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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 19026-02-2010ORDINANCE NO 19026-02-2010 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, BEING ORDINANCE NO 13896, AS AMENDED, CODIFIED AS APPENDIX "A" OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TO AMEND ARTICLE 5, "HISTORIC PRESERVATION OVERLAY DISTRICTS" TO REVISE ECONOMIC HARDSHIP CRITERIA, TO ESTABLISH CRITERIA FOR CONTRIBUTING AND NON-CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURES, TO REVISE PROCESS TO AMEND GUIDELINES, TO PROVIDE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVAL OF CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS FOR NON-CONTRIBUTING AND CONTRIBUTING STRUCTURES, TO PROVIDE THAT THE APPEALS BOARD SHALL REMAND AN APPEAL TO THE HISTORIC AND CULTURAL LANDMARKS COMMISSION WHEN NEW EVIDENCE OR TESTIMONY IS AVAILABLE, TO AMEND CHAPTER 9, "DEFINITIONS" TO ADD DEFINITIONS RELATED TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION, PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE CUMULATIVE OF ALL ORDINANCES, PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE, PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE, PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION AND NAMING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, City Council finds that the protection, enhancement, perpetuation, and use of improvements of special character or special historical interest or value, located within the City are a public necessity and is required m the interest of the health, safety and welfare of the people; and WHEREAS, City Council finds that the protection of such improvements may be achieved by safeguarding the Crty's historic and cultural heritage, as embodied and reflected m landmarks and historic distracts, and WHEREAS, city staff recommends amending various sections of the preservation ordinance to establish criteria for contributing and noncontributing structures, to revise the process to amend design guidelines, and to provide for administrative approval of Certificate of Appropriateness, WHEREAS city staff also recommends amending the procedure used by the Appeals Board to consider an appeal by providing that if any new testimony or evidence is available at the Appeals Board hearing the case be remanded to the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission for further review and 1 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS AS FOLLOWS SECTION 1 Chapter 4 Article 5 of Ordinance No 13896, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fort Worth, Section 4 503.H.2 Amendments to an Existing Historic and Cultural Landmarks Distract" is amended to provide that the City Council may initiate the amendment of the design guidelines for a distract without requiring a petition, to read as follows 2 The design guidelines for a distract may be amended at the request of the property owners or the City Council, provided that: a. A request to amend design guidelines from property owners must be accompanied by a petition in support of the proposed amendments signed by the owners of more than 50% of the individual tracts, lot and parcels and more than 50% of the total land area within the distract; b A request to amend design guidelines from the City Council may be m the form of a resolution calling for the Historic Preservation Officer to submit revised design guidelines to the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission for consideration. The Historic Preservation Officer and the commissioner for the historic district shall meet with the property owners m the historic district to revise the guidelines as directed by the City Council. c. The existing design guidelines shall remain m effect, unless otherwise found to be void, until the date of approval by the City Council of any amendments or alterations to the design guidelines. d. Any amendments to design guidelines shall at a minimum meet the requirements of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Preservation. SECTION 2. Chapter 4 Article 5 of Ordinance No 13896, the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fort Worth, Section 4 503 `Procedures for Designation of Property is amended to amend subsection H.3 Amendments to an existing historic and cultural landmark district" to revise the process by which the list of contributing structures may be amended and_add subsection I `Crateria to Establish Structures as Contributing or Non-Contributing" to establish criteria for historically contributing and non-contributing structures, to read as follows H. Amendments to an Existing Historic and Cultural Landmark District. 3 The list of contributing structures for a district may be amended periodically at the request of the district or the City Council where each of the following conditions exists 2 a. A statement for each property as to why the change in status is sought, accompanied by any additional information that may be requested by the historic preservation officer to support the change m status. b Any returned responses forms on which the owner may explain the reasons why the reclassification should be approved or denied. I. Criteria to Establish Structures as Contributing or Non-Contributing The following crateria shall be used to evaluate whether a property contributes to a historic distract and shall be included m the ordinance establishing the historic distract. 1 Contributing shall mean a structure m a historic distract: a.(1) That is considered to be historically culturally or architecturally significant according to the criteraa established by local, state or the federal government, including those formally promulgated by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior or (2) meets the crateraa as set forth m Section 4 502.D• and b That was designated as a contributing structure m the ordinance establishing the district or was reclassified as a contributing structure under section 4 502 H.3 2. Noncontributing property shall mean a structure m a historic district that: a.