Sec. 307.105. - Designation procedures and application requirements for historic districts.

The following procedures shall be followed with respect to the designation of historic districts. (a) Consideration by the Commission of the designation of an historic district may be initiated by the filing of an application for designation with the Commission by a property owner within the proposed district, or his authorized agent, the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission, the Mayor, the Jacksonville City Council, or any member of the Jacksonville City Council. (b) The applicant shall complete an application form provided by the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission which shall, to the extent possible, include: (1) A written description of the architectural, historical, or archaeological significance of the structures, sites and building in the proposed historic district specifically addressing and documenting the criteria set forth in subsection (j) of this Section; (2) An identification of all buildings, structures and sites within the proposed historic district and the proposed classification of each as contributing or noncontributing with an explanation of the criteria utilized for the proposed classification; (3) A physical description of the proposed historic district, accompanied by photographs of buildings, structures or sites within the district indicating examples of contributing and noncontributing structures within the district; (4) A statement of recommended boundaries for the proposed historic district and a justification for those boundaries, along with a map showing the recommended boundaries; (5) The names and addresses of all owners of real property within the boundaries of the land upon which the designation of the historic district is requested and the real estate assessment numbers for the property within the boundaries of the land upon which the designation is requested. Requirements (1), (2), (3) and (4) shall be waived with respect to any historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places as of January 1, 1990. (c) Consideration of the designation of an historic district already listed on the National Register as of January 1, 1990 may be initiated by the filing of a copy of the nomination forms, including all maps and photographs, already approved by the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service. (d) The Planning and Development Department shall determine when an application is complete and may request additional information when such application is determined to be incomplete. The Planning and Development Department shall review the application for designation and forward its findings and recommendations to the Commission prior to the public hearing. (e) The Commission shall hold a public hearing on the proposed designation within 90 days of the filing of a completed application. The Commission shall hold at least one town meeting at which the proposed district will be explained and discussed. A quorum is not necessary to conduct the town meeting. (f) Notice of the time and place of the public hearing which is required to be held with respect to the proposed designation of an historic district, shall be posted by the Planning and Development Department, at least 45 days in advance of the hearing, by United States mail, to all owners of real property within the boundaries of the proposed historic district. For the purpose of notice requirements to owners, the names and addresses of owners shall be deemed to be those on the current tax records in the Office of the Property Appraiser. All notices required by this Section shall state clearly the boundaries of a proposed historic district. The notice required by this Section, the cost of which shall be $2 for each notification, shall be paid by the applicant to the City. (g) The notice referred to in subsection (f) of this Section shall include the following information and documents: (1) The notice shall state that the creation of an historic district will impose design review on certain permitted activities. (2) The notice shall state that the ordinance creating the historic district will contain requirements which must be met in order to alter, renovate or demolish a structure or building within the district. These requirements may relate to density, siting, building materials and architectural features as well as other matters. (3) The notice shall state that a list of contributing and noncontributing structures has been compiled and that contributing structures will be identified in the ordinance creating the historic district. (4) The notice shall state that the owners have the right to vote whether they want the historic district to be created. (5) The owners shall be provided a ballot which must be signed and witnessed which will permit the owner to vote whether he approves or disapproves the creation of the historic district. In order for the ballot to be valid it must indicate the name of the owner, the residence address of the owner and the address of the property in the proposed historic district. This ballot must be returned to the Commission not less than 21 days after the noticed hearing. (6) The notice shall state that at the hearing, the proposed historic district design guidelines for reviewing certain permitted activities will be discussed and voted on by the Commission. (7) The notice shall state that if the district is created the owners shall be required to obtain a certificate of appropriateness before certain work is done on the property. (8) The notice shall state that the application for creating the historic district is on file with the Commission and that the Commission shall have on file all information submitted by the applicant and the Planning and Development Department, including recommendations. (9) The notice shall state the time, date, and place of any town meetings scheduled by the Commission. However, nothing herein shall prohibit the Commission from holding other town meetings with published notice. (h) Notice of a public hearing shall also be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City not less than 14 days in advance of the date of the hearing. The published notice shall be in a form prescribed by the Commission and placed by the applicant at the applicant's expense. The applicant shall file proof of publication with the Commission prior to the public hearing. (i) The applicant for a proposed designation