shelter any form of human activity, such as a house, garage, barn, church, hotel, or similar structure.
Certificate of appropriateness: An official signed and dated governmental document issued by either a local historic preservation commission or a governing authority to permit specific work in a historic district or at a landmark site or landmark which has been reviewed and approved.
Certified Local Government (CLG): A federal program authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act 16 U.S.C. 470 et seq. that provides for the participation of local governments in a federal/state/local government preservation partnership. The federal law directs the State Historic Preservation Officer of Mississippi and the Secretary of the Interior to certify local governments to participate in this partnership. Specific Mississippi requirements for the program are published in "State of Mississippi, Procedures for the Certified Local Government Program."
City: The City of Charleston as represented by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
Construction: Work which is neither alteration nor demolition. Essentially, it is the erection of a new structure which did not previously exist, even if such a structure is partially joined to an existing structure.
Demolition: The intentional removal of a structure within a local historic district or on a landmark site or which has been designated as a landmark.
Demolition by neglect: Substantial deterioration of a historic structure that results from improper maintenance or a lack of maintenance.
Design review guidelines: As adopted by the local historic preservation commission, shall be in a written form designed to inform local property owners about historical architectural styles prevalent in a community and to recommend preferred treatments and discourage treatments that would compromise the architectural integrity of structures in a historic district or on a landmark site or individually designated as landmarks.
Exterior Features: Exterior features or resources shall include, but not be limited to, the color, kind, and texture of the building material and the type and style of all windows, doors, and appurtenances.
Historic district: A group of two (2) or more tax parcels and their structures, and may be an entire neighborhood of structures linked by historical association or historical development. It is not necessary that all structures within a historic district share the same primary architectural style or be from the same primary historical period. A historic district may also include both commercial and residential structures, and may include structures covered by two (2) or more zoning classifications. A historic district may include both contributing and noncontributing structures. A historic district is designated by the commission and approved by the city through an ordinance.
Historic landmark: A structure of exceptional individual significance, and its historically associated land, which typically could not be included within a local historic district or other appropriate setting. A historic landmark is designated by the commission and approved by the city through an ordinance.
Historic preservation commission: The Charleston Historic Preservation Commission, is a local historic preservation commission established to advise the local government on matters relating to historic preservation, including the designation of historic districts, landmarks and landmark sites, and which may be empowered to review applications for permits for alteration, construction, demolition, relocation or subdivision for structures in historic districts or on landmark sites or designated as landmarks.
Improvement: Additions to or new construction on landmarks or landmark sites, including, but not limited to, buildings, structures, objects, landscape features, and manufactured units, like mobile homes, carports, and storage buildings.
Landmark site: A location where a primary architectural or historical resource formerly stood or a significant historic event took place or an important archeological resource remains. For the purposes of this ordinance, a landmark site encompasses prehistoric or historic sites on unimproved or improved land. A historic landmark is designated by the commission and approved by the city through an ordinance.
Landscape: Any improvement or vegetation including, but not limited to: Shrubbery, trees, plantings, outbuildings, walls, courtyards, fences, swimming pools, planters, gates, street furniture, exterior lighting, and site improvements, including but not limited to, subsurface alterations, site regrading, fill deposition, and paving.
National Historic Landmark: A district, site. building, structure, and/or object that has been formally designated as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior and possesses exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States in history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture and that possesses a high degree of integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. National Historic Landmarks are automatically listed in the National Register.
National Register of Historic Places: A federal list of cultural resources worthy of preservation, authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect the nation's historic and archaeological resources. The National Register Program is administered by the Commission, by the State Historic Preservation Office, and by the National Park Service under the Department of the Interior. Significant federal benefits may accrue to owners of properties listed or determined eligible for listing in the National Register.
Object: A material thing of functional, cultural, historical, or scientific value that may be, by nature or design, movable, yet related to a specific setting or environment.
Ordinary Repair or Maintenance: Work done to prevent deterioration of a resource or any part thereof by returning the resource as nearly as practical to its condition prior to such deterioration, decay, or damage.
Owner of Record: The owner of a parcel of land, improved or unimproved, reflected on the city tax roll and in county deed records.
Period of greatest historic significance for a landmark: The time period during which the landmark had been essentially completed but not yet altered. It is also the period during which the style of architecture of the landmark was commonplace or typical. If a landmark also achieved historical importance in part because of designed landscape features, the period of greatest historic significance includes the time period during which such landscape features were maintained.
Relocation: The moving of a structure to a new location on its tax parcel or the relocation of such a structure to a new tax parcel.
