Please note that I’ve referred to the Local Historic Districts Act (MCL 399.201, et seq) as the LHDA, the Clarkston ordinance (152.01, et seq of the Clarkston Code of Ordinances) as the Clarkston Ordinance, and the HDC charter proposal as the Charter Proposal.
Discussion:
The LHDA, MCL 399.205(3), and Clarkston Ordinance 152.07(C)(1)-(2), require the HDC to follow the United States secretary of the interior’s standards for rehabilitating historic buildings as set for in the Code of Federal Register, 36 CFR 67. The specific ten standards themselves are in § 67.7(b). Design review standards and guidelines that address special design characteristics of historic districts may be followed if they are equivalent in guidance to the secretary of interior’s standards and guidelines and are established and approved by Michigan’s State Housing Development Authority. The HDC must also consider the historic or architectural value and significance of the resource and its relationship to the historic value of the surrounding area; the relationship of any architectural features of the resource to the rest of the resource and to the surrounding area; the general compatibility of the design, arrangement, texture, and materials proposed to be used; other factors, such as aesthetic value, that the commission finds relevant; and whether the applicant has certified there will be an adequate fire or smoke alarm system.
The Charter Proposal requires the HDC to follow the LHDA and the Clarkston Ordinance and prohibits the HDC from “borrowing” standards and guidelines that apply to other activities that don’t involve rehabilitating historic buildings.
Notes:
The opponents of the Charter Proposal object to the HDC being limited to what the state law allows, even though the state law and incorporated federal standards are quite expansive. These critics apparently prefer to give the HDC the unlimited ability to use publications and opinions involving something other than historic buildings that are outside what is allowed by the LHDA and the Clarkston Ordinance.
Paid for by Susan Bisio, P.O. Box 1303, Clarkston, MI 48347 with regulated funds.)