[Amended 10-22-2002 by Ord. No. 37-2002A; 5-22-2007 by Ord. No.
37-2007A]
A. There are hereby created historic districts, which includes historic
homesites and historic landmarks previously designated and now referred
to as "historic districts," which shall include the following:
(1) The Cranberry Lake Farm Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 1.
(2) The Goodison Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 2.
(3) The Kading-Sauer Historic District, which shall include the area
described in Appendix 3.
(4) The Smith-Kulow-Glass Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 4.
(5) The Dernberger-Campbell Corners Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 5.
(6) The Woodbeck-Noble Historic District, which shall include the area
described in Appendix 6.
(7) The Kline-Middleton Historic District, which shall include the area
described in Appendix 7.
(8) The Bowlby-Matheys Historic District, which shall include the area
described in Appendix 8.
(9) The Braid Farm Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 9.
(10)
The Lacy-Landon Historic District, which shall include the area
described in Appendix 10.
(11)
The Hixson-Berean Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 11.
(12)
The Anderson Farm Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 12.
(13)
The Axford-Chamberlin Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 13.
(14)
The Chamberlin Farm Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 14.
(15)
The Parks-Newberry Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 15.
(16)
The Hadden Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 16.
(17)
The Redfield-Davis-Harmon Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 17.
(18)
The Axford-Thomas Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 18.
(19)
The Taylor Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 19.
(20)
The Cole-Major-Carpenter Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 20.
(21)
The Fink Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 21.
(22)
The Pike Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 22.
(23)
The Wilber Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 23.
(24)
The Fosdick-Pine Row Farm Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 24.
(25)
The Bromley-Synder-Veen Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 25.
(26)
The Chamberlin SW Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 26.
(27)
The Kremer Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 28.
(29)
The Kline Presbyterian Cemetery Historic District, which shall
include the area described in Appendix 30.
(30)
The Dewey Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 31.
(31)
The Paint Creek Cemetery Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 32.
(32)
The Perry Historic District, which shall include the area described
in Appendix 33.
(33)
The Bigler Cemetery Historic District, which shall include the
area described in Appendix 34.
(34)
The Schuette Oak Tree Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 35.
(35)
The George Farmstead Historic District, which shall include
the area described in Appendix 36.
[Added 3-26-2013 by Ord. No. 37A-2013(A)]
[Amended 2-8-2005 by Ord. No. 37A-2005]
The Township Board of Trustees may, by ordinance, establish one or more historic districts. The historic districts shall be administered by the Historic District Commission established pursuant to §§
228-30 through
228-33. The Township Board of Trustees shall also appoint a standing committee to be known as the "Historic District Study Committee." The Historic District Study Committee shall contain a majority of persons who have a clearly demonstrated interest in or knowledge of historic preservation, and shall contain representation from one or more duly organized local historic preservation organizations. The Historic District Study Committee shall be comprised of at least five individuals, including at least two individuals who are owners of an historic resource and at least two, but not more than three, who are members of the Historic District Commission. Members of the Historic District Study Committee shall be appointed to three-year terms, and such terms shall be staggered. The terms shall expire on December 31 of the year of expiration.
[Amended 2-8-2005 by Ord. No. 37A-2005]
Upon the adoption of a resolution by the Township Board authorizing an historic district study as set forth in §
228-12, the Historic District Study 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 Historical Center.
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 Historic District Study 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 CFR 60, and criteria
established or approved by the Historical Center, if any.
D. Prepare a preliminary Historic District Study Committee report that
addresses, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) The charge of the Historic District Study Committee.
(2) The composition of the Historic District Study Committee membership.
(3) The historic district or districts studied.
(4) The boundaries for each proposed historic district in writing and
on maps.
(5) The history of each proposed historic district.
(6) 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 copies of the preliminary report for review and recommendations
to the Township Planning Commission, to the Historical Center, to
the State Historical Commission, and to the State Historic Preservation
Review Board.
F. Make copies of the preliminary report available to the public pursuant to §
228-13.