Resource: Parcels located within historic districts, individual landmarks, and landmark sites, regardless of whether such sites are presently improved or unimproved. Resources can be separate buildings, districts, structures, sites, and objects and related groups thereof.
Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings: A federal document stating standards and guidelines for the appropriate rehabilitation and preservation of historic buildings.
Site: The location of a significant event, a prehistoric or historic occupation or activity, or a building or structure, whether standing, ruined, or vanished, where the location itself maintains historical or archaeological value regardless of the value of any existing buildings, or objects.
State Historic Preservation Office: The Historic Preservation Division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
State Historic Preservation officer: The director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Structure: A man-made object and typically will be visible because of portions which exist above grade. Structures built during the historic period, 1700 forward, may in some instances not be visible above grade if they are cellars, cisterns, icehouses or similar objects which by their nature are intended to be built into the ground. A structure includes both interior components and visible exterior surfaces, as well as attached elements such as signs and related features such as walks, walls, fences and other nearby secondary structures or landmark features.
Subdistricts: Discrete areas within a larger historic district within which separate design guidelines are appropriate and that may be created to recognize different zoning classifications or historic development patterns which have caused adjacent historic areas to develop at different times.
Subdivision: Any change in the boundaries of a single tax parcel, whether the change results in expansion or reduction or boundary relocation.
Substantial deterioration: Structural degradation of such a nature that water penetration into a historic structure can no longer be prevented, or structural degradation that causes stress or strain on structural members when supports collapse or warp, evidence of which includes defective roofing materials, broken window coverings and visible interior decay.
Survey of resources: The documentation, by historical research or a photographic record, of structures of historical interest within a specified area or jurisdiction or of existing structures within a proposed historic district.
Unauthorized demolition: The deliberate demolition of a historic structure without prior review and approval by a local historic preservation commission or a governing authority to which such a commission has made a recommendation.
Unreasonable economic hardship: The definition under constitutional standards used to determine whether a "taking" exists.
SECTION III. CHARLESTON PRESERVATION COMMISSION, COMPOSITION, AND TERMS
By virtue of Miss. Code Ann. 1972, Sec. 39-13-5, 39-15-7 and 39-13-9 as amended, the city is authorized to establish a preservation commission to preserve, promote, and develop the city's historical resources and to advise the city on the designation of historic districts, landmarks, and landmark sites and perform such other functions as may be provided by law.
All members of the commission are appointed by the city and shall serve at the will and pleasure of the city and shall serve staggered terms. The commission shall consist of 5 members resident in the City of Charleston. All members of the commission shall serve for terms established by the city and shall be eligible for reappointment. All commission members shall have a demonstrated knowledge of or interest, competence, or expertise in historic preservation. To the extent available in the community, the city shall appoint professional members from the primary historic preservation-related disciplines such as urban planning, American studies, American civilization, cultural geography, cultural anthropology, interior design, law, and related fields. The city shall document a good faith effort to locate professionals to serve on the commission before appointing lay members. Also the city shall document a good faith effort to locate residents of the municipality to serve on the commission before appointing individuals who own property within the boundary of the municipality or are in the service of an employer located within the boundary of the municipality (see Section 39-13-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended).
A. The city shall publish at least one notice in a newspaper in its jurisdiction to solicit responses from citizens who are professionals in the related fields of historic preservation and who are interested in serving on the commission. The city may contact known professionals and interested lay persons and invite submission of their qualifications in written resume form.
B. The city shall provide three (3) weeks (15 working days) for responses. Respondents shall submit, in written resume form, information concerning their demonstrated interest, competence, knowledge, or expertise. Such information should include, but is not limited to, educational and professional background, membership in appropriate preservation organizations, subscriptions to suitable professional publications, volunteer work, attendance at workshops and seminars, and other relevant experience.
C. When the city has collected adequate information concerning the potential appointees to the commission, it shall decide, with the assistance of the State Historic Preservation Office, if desired, which candidates are qualified for appointment to the commission.
SECTION IV. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION
In order to preserve, promote, and develop the distinctive appearance and the historic resources of Charleston and to accomplish the purposes set forth in Miss. Code Ann. 1972, Sec. 39-13-5 as amended, and in this ordinance:
A. The commission shall conduct or cause to be conducted a continuing study and survey of resources within the City of Charleston.
B. The commission shall recommend to the city the adoption of ordinances designating historic districts, landmarks, and landmark sites.
C. The commission may recommend that the city recognize sub-districts within any historic district, in order that the commission may adopt specific guidelines for the regulation of properties within such a sub-district.
D. The commission shall review applications proposing construction, alteration, demolition, or relocation of any resource as defined in Section II above.
E. The Commission shall grant or deny certificates of appropriateness, and may grant certificates of appropriateness contingent upon the acceptance by the applicant of specified conditions.