(1) does not add to the historacal or architectural qualities of the historic district, (2) was not present durang the period of significance, or (3) because of alterations or deterioration, rt has lost its physical integrity as determined by the Historic Preservation Officer and the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, and b Was classified as noncontributing m the ordinance established the historic distract and has not been reclassified as contributing under section 4 503.H.3 SECTION 3 Chapter 4 Article 5 of Ordinance No 13896 the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fort Worth, Section 4.504.D 1 `Historic Preservation Officer is amended to provide that Historic Preservation Officer may administratively approve a Certificate of Appropriateness fora non- contributing structure and a contributing structure where certain conditions are met, to read as follows D Procedure for Review and Issuance of a Certificate of Appropriateness 1 Historic Preservation Officer The Historic Preservation officer is authorized to issue a Certificate of Appropriateness for the following types of alteration, repairs, construction and restoration of a building or structure m a historic distract: a. The removal of non-oragmal and non-historic materials, or 3 b The restoration of existing features or of original detailing proven by documentation such as photographs, architectural evidence or buildmg'plans, or c. All emergency repairs and other public, health and safety issues, or d. Noncontributing structures other than additions. SECTION 4 Chapter 4 Article 5 of Ordinance No 13896 the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fort Section 4.504.D.3 5 `Decision of the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission is hereby amended to provide titles to the subsections contained herein and reorganize subsection 3 and 5 and delete subsection 5 to provide greater clarity to read as follows. D Procedure for review of a Certificate of Appropriateness 3. Decision of the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission. At the conclusion on the public hearing or as soon thereafter as is reasonably practicable, the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission shall take one or more of the following actions. a. Approval of the Certificate of Appropriateness If the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission finds that the application is consistent with applicable regulations and guidelines, a Certificate of Appropriateness maybe approved, with or without any conditions that maybe appropriate; b Denial of the Certificate of Appropriateness If the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission finds that the application is not consistent with applicable regulations and guidelines, a Certificate of Appropriateness may be denied with or without prejudice; c. Waiver from Design Guidelines If the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission fails to issue the Certificate of Appropriateness because the proposed work is not consistent with applicable regulations and design guidelines, the owner shall have the right to request a waiver from the design guidelines from the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission. i. Burden of Proof: In order to receive a waiver from the guidelines, the owner must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that no reasonable opportunity exists to recover the cost of the proposed work if it is required m accordance with the design guidelines. ii. Evidence of economic hardship In determining whether to grant such a waiver the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission may consider the following evidence. a. The cost to perform the work m compliance with the criteria and design guidelines, 4 b The value of the property c. The extent to which a waiver is necessary to allow the owner a reasonable opportunity to recover the cost of the work; d. Whether granting the waiver will harm an existing or proposed historic and cultural landmarks distract or property designated highly significant endangered or historic and cultural landmark; e. Whether the proposed work is m harmony with the spirat and purposes of this Article. iii The Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission and city staff, in consultation with local preservation groups and other interested parties, shall explore with the owner or a representative, alternatives for performance of the work that will preserve the structure of the property to the greatest extent that is economically feasible. iv Decision of the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission. a. If the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission finds that the owner has satisfied the burden of proof, the waiver from the design guidelines may be approved and the work allowed, with or without conditions. The Certificate of Appropriateness shall state the terms and the conditions of the waiver All waivers shall be m compliance with all other city codes and ordinances. b If the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission finds that the owner has failed to satisfy the burden of proof, the Certificate of Appropriateness will be denied. d. Continuation of request for Certificate of Appropriateness. If the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission finds that there is not enough information to reasonably determine the appropraateness of proposed work or if all interested parties who may present testimony are not m attendance at the public hearing, the application may be continued until such time the necessary information or interested parties are available. 