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17.32.060 – Landmark designation procedures

  1. Nominations for landmark designation shall be made to the Historic Preservation Commission by completing the application form available from the Director of Community Development. A property or site may be nominated by any St. Charles property owner or the Historic Preservation Commission.
  2. Within thirty (30) days of receiving or initiating a nomination, the Commission shall schedule a public hearing to consider the eligibility of a property for landmark designation.
    1. Notice of the time and place of the public hearing shall be provided by the Director of Community Development not more than thirty (30) days, or less than fifteen (15) days, before such hearing, by mail to all owners of property proposed for landmark designation and by publication in one (1) or more newspapers published in the City.
    2. At the hearing, the Historic Preservation Commission will take testimony presented by the nominator, the owner, and any other interested parties who wish to comment on the application in relation to the criteria for designation as a landmark. The nominator shall be responsible to make the case for designation and supply such supporting evidence of eligibility as can be made available.
  3. The Commission shall evaluate the property’s eligibility for landmark designation based on its historic and/or architectural significance, the integrity of its design, workmanship, materials, location, setting and feeling, and the extent to which it meets one (1) or more of the following criteria:
    1. Has character, interest or value which is part of the development, heritage or cultural character of the community, county, state or nation.
    2. Is the site of a significant local, county, state or national event.
    3. Is identified with a person who significantly contributed to the development of the community, county, state or nation.
    4. Embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style valuable for the study of a period, type, method of construction or use of indigenous materials.
    5. Is identified with the work of a master builder, designer, architect or landscape architect whose work has influenced the development of the area, the county, the state or the nation.
    6. Embodies elements of design, detailing, materials, or craftsmanship that are of architectural significance.
    7. Embodies design elements that make it structurally or architecturally innovative.
    8. Has a unique location or physical characteristics that make it a familiar visual feature of the community.
    9. Is a particularly fine or unique example of a utilitarian structure with a high level of integrity or architectural significance.
    10. Is suitable for preservation or restoration.
    11. Is included in the Illinois or National Register of Historic Places.
    12. Has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important to prehistory, history or other areas of archaeological significance.
  4. Within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the public hearing, the Historic Preservation Commission shall make a recommendation regarding the proposed landmark designation. The Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendation shall be made by resolution, which shall include its findings and reasoning based on the preceding criteria. The Director of Community Development shall forward a copy of the resolution to the applicant, the owner of record, and the City Council.

    After the Historic Preservation Commission recommends designation as a landmark, and before the City Council approves or disapproves the nomination application, no permit shall be issued for alteration, construction, removal or demolition of the proposed landmark unless a Certificate of Appropriateness is issued. However, if the City Council does not approve or disapprove the nomination application within sixty (60) days of the Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendation, a Certificate of Appropriateness shall not be required after expiration of this sixty (60) day period.

  5. Landmark designations, and additions or modifications to their boundaries, shall be made by ordinance, which shall include the legal description of the area to be included within the landmark designation.
  6. Landmark designation may be rescinded by the same procedures and according to the same criteria set forth herein for landmark designation. No nomination application relating to the same property will be entertained by the Historic Preservation Commission for six (6) months following City Council disapproval