A. 
The Township Board 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 a Historic District, a Historic District Study Committee appointed by the Township Board shall follow the procedures as stated in § 399.203 (1-3) of Public Act 169 of 1970, as amended. To conduct these activities, the Township Board may retain the initial committee, establish a standing committee, or establish a committee to consider only specific proposed districts and then be dissolved. The committee shall consider any previously written committee reports pertinent to the proposed action.
B. 
In considering elimination of a Historic District, a committee shall follow the procedures set forth in § 399.203 (1-3) of Public Act 169 of 1970, as amended, for the issuance of a preliminary report, holding a public hearing, and issuing a final report but with the intent of showing one or more of the following:
(1) 
The Historic District has lost those physical characteristics that enabled the establishment of the district.
(2) 
The Historic District was not significant in the way previously defined.
(3) 
The Historic District was established pursuant to defective procedures.
The Commission may delegate the issuance of certificates of appropriateness for specified minor classes of work to its staff, or to another delegated authority. The Commission shall provide to its delegated authority specific written standards for issuing certificates of appropriateness under this subsection. The Commission shall review the certificates of appropriateness issued by the delegate on at least a quarterly basis to determine whether or not the delegated responsibilities should be continued.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent ordinary maintenance or repair of a resource within a Historic District or to prevent work on any resource under a permit issued by the inspector of buildings or other duly delegated authority before this chapter was enacted.
The Commission shall review and act upon only exterior features of a resource and shall not review and act upon interior arrangements unless specifically authorized to do so by the Township Board or unless interior work will cause visible change to the exterior of the resource. The Commission shall not disapprove an application due to considerations not prescribed in § 399.205(3) of Public Act 169 of 1970, as amended.
A. 
In reviewing plans, the Commission shall follow the U.S. Secretary of Interior's Standards for rehabilitation and guidelines for rehabilitating historic buildings as set forth in 36 C.F.R., Part 67. Design review standards and guidelines that address special design characteristics of Historic Districts administered by the Commission may be followed if they are equivalent in guidance to the Secretary of Interior's Standards and guidelines and are established or approved by the State Historic Preservation Office of the Michigan Historic Center.
B. 
In reviewing plans, the Commission shall also consider all of the following:
(1) 
The historic or architectural value and significance of the resource and its relationship to the historic value of the surrounding area.
(2) 
The relationship of any architectural features of the resource to the rest of the resource and to the surrounding area.
(3) 
The general compatibility of the design, arrangement, texture, and materials proposed to be used.
(4) 
Other factors, such as aesthetic value, that the Commission finds relevant.
(5) 
Whether the applicant has certified in the application that the property where work will be undertaken has, or will have before the proposed project completion date, a fire alarm system or a smoke alarm complying with the requirements of the Stille-DeRossette-Hale single state construction code act 1972 PA 230, MCL 12.1505 to 125.1531.
A. 
A permit shall be obtained before any work affecting the exterior appearance of a resource is performed within a Historic District. The person, individual, partnership, firm, corporation, organization, institution, or agency of government proposing to do that work shall file an application for a permit with the Building Department. Upon receipt of a complete application, the Building Department shall immediately refer the application, along with all required supporting materials that make the application complete to the Commission. A permit shall not be issued and proposed work shall not proceed until the Commission has acted on the application by issuing a certificate of appropriateness or a notice to proceed as prescribed in this chapter. The Commission shall not issue a certificate of appropriateness unless the applicant certifies in the application that the property where work will be undertaken, has, or will have before the proposed project completion date, a fire alarm system or a smoke alarm complying with the requirements of the Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, 1972 PA 230, MCL 125.1501 to 125.1531.
B. 
The Commission shall file certificates of appropriateness, notices to proceed, and denials of applications for permits with the Building Department. A permit shall not be issued until the Commission has acted as prescribed by this chapter.
C. 
If an application is for work that will adversely affect the exterior of a resource the Commission considers valuable to Northville Township, the State of Michigan, or the nation, and the Commission determines that the alteration or loss of that resource will adversely affect the public purpose of the City, state, or nation, the Commission shall attempt to establish with the owner of the resource an economically feasible plan for the preservation of the resource.
D. 
The failure of the Commission to act on an application within 60 calendar days after the date a complete application is filed with the Commission, unless an extension is agreed upon in writing by the applicant and the Commission, shall be considered to constitute approval.
E. 
The Township may charge a reasonable fee to process a permit application.
If a permit application is denied, the decision shall be binding on the inspector or other authority. A denial shall be accompanied by a written explanation by the Commission of the reasons for denial and, if appropriate, a notice that an application may be resubmitted for the Commission review when the suggested changes have been made. The denial shall also include the notification of the applicant's right to appeal to the State Historic Preservation Review Board and to the circuit court.
Work within a Historic District shall be permitted through the issuance of a notice to proceed by the Commission if any of the following conditions prevail and if the proposed work can be demonstrated by a finding of the Commission to be necessary to substantially improve or correct any of the following conditions:
A. 
The resource constitutes a hazard to the safety of the public or to the structure's occupants.
B. 
The resource is a deterrent to a major improvement program that will be of substantial benefit to the community and the applicant proposing the work has obtained all necessary planning and zoning approvals, financing, and environmental clearances.
C. 
Retaining the resource will cause undue financial hardship to the owner when a governmental action, an act of God, or other events beyond the owner's control created the hardship, and all feasible alternatives to eliminate the financial hardship, which may include offering the resource for sale at its fair market value or moving the resource to a vacant site within the Historic District, have been attempted and exhausted by the owner.
D. 
Retaining the resource is not in the interest of the majority of the community.
When work has been done upon a resource without a permit, and the Commission finds that the work does not qualify for a certificate of appropriateness, the Commission may require an owner to restore the resource to the condition that the resource was in before the inappropriate work or to modify the work so that it qualifies for a certificate of appropriateness. If the owner does not comply with the restoration or modification requirement within a reasonable time, the Commission may seek an order from the circuit court to require the owner to restore the resource to its former condition or to modify the work so that it qualifies for a certificate of appropriateness. If the owner does not comply or cannot comply with the order of the court, the Commission or its agents may enter the property and conduct work necessary to restore the resource to its former condition or modify the work so that it qualifies for a certificate of appropriateness in accordance with the court's order. The costs of the work done shall be charged to the owner, and may be levied by Northville Township as a special assessment against the property. When acting pursuant to an order of the circuit court, the Commission or its agents may enter a property for purposes of this section.
Upon a finding by the Commission that a historic resource within a 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 enter the property and make such repairs as necessary to prevent demolition by neglect. The costs of the work shall be charged to the owner, and may be levied by Northville Township as a special assessment against the property. The Commission or its agents may enter the property for purposes of this section upon obtaining an order from the circuit court.
Upon receipt of substantial evidence showing the presence of historic, architectural, archaeological, engineering, or cultural significance of a proposed Historic District, the Township Board 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 as prescribed in § 91-24. 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 Township Board approves or rejects the establishment of the Historic District by ordinance, whichever comes first.
If the Township Board determines that pending work will cause irreparable harm to resources located within an established or proposed Historic District, the Township Board may by resolution declare an emergency moratorium on all such work for a period not to exceed six months. The Township Board 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.