4. Certificate of Appropriateness Demolition or Relocation a. Loss of significance• The Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission may approve a Certificate of Appropriateness for demolition or relocation when it has determined that the structure is no longer significant. In making this determination, the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission must find that the owner has established by a preponderance of the evidence that the structure has undergone significant and irreversible changes which have caused the structure to lose the significance and/or quality or features which qualified the structure for historic designation. b Economic Hardship The owner of a property denied a Certificate of Appropriateness based on loss of significance shall have the right to introduce evidence to establish that the owner will suffer an unreasonable economic hardship if the Certificate of Appropriateness is not issue for the demolition or relocation of the structure. 5 i. The owner shall have the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that an unreasonable hardship exists under the criteria set forth m Section 4 506 ii. If the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission finds that the owner has failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that an unreasonable economic hardship exists, the Certificate of Appropnateness shall be denied. iii. If the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission finds that the owner has satisfied by a preponderance of the evidence that an unreasonable economic hardship exists, the Certificate of Appropnateness may be issued with or without the following conditions. The Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission may delay the issuance of the Certificate of Appropriateness up to 180 days after the date of the public hearing; may require the preparation of a salvation plan, documentation of the property and/or the preservation of trees, shrubs and other landscaping of substantial significance. These conditions shall be m compliance with all other city codes and ordinances. SECTION 5. Chapter 4 Article 5 of Ordinance No 13896 the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fort Worth, Subsection J `Limitation of Term of Certificate of Appropnateness" of Section 4.504 `Certificate of Appropriateness, is amended to provide that a Certificate of Appropriateness shall be valid for two years from the date of issuance, to read as follows. J Limitation of Term of Certificate of Appropriateness. 1 Residential Where work approved under a Certificate of Appropnateness has not commenced within one (1) year of the date of issuance, the Certificate of Appropnateness shall be considered void and a new application shall be required. 2 Commercial Where work approved under a Certificate of Appropriateness has not commenced within two (2) years of the date of issuance, the Certificate of Appropnateness shall be considered void and a new application shall be required SECTION 6. Chapter 4 Article 5 of Ordinance No 13896 the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fort Worth, Section 4 506 `Unreasonable Economic Hardship is amended to clarify the title of the section and to provide that proof of hardship may also be shown by information stating the costs of demolition and a report from a licensed engineer or architect, to read as follows 6 Section 4.506 Unreasonable Economic Hardship Removal, Demolition or Relocation E. Proof of hardship As evidence that an unreasonable economic hardship exists, the owner may submit the following information to the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission by affidavit: n. Estimate of the cost of the proposed demolition or relocation (construction and alteration are not applicable to this section) and an estimate of any additional cost that would be incurred to comply with the design guidelines. o A report from a licensed engineer or architect with experience in rehabilitation as to the structural soundness of any structures on the property and their suitability for rehabilitation. SECTION 7 Chapter 4 Article 5 of Ordinance No 13896 the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fort Worth, Section 4 512.A.2 Appeals Board" is amended to provide that the Appeals Board shall hear appeals from the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, to read as follows 4.512 Appeal, Penalties A. Appeals Board Any owner or interested party_dissatisfied with any action of the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, other than actions relating to designation, which shall be heard by the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, the Zoning Commission and the Crty Council in accordance with section 4 503 shall have the right to appeal to the Appeals Board within ten days after receipt of notification of such action, by filing a written notice of such appeal with the City Secretary or the Historic Preservation Officer The written notice of appeal shall specify the grounds for the appeal. 2 The Appeals Board shall schedule a hearing on such appeal within 30 days after receipt of the notice of appeal, or as soon thereafter as is reasonably practicable. Notice of such hearing shall be published by the City Secretary in the City's official newspaper not less than the 15`h day before the date of the hearing. The Historic Preservation Officer shall forward to the Appeals Board a complete record of the matter being appealed, including a transcript of the tape of the hearing before the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission. In considering an appeal, the Appeals Board shall 7 a. receive an overview of the case from the Historic Preservation Officer or designee including previous recommendations from city staff and the decision of the Historac and Cultural Landmarks Commission, b hear arguments from the parties related to the record made before the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, c. apply the substantial evidence test to the decision of the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, considering the record made before the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, provided however that the burden of proof before the Appeals Board shall be on the appealing party who must establish that the record reflects the lack of substantial evidence m support of the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission s decision, 3 The Appeals Board shall remand the matter back to the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission when testimony and evidence is presented that was not previously available at the time of the hearing before the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission. 