Overlay district regulations—Historic (H)
This subsection is intended to create historic overlay district(s) for the purpose of preserving structures and sites of historic, architectural, and archaeological value by regulating the construction, alteration, repair, removal or demolition of such structures and sites. Within historic overlay districts now existing or hereafter created, it is intended that such historic overlay districts be permitted in general areas or for individual structures and premises officially designated as having historic significance. However, written permission must be obtained from the property owner for the historic overlay district designation for individual structures or lots which do not abut any other lots in an historic overlay district.
311.1. District boundaries. The historic overlay districts are established as shown on the "zoning map" as provided in section 303 of this ordinance, and include those areas established by request of the owner and those areas established by the city council through enactment of amendments to the "zoning map."
311.2. Historic district commission.
(A) Establishment. There is hereby established a historic district commission to carry out the purposes of subsections 311 through 311.5 of this ordinance.
(B) Membership and appointment. The historic district commission shall consist of seven qualified members who are residents or [of] the City of Warwick. The appointed members of said commission shall be appointed for three-year terms except the initial appointments of some of the members shall be for less than three years to the end that the initial appointments shall be staggered and so that subsequent appointments shall not recur at the same time.
311.3. Powers, duties, and application procedures of the historic district commission.
(A) Certificate of appropriateness required. Before a property owner may authorize or commence construction, alteration, repair, removal or demolition affecting the exterior appearance of a structure or its appurtenances within a historic overlay district, the owner must apply for and receive a certificate of appropriateness from the commission. In applying for a certificate of appropriateness, a property owner must comply with application procedures as established by the commission pursuant to G.L. 1956, § 45-24.1-1 et seq., as amended, and the provisions of this ordinance. A certificate of appropriateness is necessary only if a building permit is required for such construction, alteration, repair, removal, or demolition. The building official shall not issue a building permit until the commission has granted a certificate of appropriateness.
(B) Applications for certificates of appropriateness. Said applications shall contain information which is reasonably necessary to evaluate the proposed construction, alteration, repair, removal, or demolition, including but not limited to plans, drawings, photographs or other information, and it shall be filed with the commission at the office of the department of city plan. A determination shall be made in accordance with the commission's rules and regulations as to completeness. Incomplete applications shall be returned to the applicant within ten working days of receipt by the Planning Department.
(C) Application and plan review. In reviewing the application and plans, the commission shall give consideration to:
(1) The historic and architectural significance of the structure and its appurtenances;
(2) The way in which the structure and its appurtenances contribute to the historical and architectural significance of the district; and
(3) The appropriateness of the general design, arrangement, texture, material and siting proposed in the plans.
The commission shall pass only on exterior features of a structure and its appurtenances and shall not consider interior arrangements.
(D) [Decisions.] All decisions of the commission shall be in writing. The commission shall articulate and explain the reasons and basis of each decision on a record, and in the case of a decision not to issue a certificate of appropriateness, the commission shall include the basis for its conclusion that the proposed activity would be incongruous with those aspects of the structure, to be historically or architecturally significant. The commission shall send a copy of the decision to the applicant.
The mayor shall have the right to name an auxiliary member to the commission in addition to the regular members, which auxiliary member shall sit as an active member, upon the request of the chairperson of the commission, when and if a regular member of the commission is unable to serve at any meeting of the commission. Appointed members of the commission shall be eligible for reappointment and [sic] upon the expiration of their term and shall continue to serve until replaced. In the event of a vacancy on the commission, the mayor may make interim appointment(s) of appointed members, with the consent of the city council, for the remainder of the unexpired term.
Members of the commission shall have a demonstrated interest in historic preservation and may be from but not limited to the following professions and disciplines; history, archeology, architecture, art and architectural history, and social and economic history. Duly organized and existing preservation societies may present to the mayor lists of qualified citizens to be considered for appointment.
(E) Organization. The commission shall organize annually and elect from its membership a chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary and shall adopt and publish all rules and regulations necessary to carry out its functions under this ordinance. The commission shall also adopt and publish standards of review (which shall be in harmony with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings, 36 CFR 671, as amended), within 12 months following the adoption of this ordinance to inform historic district residents, property owners, and the general public of those criteria by which the commission shall determine whether to issue a certificate of appropriateness. The commission may from time to time amend these standards as reasonably necessary, and it shall publish all such amendments.
At least four members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of its business. The commission shall adopt rules for the transaction of its business which shall provide for the time and place of holding regular meetings. They shall provide for the calling of special meetings by the chairperson. The commission shall provide notice of its meetings and comply in all respects with requirements of the state Open Meetings Law. All meetings of the commission shall be open to the public, and any person or his duly constituted representative shall be entitled to appear and be heard on any matter before the commission before it reaches its decision.
The commission shall keep a record, which shall be open to public inspection, of its resolutions, proceedings, findings, decisions and actions. The concurring vote of four members shall constitute approval of plans before it for review, or for the adoption of any resolution, motion, or other action of the commission. The concurring vote of four members shall be necessary for disapproval. The commission shall submit an annual report of its activities to the mayor and city council.
(F) [Rejection of application.] In the case of application for construction, repair, alteration, removal, or demolition affecting the exterior appearance of a structure or its appurtenances, which the commission deems so valuable to the city, state or nation, the commission shall endeavor to work out with the owner an economically feasible plan for the preservation of such structure. Unless the historic district commission is satisfied that the retention of such structure constitutes a hazard to public safety, which hazard cannot be eliminated by economic means available to the owner, including the conveyance of such structure to any purchaser willing to preserve such structure, the commission shall file with the building official its rejection of such application.