F. The commission shall not consider interior arrangements of buildings and structures except that it shall advise the Mississippi Department of Archives and History on questions relating to the interiors of publicly-owned resources.
G. The commission, subject to the requirements of the city, is authorized to apply for, receive, hold and spend funds from private and public sources, in addition to appropriations made by the city for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this ordinance.
H. The commission is authorized to employ such staff or contract with technical experts or other persons as may be required for the performance of its duties and to obtain the equipment, supplies, and other materials necessary for its effective operation.
I. The commission is authorized, solely in the performance of its official duties and only at reasonable times, to enter upon private land for the examination or survey thereof. No member, employee, or agent of the commission shall enter any private dwelling or structure without the express consent of the owner of record or occupant thereof.
J. Paint color changes are outside the jurisdiction of the commission.
SECTION V. RULES OF PROCEDURE
To fulfill the purposes of this ordinance and carry out the provisions contained therein:
A. The commission annually shall elect from its membership a chairman and vice-chairman. It shall select a secretary from its membership or its staff. If neither the chairman nor the vice-chairman attends a particular meeting, the remaining members shall select an acting chairman from the members in attendance at such meeting.
B. The commission shall develop and adopt rules of procedure which shall govern the conduct of its business, subject to the approval of the city. Such rules of procedure shall be a matter of public record.
C. The commission shall develop design review guidelines for determining appropriateness as generally set forth in Section VII of this ordinance. Such criteria shall insofar as possible be consistent with local, state, and federal guidelines and regulations, including, but not limited to, building safety and fire codes and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards For Rehabilitation.
D. The commission shall keep minutes and records of all meetings and proceedings including voting records, attendance, resolutions, findings, determinations, and decisions. All such material shall be a matter of public record.
E. The commission shall establish its own regular meeting time; however, the first meeting shall be held within thirty (30) days of the establishment of the commission by the local government and regular meetings shall be scheduled at least once every three
(3) months. The chairman or any two (2) members may call a special meeting to consider an urgent matter.
SECTION VI. DESIGNATION OF LANDMARKS, LANDMARK SITES, AND HISTORIC DISTRICTS
By ordinance, the city may establish landmarks, landmark sites, and historic districts within the area of its jurisdiction. Such landmarks, landmark sites, or historic districts shall be designated following the criteria as specified in Section II.
A. The commission shall initiate a continuing and thorough investigation of the archaeological, architectural, cultural, and historic significance of the city's resources. The findings shall be collected in a cohesive format, made a matter of public record, and made available for public inspection. The commission shall work toward providing complete documentation for locally designated historic districts which would include:
1. An inventory of all property within the boundary of the district, with photographs of each building and an evaluation of its significance to the district. Building evaluations are to be used only as a reference or guide and shall not be used as the determining factor for issuing or denying a certificate or appropriateness.
2. An inventory which would be in format consistent with the statewide inventory format of the Historic Preservation Division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (SHPO).
B. The commission shall advise the city on the designation of historic districts, landmarks, or landmark sites and submit or cause to be prepared ordinances to make such designation.
C. A resource or resources may be nominated for designation upon motion of three members of the commission or by an organization interested in historic preservation or by an owner of the property being nominated. A nomination shall contain information as specified by the commission. The commission must reach a decision on whether to recommend a proposed nomination to the city within six months in the case of a historic district and two months in the case of either a landmark or landmark site.
D. If the commission votes to recommend to the city the designation of a proposed resource, it promptly forwards to the city its recommendation, in writing, together with an accompanying file.
E. The commission's recommendations to the city for the designation of a historic district shall be accompanied by:
1. A map of the historic district that clearly delineates the boundaries.
2. A verbal boundary description and justification.
3. A written statement of significance for the proposed historic district.
F. After the nomination of a resource to the city for possible local designation, the resource shall be fully protected by the provisions of this ordinance for a period of six months, as if it were already designated.
G. Any property designated under a previous city ordinance shall remain designated.
H. No historic district or districts shall be designated until the Mississippi Department of Archives and History has been notified by certified letter by the city and invited to make recommendations concerning the proposed district boundaries. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History may comment by letter, telephone, e- mail or in person through designated staff. The city shall provide to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History the dates of the next two (2) public meetings at which action on the designation of such a district might be taken so that the Mississippi Department of Archives and History may comment in a timely manner. Failure of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to comment by the date of the second such meeting shall relieve the city of any responsibility for awaiting and responding to such analysis, and the city may at any time thereafter take any necessary action to create the proposed historic district.
