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A. General provisions for registered structures. Any structure which has been included within a Historic Preservation Overlay District, and which is listed on the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register, or National Registers of Historic Places or identified as an “eligible building” for future listing on the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places in the Washington State Inventory of Historical Sites and Buildings, shall be subject to the following regulatory provisions hereby adopted to encourage preservation, restoration and reuse of historic structures:

1. Building Code Regulations applicable to the preservation, restoration and reuse of historic buildings and structures are contained in VMC 17. VMC 17.08 provides for the Building Official to approve alternate methods of construction and materials. Documents that the Building Official uses to make determinations on alternate methods and materials for the preservation, restoration and related reconstruction, rehabilitation, strengthening or relocation of buildings or structures designated as historic buildings include but are not limited to the State Building Code(s) designated in RCW 19.27, VMC 17, the Washington State Historic Building Code WAC 51-19, the International Existing Building Code and other technical resources related to historic buildings and structures.

2. Any developer may transfer the unused development potential of a historic building site to any other site in the same zoning district provided that such transfer would not create a hazard to low flying aircraft. The unused development potential shall be computed in terms of allowable floor area and building height for a site the same size as that on which the historic structure is located, minus the area in the historic building. This transfer of development potential is divisible and may be used only once. The owner of such property must have first recorded a covenant approved by City Council, being on all successor owners, heirs and assigns, that the historic building will be maintained in its historic condition in consideration of the special rights granted by this Section.

3. A structure as identified above shall not be demolished except in the following manner:

a. Demolition of Unsafe Buildings. If the City Building Official has found the structure to be unsafe under the provisions of Chapter 17.32 VMC, Unfit Buildings and Premises Code, and has ordered that the structure be demolished.

b. Demolition of Other Buildings in a Historic Preservation Overly District. If a proposed reuse of the site requires the demolition of a structure listed on the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register, or National Register of Historic Places or identified as an “eligible building” for future listing on the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places in the Washington State Inventory of Historical Sites and Buildings, and such structure is located within a Historic Preservation Overlay District. The proponent of the demolition shall submit an Application for Demolition together with a report demonstrating that preservation of the building or structure and important features thereof proposed for demolition will impose an economic hardship upon the owner, rendering it impractical to renovate, restore, or reuse the structure. The report shall contain the following information:

i. Ownership history during the past ten years including the buyers and sellers, sales prices, dates of sales and the relationships, if any, between the present owner(s) and the most recent previous owner(s).

ii. The outstanding balance of the mortgage and other financing secured by the property.

iii. The most recent assessed value and present property taxes levied.

iv. All appraisals on the property performed during the past three years and an estimate of the property’s present fair market value.

v. A summary of listed prices, if any, for the property during the most recent three years.

vi. Cultural significance as described in nominations for listing in the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places or in any consultant report determining that the building may be an “eligible building” for future listing on the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places.

vii. Professional quality as-built drawings of the building and renderings of all exterior elevations showing the building’s architectural features and black and white photographs on acid free photographic paper of the building interior and exterior, its site and adjacent structures.

viii. Current level of economic return including annual gross income, itemized operating and maintenance expenses, capital expenditures, depreciation and debt service for the most recent three full years.

ix. An analysis of reasonable economic alternatives to demolition, including:

1. redevelopment of the building in its present location independent of other development of the site;

2. redevelopment of the building in its present location in conjunction with new development on the balance of the site;

3. and relocation to a different location and whether such redeveloped or relocated alternatives are capable of providing reasonable economic return upon completion of renovation / repair / relocation activities.

c. Procedures for Processing Applications for Demolition. Applications for Demolition shall be processed as follows:

i. For buildings listed in the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places or identified as an “eligible building” for future listing on the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places in the Washington State Inventory of Historical Sites and Buildings and located within a Historic Preservation Overlay District a legal notice shall be published in the local newspaper that a completed application for demolition has been accepted by the Planning Official and providing the date that such application will be reviewed by the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission. A copy of such legal notice will be mailed to all property owners within 500 feet of the property on which the demolition is proposed. Such legal notice publication and mailing shall occur at least 30 days prior to the review of the application by the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission.

ii. For buildings listed in the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission will review the application and associated reports and recommend approval or denial of the permit application.

iii. For buildings identified as an “eligible building” for future listing on the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places in the Washington State Inventory of Historical Sites and Buildings and located within a Historic Preservation Overlay District, but not listed in the Clark County Heritage Register, State Heritage Register or National Register of Historic Places, the Planning Official will review the application and associated reports and approve or deny the application subject to appeal to the Hearings Examiner. The Planning Official shall consult with the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission prior to approving or denying the application.

d. Criteria for Approval of an Application for Demolition. The following criteria for approval or denial shall be considered when reviewing an Application for Demolition:

i. The extent to which the demolition of the building will have a serious adverse impact on the cultural significance of the Historic Preservation Overlay District.

ii. The extent to which the building is so deteriorated and so lacking in historical fabric, that it would not be viable to retain the historic, cultural and architectural significance of the building through rehabilitation or renovation.

iii. There is no reasonable alternative to demolition that would provide the owner with a reasonable economic return.

iv. The extent to which the denial will deprive the owner of reasonable economic use of the underlying property.

e. Conditions on a Permit for Demolition. Conditions including but not limited to the following conditions may be attached to a permit for demolition when a permit for the complete or partial demolition of a building in the Historic Preservation Overlay District is issued:

i. The effective date of the permit may be delayed by up to 90 days to allow third parties to propose alternatives to demolition to the owner. A longer period of time may be set if agreed to by the applicant.

ii. The submission of information that supplements and completes the information required by Section 20.510.050 (3)(b) above.

f. Expiration of a Permit for Demolition: A permit for complete or partial demolition shall expire if the demolition authorized by the permit is not commenced within 180 days from the date of issuance of the permit. The Building Official or his designee may extend the time for commencement of work upon determining that delays in commencing the work were beyond the control of the owner. If the permit for demolition expires, a new application for demolition must be submitted and approved before demolition can be commenced. (Ord. M-3777 § 7, 12/04/2006; Ord. M-3643, 01/26/2004)