[Amended 2-8-2005 by Ord. No. 37A-2005]
A. The Historic District Study Committee shall undertake a study under §
228-9 only after it is authorized to do so through a resolution of the Township Board.
B. The Township Board may accept suggestions for a potential study areas,
or may initiate a study on its own motion.
C. The Township Board may, in its discretion, hold a public hearing
for the purposes of considering whether further study of a proposed
area is merited prior to referring the matter to the Historic District
Study Committee for study and recommendation back to the Township
Board.
D. Following a public hearing, should the Board choose to hold one,
the Board shall authorize by resolution the further study of a proposed
historic area, and refer the matter to the Historic District Study
Committee.
Not less than 60 calendar days after the transmittal of the
preliminary report, the Historic District Study Committee shall hold
a public hearing in compliance with Public Act No. 267 of 1976 (MCLA
§ 15.261 et seq.). Public notice of the time, date, and
place of the hearing shall be given in the manner required by such
act. 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
Township.
After the date of the public hearing, the Historic District
Study Committee and the Township Board of Trustees shall have not
more than one year, unless otherwise authorized by the Township Board
of Trustees, to take the following actions:
A. The Historic District Study Committee shall prepare and submit a
final report with its recommendations and the recommendations, if
any, of the Township Planning Commission, to the Township Board of
Trustees. If the recommendation is to establish an historic district,
the final report shall include a draft of a proposed ordinance.
B. After receiving a final report that recommends the establishment
of an historic district, the Township Board of Trustees, at its discretion,
may introduce and pass or reject an ordinance or ordinances. If the
Board of Trustees passes an ordinance or ordinances establishing one
or more historic districts, the Board of Trustees shall file a copy
of that ordinance or those ordinances, including a legal description
of the property located within the historic district or districts,
with the register of deeds. The Board of Trustees shall not pass an
ordinance establishing a contiguous historic district less than 60
days after a simple majority of the property owners within the proposed
historic district, as listed on the tax rolls of the Township, have
approved the establishment of the historic district by a written petition.
A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained
by the Historic District Study Committee in the performance of an
official function shall be made available to the public in compliance
with Public Act No. 442 of 1976 (MCLA § 15.231 et seq.).
The Board of Trustees 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 an historic district, the Historic District Study Committee appointed by the Township Board of Trustees shall, except as provided in §
228-15, comply with the procedures set forth in §§
228-8 through
228-13 and shall consider any previously written committee reports pertinent to the proposed action.
If considering elimination of an historic district, a committee shall follow the procedures set forth in §§
228-8 through
228-13 for issuing a preliminary report, holding a public hearing, and issuing a final report but with the intent of showing one or more of the following:
A. The historic district has lost those physical characteristics that
enabled establishment of the district.
B. The historic district was not significant in the way previously defined.
C. The historic district was established pursuant to defective procedures.
Upon receipt of substantial evidence showing the presence of historic, architectural, archaeological, engineering, or cultural significance of a proposed historic district, the Township Board of Trustees may, at its discretion, adopt a resolution requiring that all applications for building permits within a proposed historic district be referred to the Commission as prescribed in Article
III of this chapter. The Commission shall review building 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 one year, or until such time as the Board of Trustees approves or rejects the establishment of the historic district by ordinance, whichever occurs first.
If the Township Board of Trustees determines that pending work
will cause irreparable harm to resources located within an established
historic district or a proposed historic district, the Board of Trustees
may by resolution declare an emergency moratorium of all such work
for a period not to exceed six months. The Board of Trustees may extend
the emergency moratorium for an additional period not to exceed six
months upon finding that the threat of irreparable harm to resources
is still present. Any pending building permit application concerning
a resource subject to an emergency moratorium may be summarily denied.
[Amended 10-22-2002 by Ord. No. 37-2002A; 5-22-2007 by Ord. No.
37-2007A]
The legal descriptions of the historic districts shall be as
follows: