This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Historic District Commission Ordinance."
The purpose of this article is as follows:
A. To safeguard the heritage of the City of Royal Oak by preserving historic districts in the City that reflect elements of the City's history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture; and
B. To stabilize and improve property values in each district and the surrounding areas; and
C. To foster civic beauty; and
D. To strengthen the local economy; and
E. To promote the use of historic districts for the education, pleasure, and welfare of the citizens of the City of Royal Oak and the State of Michigan.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ALTERATION Work that changes the detail of a resource but does not change its basic size or shape.
COMMISSION The City of Royal Oak Historic District Commission.
COMMITTEE The City of Royal Oak Historic District Study Committee.
DEMOLITION The razing or destruction, whether entirely or in part, of a resource, and includes, but is not limited to, demolition by neglect.
DEMOLITION BY NEGLECT Neglect in maintaining, repairing, or securing a resource that results in deterioration of an exterior feature of the resource or the loss of structural integrity of the resource.
DENIAL The written rejection of a permit application for work that is inappropriate and that adversely affects a resource.
FIRE ALARM SYSTEM A system designed to detect and annunciate the presence of fire or by-products of fire.
HISTORIC DISTRICT An area, or a group of areas not necessarily having contiguous boundaries, that contains one resource or a group of resources that are related by history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION The identification, evaluation, establishment, and protection of resources significant in history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture.
HISTORIC RESOURCE A publicly or privately owned building, structure, site, object, feature, or open space that is significant in the history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture of the City of Royal Oak.
NOTICE TO PROCEED The written permission from the Historic District Commission to issue a permit for work that is inappropriate and that adversely affects a resource.
OPEN SPACE Undeveloped land, a naturally landscaped area, or a formal or man-made landscaped area that provides a connective link or a buffer between other resources.
ORDINARY MAINTENANCE Keeping a resource unimpaired and in good condition through ongoing minor intervention, undertaken from time to time, in its exterior condition. Ordinary maintenance does not change the external appearance of the resource except through the elimination of the usual and expected effects of weathering. Ordinary maintenance does not constitute work for purposes of this article.
PROPOSED HISTORIC DISTRICT An area, or group of areas not necessarily having contiguous boundaries, that has delineated boundaries and that is under review by the Historic District Study Committee for the purpose of making a recommendation as to whether it should be established as an historic district or added to an established historic district.
REPAIR To restore a decayed or damaged resource to a good or sound condition by any process. A repair that changes the external appearance of a resource constitutes work for purposes of this article.
RESOURCE One or more publicly or privately owned historic or nonhistoric buildings, structures, sites, objects, features, or open spaces located within an historic district.
SMOKE ALARM A single-station or multiple-station alarm responsive to smoke and not connected to a system. As used in this article, "single-station alarm" means an assembly incorporating a detector, the control equipment, and the alarm sounding device into a single unit, operated from a power supply either in the unit or obtained at the point of installation. "Multiple-station alarm" means two or more single-station alarms that are capable of interconnection such that actuation of one alarm causes all the integrated separate audible alarms to operate.
WORK Construction, addition, alteration, repair, moving, excavation, or demolition.
In order to execute the purposes of this article, there is hereby created a Commission to be called the "City of Royal Oak Historic District Commission."
Upon a finding by the Commission that an historic resource within an historic district or a proposed historic district subject to its review and approval is threatened with demolition by neglect, the Commission may do either of the following:
A. Require the owner of the resource to repair all conditions contributing to demolition by neglect.
B. If the owner does not make repairs within a reasonable time, the Commission or its agents may, upon obtaining an order from the Circuit Court, enter the property and make such repairs as are necessary to prevent demolition by neglect. The costs of the work shall be charged to the owner and may be levied by the City of Royal Oak as a special assessment against the property.
Upon receipt of substantial evidence showing the presence of historic architectural, archaeological, engineering, or cultural significance of a proposed historic district, the City Commission may, at its discretion, adopt a resolution requiring that all applications for permits within the proposed historic district be referred to the Historic District Commission for review as provided in this article. The Historic District Commission shall review 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 City Commission approves or rejects the establishment of the historic district by ordinance, whichever occurs first.
If the City Commission determines that pending work will cause irreparable harm to resources located within an established historic district or a proposed historic district, the City Commission may, by resolution, declare an emergency moratorium of all such work for a period not to exceed six months. The City Commission 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 permit application concerning a resource subject to an emergency moratorium may be summarily denied.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent ordinary maintenance or repair of a resource within an historic district, or to prevent work on any resource under a permit issued by the Chief Building Inspector or other duly delegated authority before this article is enacted.