4 The Appeals Board may not substitute its judgment for the judgment of the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission on the weight of the evidence on questions committed to the Commission s discretion but: a. may affirm the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission s decision m whole or m part; or b shall reverse or remand the appeal for further proceedings if the decision is not reasonably supported by substantial evidence considering the record as a whole. SECTION 8. Chapter 9 `Definitions, is amended to add definitions of interested party contributing and non-contributing as related to the Historic Preservation Overlay Distract, to read as follows Contributing: For the purpose of Chapter 4 Article 5 Historac Preservation Overlay Distracts, contributing means a structure or site identified as reinforcing the cultural, architectural or historical significance of the historac district m which it is located upon the distract's designation or revision and meets the crateraa m Section 4 503.I.1 Economic Hardship For the purposes of Chapter 4 Article 5 Historac Preservation Overlay economic hardship means a financial burden that results m the failure to achieve a reasonable economic return or make reasonable beneficial use of the property 8 Emergency Repair For the purpose of Chapter 4 Article 5 Historic Preservation Overlay Distracts, emergency repair means work necessary to remedy a condition determined by the Building Official to be imminently dangerous to life, health and safety In-kind repair For the purpose of Chapter 4 Article 5 Historic Preservation Overlay Districts, in-kind repair means any work to correct or prevent deterioration, decay or damage to a building, structure, object or site or any part thereof, with the same or similar materials, provided that the work does not change the design, character texture of any exterior feature or constitute an alteration regmring a Certificate of Appropriateness. This definition does not include m-kind replacement. In-kind replacement: For the purposes of Chapter 4 Article 5 Historic Preservation Overlay Distracts, m-kind replacement means any work to replace the original materials of a structure with the same materials, provided that the work does not change the design, character texture of any exterior feature or constitute an alteration regmring a Certificate of Appropriateness. Interested Party• For the purpose of Chapter 4 Article 5 Historic Preservation Overlay Distracts, an interested party is a person who has an interest in a matter that is the subject of a public hearing or administrative decision. A person has an interest if the person. 1 is the applicant or the record owner of property that is the subject of a public hearing or administrative decision, or 2 is a designee of a registered neighborhood association that has an interest within the historic district; or 3 an adjacent property owner located m the same historic district; 4 is an organization committed to preserving the City of Fort Worth s historic identity with demonstrated experience m historac preservation. Noncontributing: For the purpose of Chapter 4 Article 5 Historic Preservation Overlay Districts, noncontributing means a structure or site that is identified as noncontributing upon the designation or revision of the historic district m which it is located and meets the criteria m Section 4.503 I.2. SECTION 9 This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are m direct conflict with the provision of such ordinances and such Code, m which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed. 9 SECTION 10 That all nghts and remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, are expressly saved as to any and all violations of the provisions of Ordinance No 13896 which have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance and, as to such accrued violations and all pending litigation, both civil and criminal, whether pending m court or not, under such ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance buy may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts. SECTION 11. That it is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared void, ineffective or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent ~unsdiction, such voidness, ineffectiveness or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs or sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council, without the incorporation herein of any such void, ineffective or unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 12. That any person, firm or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be fined not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2000 00) for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. 10 SECTION 13 That the City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, Texas is hereby directed to publish this ordinance for two (2) days m the official newspaper of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, as authorized by Section 52 013 Texas Local Government Code. SECTION 14. This ordinance shall take effect after adoption and publication as required by law APPR V D AS TO F D LEGALITY By. ~~ G',I~...~--- Assistant City Attorney Adopted. February 2, 2010 Effective ~ ~ ~ b 11