I. If a proposed ordinance is to designate a landmark or landmark site, it may be presented to the city with a recommendation that it be adopted without submission to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
J. The city shall conduct a public hearing, after notice, to discuss the proposed designation and boundaries thereof. A notice of the hearing shall be published once a week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper published in the city. If a newspaper is not published in the city, then the notice shall be published in a paper published in the county. The first publication of such notice shall be made not less than twenty-one (21) days prior to the date fixed in the resolution for the public hearing and the last publication shall be made not more than seven (7) days prior to such date.
K. Within sixty (60) calendar days after the public hearing held in connection herewith, the city shall adopt the ordinance as proposed, reject it entirely, or adopt the ordinance with modifications.
L. Furthermore, the commission shall notify, as soon as is reasonably possible, the appropriate state, county, and municipal agencies of the official designation of all landmarks, landmark sites, and historic districts. An updated list and map shall be maintained by such agencies and made available to the public.
SECTION VII. CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS
No exterior feature of any resource shall be altered, relocated, or demolished until after an application for a certificate of appropriateness of such work has been approved by the commission. Likewise, no construction which affects a resource shall be undertaken without a certificate of appropriateness. Therefore,
A. The commission shall serve as a review body with the power to approve and deny applications for certificates of appropriateness.
B. In approving and denying applications for certificates of appropriateness, the commission shall seek to accomplish the purposes of this ordinance.
C. A certification of appropriateness shall not be required for work deemed by the commission to be ordinary maintenance or repair of any resource.
D. All decisions of the commission shall be in writing and shall state the findings of the commission, its recommendations, and the reasons therefore.
SECTION VIII. CRITERIA FOR ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS
The commission and the city shall use the following criteria in granting or denying certificates of appropriateness:
A. General Factors:
1. Architectural design of existing building, structure, or appurtenance and proposed alteration;
2. Historical significance of the resource;
3. General appearance of the resource;
4. Condition of the resource;
5. Materials composing the resource;
6. Size of the resource;
7. The relationship of the above factors to, and their effect upon the immediate surroundings and, if within a historic district, upon the district as a whole and its architectural and historical character and integrity.
B. New construction:
1. In advance of new construction, steps shall be taken to insure evaluation of possible archaeological resources, as set forth in the Mississippi Antiquities Act.
2. The following aspects of new construction shall be visually compatible with the buildings and environment with which the new construction is visually related, including but not limited to: the height, the gross volume, the proportion between width and height of the facade (s), the proportions and relationship between doors and windows, the rhythm of solids to voids created by openings in the facade, the materials, the textures, the colors, the patterns, the trims, and the design of the roof.
3. Existing rhythm created by existing building masses and spaces between them shall be preserved.
4. The landscape plan shall be compatible with the resource, and it shall be visually compatible with the environment with which it is visually related. Landscaping shall also not prove detrimental to the fabric of a resource, or adjacent public or private improvements like sidewalks and walls.
5. No specific architectural style shall be required.
C. Exterior alteration:
1. All exterior alterations to a building, structure, object, site, or landscape feature shall be compatible with the resource itself and other resources with which it is related, as is provided in Section VIII A and B, and the original design of a building, structure, object, or landscape feature shall be considered in applying these standards.
2. Exterior alterations shall not affect the architectural character or historic quality of a landmark and shall not destroy the significance of landmark sites.
D. In considering an application for the demolition of a landmark or a resource within a historic district, the following shall be considered:
1. The commission shall consider the individual architectural, cultural, and/or historical significance of the resource.
2. The commission shall consider the importance or contribution of the resource to the architectural character of the district.
3. The commission shall consider the importance or contribution of the resource to neighboring property values.
4. The commission shall consider the difficulty or impossibility of reproducing such a resource because of its texture, design, material, or detail.
5. Following recommendation for approval of demolition, the applicant must seek approval of replacement plans, set forth in Section VIII, B, prior to receiving a demolition permit and other permits. Replacement plans for this purpose shall include, but shall not be restricted to, project concept, preliminary elevations and site plans, and completed working drawings for at least the foundation plan which will enable the applicant to receive a permit for foundation construction.
6. Applicants that have received a recommendation for demolition shall be permitted to receive such demolition permit without additional commission action on demolition, following the commission's recommendation of a permit for new construction. Permits for demolition and construction shall be issued simultaneously if requirements of Section VIII B, are met, and the applicant provides financial proof of his ability to complete the project.
7. When the commission recommends approval of demolition of a resource, a permit shall not be issued until all plans for the site have received approval from all appropriate city boards, commissions, departments and agencies.
SECTION IX. PROCEDURES FOR ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS
Anyone desiring to take action requiring a certificate of appropriateness concerning a resource for which a permit, va
