Resolution 2021-01 Regarding the Replacement of Lights and other Amenities of Historic Districts within the City of South Bend

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WHEREAS, the City's Board of Public Works (the "Board") awards contracts for public works projects, including the installation, removal, and replacement of light poles in the City's rights of way, pursuant to Indiana Code 36-1-12-1 et seq.; and WHEREAS, because the historically appropriate lights were a protected feature of the River Bend Historic District and because the light poles were replaced with light poles that are anachronistic to the district, the Committee recommended that the Commission request that the Board require the use of lights matching the lights installed during the renovation of Leeper Park within the River Bend Historic District upon the next replacement of lights in that area in an effort to restore the historic feel to the common area of the district and maintain consistency between historic areas within the City; and WHEREAS, the Committee also recommended that the Commission ensure that such amenities in all historic districts within the City are hereinafter protected by including such language as necessary in the relevant Standards and Guidelines for each such district. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Commission as follows: 1. The Commission acknowledges that the lights in the River Bend Historic District were replaced with light poles anachronistic to the district and without a COA in approximately July 1995. 2. To rectify the failure to obtain a COA and the aesthetic damage to the River Bend Historic District due to the unpermitted removal of the lights and the replacement with lights that are not historically appropriate to the area, the Commission requests that, upon the next replacement of lights in the River Bend Historic District, the Board directs the Public Works Department to use its reasonable best efforts to replace them with exposed aggregate light poles substantially similar in design to the light poles installed during the renovation of Leeper Park, which are described in Exhibit A. 3. In an effort to expedite the Commission's request to the Board, in the event that light poles need to be installed piecemeal, the Commission encourages and hereby approves the installation of single light poles in the River Bend Historic District that are comprised of exposed aggregate and are substantially similar to the light poles installed in Leeper Park and hereby authorizes Historic Preservation staff to issue a Certificate of Appropriateness through the Administrative Approval process consistent with and pursuant to this Resolution. 3. The Commission shall, in the next update to the Standards and Guidelines for each historic district, include language in such Standards and Guidelines sufficient to protect the historic amenities included in the public rights of way contained within each district, including, but not limited to, historic lighting fixtures and the replacement thereof to create and/or maintain consistency within the City's historic districts. 4. The Commission directs the Commission staff to present this Resolution to the Board as a means of informing the Board of the inclusion of such amenities within the Standards and Guidelines of historic districts, the request for the replacement of the light poles in the River M