shall post signs within five working days after filing of a completed application, which signs shall be in the form required by the Commission and shall be posted in full view of the public. The sign or signs shall be posted on the boundaries of the proposed historic district at each public right-of-way intersecting the boundary of the proposed historic district, or at such other locations and at such intervals, as determined by the Planning and Development Department, as will ensure that the signs will be seen by as many persons as possible. The signs shall be maintained by the applicant until such time as the advisory recommendation has been made by the Commission. The signs shall be removed by the applicant within ten days after final action by the City Council. (j) At the close of the public hearing, the Commission shall determine whether, based upon the evidence, the proposed historic district does or does not meet the criteria for designation. Such a determination shall be made by a report stating the findings of the Commission concerning the relationship between the proposed historic district and the National Register of Historic Places criteria for designation set forth below. At least two of the criteria must be met. (1) Its value as a significant reminder of the cultural, historical, architectural, or archaeological heritage of the City, State or nation. (2) Its location is the site of a significant local, State or national event. (3) It is identified with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the development of the City, State or nation. (4) It is identified as the work of a master builder, designer, or architect whose individual work has influenced the development of the City, State or nation. (5) Its value as a building is recognized for the quality of its architecture, and it retains sufficient elements showing its architectural significance. (6) It has distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style valuable for the study of a period, method of construction, or use of indigenous materials. (7) Its character is a geographically definable area or neighborhood possessing a significant concentration, or continuity of sites, buildings, objects or structures united in past events, or united in culture, architectural style, or aesthetically by plan or physical development. (8) Its suitability for preservation or restoration. (k) The Commission shall also determine what proposed historic district design guidelines it would recommend to apply to the historic district and shall identify what actions to be taken on property within the proposed district that would require a certificate of appropriateness. (l) The Commission shall inform the public that each owner of real property in the proposed historic district had been sent ballots to vote on the proposed district and that the ballots must be signed, witnessed and delivered to the Commission within 21 days after the hearing. (m) At the first meeting of the Commission held at least seven days after the owners' votes are due, the Commission shall tabulate the votes. If a majority of the owners' votes cast disapprove the creation of the proposed historic district, the Commission shall take no further action on the proposed historic district and the Commission's files on the district shall be closed. If 50 percent or more of the owners' votes cast approve the creation of the proposed historic district, then the Commission shall adopt an advisory recommendation which shall be accompanied by the report made pursuant to subsection (j) of this Section and shall request that an ordinance creating the historic district be drafted by the General Counsel and introduced by the Council. (n) When a majority of the owners' votes disapprove the creation of the proposed historic district, any council member may request that an ordinance designating the proposed historic district be drafted, but approval of the designation of such historic district by the City Council shall require a vote of two-thirds of the City Council members unless 85 percent of the proposed historic district is already part of an historic district listed on the National Register. (o) The City Council shall give notice, follow the publication procedure and sign posting procedure, hold public hearings, and make its determination in the same manner as provided in Section 656.124 ; provided however, there shall be no requirement to notify by United States mail all owners of real property within 350 feet of the boundaries of the proposed historic district. The Council shall consider the same criteria set forth in subsection (j) of this Section. Any ordinance designating an historic district shall set forth the historic district design guidelines that apply to the historic district, which would then become the Historic District Design Regulations for that historic district, and the actions that would require a certificate of appropriateness. (p) The Council Secretary shall notify each applicant and each owner of real property within the proposed historic district of the final decision relating to the proposed historic district within seven days of the City Council's action and shall cause the designation of an historic district to be recorded in the official records of Duval County, Florida, at the expense of the applicant for the designation. The Council Secretary shall also notify the Property Appraiser's office of the designation. (q) When an historic district designation is made, the Director of Planning and Development or his designee shall enter the designation on the Zoning Atlas in accordance with Section 656.203 , Ordinance Code. (r) Whenever the City Council has denied an application for the designation of an historic district no further application shall be filed for the same historic district designation for a period of one year from the date of such City Council denial. (s) The designation of any historic district may be amended or rescinded through the same procedure utilized for the original designation, by the filing of an application for rescission or amendment of designation utilizing the procedure hereinabove set forth. Any Commission recommendation to amend or rescind a prior designation shall be based upon new evidence and evaluation according to the criteria used for historic district designation in existence at the time of such application for rescission or amendment. (Ord. 90-706-486, § 3; Ord. 94-337-183, § 9; Ord. 2004-482-E, § 1)