Section 175-85                    CREATION OF HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND LANDMARKS.


A. The Board of Architectural Review shall prepare and recommend for adoption as part of this Article a district boundary map and an inventory map covering the area or areas to be considered for inclusion in an historic district overlay area.  These maps, when adopted in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Virginia Section 15.2-2285, shall be as much a part of this Article as if fully described herein and shall be filed as a part of this Article by the Clerk of the Town of Front Royal.  The inventory map shall delineate local historic landmarks, contributing properties and noncontributing properties.  The inventory and district boundary maps may be amended, from time to time, in the same manner as the Zoning District Map.

 

 (Ord. No. Z-10-00 Amended Virginia Code Reference 9-25-00-Effective Upon Passage)

 

B. The Board of Architectural Review may propose to the Planning Commission and the Town Council such amendments as deemed appropriate, including the establishment of historic districts or revision to existing historic districts.  Upon receipt of said proposal, the Council may initiate such amendment pursuant to Section 175-146.  The Board of Architectural Review shall prepare and submit simultaneously with said proposal a report to substantiate establishment of a historic district or a proposed amendment.  Such report shall establish and define the historic district boundaries, as delineated upon an appropriate map, as well as describe the historic and/or architectural significance of the buildings, structures or sites to be protected, and the special characteristic, qualities and/or fabric to be preserved, and shall describe present trends and conditions, current and long-range planning and desirable public objectives for preservation. The report may also include plans for public action in or adjoining a district that is likely to affect its character or development.

 

C. Applications for the creation or expansion of an historic  district or for the designation of landmarks or landmark sites may also be filed by the Planning Commission, the Town  Council, the owner, the contract purchaser with the owner's  written consent or the owner's agent or sixty percent (60%)  of the owners of all buildings within a proposed historic  district.  All requests shall be made in the same manner as other zoning amendments, as provided for in Section 175-146.

 

D. Any historic district and any historic district map which  have been created and adopted by the Front Royal Town  Council prior to the amendment of this Article shall not be  repealed but shall remain intact and in effect, subject now  to the provisions of this amended Article.

 

E. Any historic district created and adopted by the Front Royal Town Council after February 1, 1993, shall remain in effect, except as amended or modified pursuant to the regulations herein, for an initial maximum period of ten (10) years from the date of its adoption.  Subsequent action by the Front Royal Town Council shall be made to continue the district beyond the initial ten-year period.

 

F. Upon the presentation of a request to withdraw from an adopted subarea within the historic district overlay area, with such request having been duly executed by at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the owners of taxable parcels (with a vote for each separate tax parcel) within the designated historic subarea, the Town Council, at its next meeting, shall take appropriate action to remove the historic district designation. This provision shall be applicable only where the historic resource overlay area shall have been in place for a period of not less than two (2) years.

 
(Ord. No. Z-5-92 Amended Entire Section 4-13-92-Effective Upon Passage)

(Ord. No. Z-1-93 Amended Entire Section/Added “F” 3-22-93-Effective Upon Passage)