In the absence of change in such structure arising from casualty, no new application for the same or similar work shall be filed within one year after such rejection.
(G) [Approval of application.] In the case of any structure deemed to be valuable for the period of architecture it represents, and important to the neighborhood within which it exists, the historic district commission may file with the building official its certificate of appropriateness for such application if any of the circumstances under which a certificate of appropriateness might have been given under the preceding paragraph (F) are in existence or if:
(1) Preservation of such structure is a deterrent to a major improvement program which will be of substantial benefit to the community.
(2) Preservation of such structure would cause undue or unreasonable financial hardship to the owner, taking into account the financial resources available to the owner including sale of the structure to any purchaser willing to preserve such structure.
(3) Preservation of such structure would not be in the best interest of the majority of the community.
When considering an application to demolish or remove a structure of historic or architectural value, the commission shall assist the owner in identifying and evaluating alternatives to demolition, including sale of the structure on its present site. In addition to any other criteria, the commission also shall consider whether there is a reasonable likelihood that some person or group other than the current owner is willing to purchase, move and preserve such structure and whether the owner has made continuing bona fide and reasonable efforts to sell the structure to any such purchaser willing to move and preserve such structure.
(H) [Consultants; expenditures.] The historic district commission shall have the power to call in additional experts to aid it in its deliberations. Expenditures of the historic commission shall be limited to amounts appropriated for its use.
(I) [Advice to city agencies.] In order to assist the city, its agencies, boards, commissions, staff, mayor and city council on matters of historic preservation, the historic district commission may provide its expertise and advice as appropriate.
311.4. Certificate of appropriateness or rejection of plans. The historic district commission shall file with the building official its certificate of appropriateness or rejection of all plans submitted to it for review. No work shall begin until such certificate shall have been filed, but in the case of rejection, such certificate shall be binding upon the building official and no permit shall be issued in such case. The failure of the historic district commission to act within 45 days from the day of application filed with it unless an extension is agreed upon mutually by the applicant and the historic district commission shall be deemed to constitute approval. In the event, however, that the historic district commission shall make a finding of fact, that the circumstances of a particular application require further time for additional study and information than can be obtained within the aforesaid period of 45 days, then and in said event the historic district commission shall have a period of up to 90 days within which to act upon such application.
311.5. Exception to application of this subsection. Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to prevent painting, routine maintenance or repair of any structure within a historic overlay district, provided that such maintenance or repair does not result in any change of design, type of material, or appearance of the structure or appurtenance; nor shall anything in this ordinance be construed to prevent the construction, alteration, repair, moving, or demolition of any structure under a permit issued by the building official prior to the passage of this ordinance.
311.6—311.9. Reserved.
311.10. Stone walls. The city's stone walls are a tangible link to the city's colonial and agrarian past and, as such, hold a unique historic significance for the city. This historic resource is continuously threatened by both private and public development pressures which have and will result in their destruction unless they are protected from such development pressures.
(A) Definition. A stone wall for the purposes of this section is defined as a vertical structure of aligned natural stone, normally constructed to designate a property boundary between farmsteads or segregate agricultural activities within a single farmstead during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
(B) Restrictions pertaining to altering stone walls.
1. The historic district commission must approve any alterations to:
(a) Stone walls flanking city or state roads within the municipal boundaries of the city. Any alteration of said walls shall require a certificate of appropriateness from the historic district commission.
(b) Stone walls that will be altered or demolished as part of construction of a subdivision. In such instances, a certificate of appropriateness issued by the historic district commission for alterations to said wall(s) shall be a condition of any subdivision approval(s).
2. Walls exempted from review:
(a) Contemporary stone walls. Those constructed after 1900 with the exception of those walls identified as a significant component of a property listed on, or found to be eligible for listing on, the National Register of Historic Places.
3. Stone walls in disrepair or in neglected condition may not be removed for the sake of convenience from their present location but must be repaired or left as is. Exceptions to this prohibition are:
(a) Walls posing a threat to the public health and safety. In the case of a wall whose condition represents a real and immediate threat to the public health and safety, the historic district commission shall issue an order to the property owner to stabilize and repair said wall. If said property owner does not make a good faith effort to correct the problem within 20 business days of notification of said problem by the historic district commission, said commission shall have the option to undertake said repairs and place a lien on the subject property to recover the cost of said repairs.
4. When relocation of a stone wall is the only viable alternative, said wall's reconstruction shall match that of the original wall. If the existing wall is of drywall construction, a reconstructed wall shall be of either drywall or hidden cement construction.
5. Procedure for obtaining permission to alter a stone wall.
(a) Requests for a certificate of appropriateness to alter or relocate a stone wall shall be submitted in writing to the historic district commission. Each request shall include:
(1) A plan showing the proposed work and the extent of the alteration and/or demolition along with photographs of the existing wall.
(2) A description of the alteration and the reasons for the change.
(3) A list of property owners located within a 200 foot radius of the alteration.
(b) The historic district commission shall review each request to ensure compliance with the provisions of this section. The historic district commission shall approve, disapprove or approve with conditions requests for altering stone walls.
(Ord. No. O-12-92, § I, 7-21-92; Ord. No. O-23-24, § I, 12-20-23)