Chapter 12.50
LANDMARK DESIGNATION
Sections:
12.50.010 Property eligible for special tax valuation.
12.50.015 Authority of Pierce County landmarks commission.
12.50.020 Criteria for inclusion on Pierce County register of historic places.
12.50.030 Intergovernmental agreement.
12.50.035 Demolition or alteration of historic structures.
12.50.005 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish procedures by which property owners of qualifying property may apply to be placed on the Pierce County register of historic places. Placement on the register allows owners who have substantially rehabilitated the property according to state and county standards to apply for a special tax valuation through the Pierce County assessor’s office. This chapter establishes a process whereby the Pierce County landmarks commission (“landmarks commission”) has authority to determine if buildings, structures or places are eligible for placement on the register, in accordance with the commission’s procedures. It also establishes the landmarks commission as the “local review board” for purposes related to the special valuation for qualifying historic properties within the city limits and establishes procedures for the process. (Ord. 36-98 § 2, 1998).
12.50.010 Property eligible for special tax valuation.
The class of historic property which shall be eligible for special valuation in accordance with the Chapter 84.76 RCW (“State Act”) shall be property which is a historic property meeting the criteria or requirements set forth and defined in the State Act, and which is listed in the national or state register of historic places or placed on the Pierce County register of historic places and which has undergone qualifying rehabilitation work within state standards. (Ord. 36-98 § 3, 1998).
12.50.015 Authority of Pierce County landmarks commission.
Owners of buildings, structures or places located within the city who desire to have their property placed on the Pierce County register of historic places shall petition the landmarks commission, via the building department, in accordance with the procedures established in this chapter. Such requests shall follow applicable county procedures, with landmark commission decisions transmitted to the county council for final ordinance action. The landmarks commission shall also act as the “local review board,” as set forth in Chapter 84.26 RCW, for the special valuation of historic properties within the city limits. Landmarks commission decisions on special valuation requests shall be transmitted to the Buckley city council prior to being forwarded to the county assessor for final action. (Ord. 36-98 § 4, 1998).
12.50.020 Criteria for inclusion on Pierce County register of historic places.
The criteria used to evaluate historic properties for possible inclusion in the Pierce County register are based on those used for the national and Washington State registers. These criteria are designed to serve as guidelines for all persons or organizations preparing a designation request to the Pierce County commission.
(1) The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects of state and local importance that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association, and:
(a) That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
(b) That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
(c) That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
(d) That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in pre-history or history.
(2) Cemeteries, birthplaces or graves of historical figures, properties owned by religious institutions or used for religious purposes, structures that have been moved from their original location, reconstructed historic buildings, properties primarily commemorative in nature and properties that have achieved significance within the past 50 years can also be considered eligible for the Pierce County register. However, greater priority will be given to those which fall within the following categories:
(a) A religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or historical importance;
(b) A building or structure removed from its original location but which is significant primarily for architectural value, or which is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event;
(c) A birthplace or grave of a historical figure of outstanding importance if there is not an appropriate site or building directly associated with his or her productive life;
(d) A cemetery which derived its primary significance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, from age, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events;
(e) A reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived;
(f) A property primarily commemorative in intent if design, age, tradition or symbolic value has invested it with its own historical significance;
(g) A property achieving significance within the past 50 years if it is of exceptional importance.
(3) Below are categories of properties eligible for the Pierce County register:
(a) Historic structures or sites in which the cultural, political, economic or social history of the nation, state, or local community is best exemplified and from which the visitor may understand the patterns of American and Pierce County heritage. Integrity is an essential basis for deserving recording;
(b) Sites and groupings representing historic community developments and patterns (one-room schools, county seats, crossroads, stores, agricultural settlements, seaports, railroad and water transportation);
(c) Early or abandoned transportation facilities (lighthouses, covered bridges, ships, ferries, railroad stations, milestones, trails);
(d) Old commercial structures and sites (warehouses, brick factories of the 19th century, iron furnaces, shipyards, logging, and mining camps);
(e) Structures related to the civic life of a community (City Hall, jail, bank, tavern);
(f) Buildings of great architects or master builders and important works of minor ones. Noteworthy examples of various architectural styles, periods or methods of construction. Architectural curiosities or very rare survivors of its style or period;
(g) Homes of notable persons during their active years or associated with important events in national, state or local history;
(h) Structures or sites of pre-historic or historic archaeological significance.
(4) Archaeological properties do not have to be large, impressive or rich in artifacts or categories of date to qualify for the Pierce County register. They do not have to be suitable for public interpretation. Any archaeological resource is potentially eligible if it can be legitimately argued that it is associated with a cultural pattern, process or activity important to the history or prehistory of its locality, the United States or humanity as a whole.
(5) Some properties that have little significance as individual entities may be eligible as segments or archaeological districts. In some cases, an archaeological property or district may also qualify because of an association with a particular event or person, or on the basis of its intrinsic historicity or utility as an interpretive location. Properties that have lost their integrity by being completely excavated or otherwise totally disturbed do not normally qualify, unless they are of particularly noteworthy historical significance for the data they have yielded. (Ord. 36-98 § 5, 1998).
12.50.025 Procedures.
Owners of buildings, structures or places located within the city shall follow these procedures to apply for inclusion on the Pierce County register of historic places and/or designation to receive special valuation as a qualifying historic property which has undergone substantial rehabilitation in accordance with state standards.
(1) Nomination to Registration of Historic Places. Applications shall be filed with the city building department. A $1,000 deposit fee and any necessary accompanying information shall be submitted with the application. The building department shall review the request given the criteria specified in BMC 12.50.020, and, following the review, transmit the application to the landmarks commission for review. The transmittal to the landmarks commission shall be processed in accordance with Pierce County Code Chapter 2.88.
(2) Special Valuation Taxation Requests. Applications shall be initially filed with the county assessor’s office in accordance with the procedures established by that office. The assessor’s office shall transmit the applications to the landmarks commission which shall function as the local review board for such requests. The landmarks commission decision on special valuation taxation requests shall be transmitted to the city council for action. Upon city council approval, city staff shall execute and record covenant agreements with the owners establishing the status of the property. Subsequently, the case shall be transmitted back to the assessor’s office for final processing. (Ord. 36-98 § 6, 1998).
12.50.030 Intergovernmental agreement.
The city shall enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Pierce County establishing specific procedures by which applications from the city will be processed by Pierce County. This agreement will include, but not be limited to, provisions regarding fees and administrative responsibilities. (Ord. 36-98 § 7, 1998).
12.50.035 Demolition or alteration of historic structures.
No permit shall be issued by the city for the demolition or alteration of part or all of any building, structure, place or district which has been formally designated on the county register of historic places prior to its referral to the landmarks commission. The city administrator shall have the authority to waive this referral requirement for minor alterations which do not materially affect any qualities of the property which led to its placement on the historic register. For those permits which are referred, the landmarks commission shall have 60 days to review and/or recommend modifications to the permit proposal. The purpose of such review will be to determine whether the changes set forth in the proposal permit application are compatible with the inclusion of the structure, building or place on the register. (Ord. 36-98 § 8, 1998).