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City of South Bend and St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Guidelines 121
<br />General Information: Minimum Maintenance Standards | Enforcement Procedures
<br />Minimum Maintenance Standards
<br />All Landmarks and all contributing structures located in an historic district shall be preserved from decay and deterioration and shall be
<br />maintained in good repair and kept structurally sound . The owner or other person having charge or control of Landmarks and property in
<br />an historic district shall not allow or permit deterioration from defects or conditions which, in the judgment of the commission, produce a
<br />detrimental effect on the character of the district as a whole or the life and character of the Landmark, structure or property in question,
<br />including but not limited to:
<br />• Deterioration of exterior walls or other vertical supports causing conditions such as splitting, leaning, buckling, crumbling, visible cracking or similar conditions .
<br />• Deterioration of roofs and other horizontal members causing conditions such as sagging, splitting, buckling, crumbling, holes, missing shingles or similar conditions .
<br />• Deterioration of external chimneys causing such conditions as listing, settling, bulging, crumbling, holes, lose or missing materials or similar conditions .
<br />• The deterioration or crumbling of exterior plasters or mortar .
<br />• The ineffective waterproofing of exterior walls, roofs and foundations, including broken windows and doors.
<br />• The peeling of paint, rotting, holes and other forms of decay .
<br />• The lack of maintenance of surrounding environments such as fences, gates, sidewalks, steps, signs, accessory structures and landscaping .
<br />• The deterioration of any feature so as to create, or permit the creation of, any hazardous or unsafe condition or conditions .
<br />The commission shall give notice to the owner or person in charge of the structure, by certified or registered mail, of each specific instance of failure to maintain or repair . A copy of such notice shall be sent to the Code Enforcement Department . The owner or person in charge of such structure shall have twenty (20) days to respond in writing by identifying specifically the corrective or remedial steps to be taken. A Certificate of Appropriateness shall not be required for such repair unless such repair results in a change in the design, form, proportion, mass, configuration, building material, texture, color, location or external appearance of any structure or part thereof. In the latter circum-stance, a Certificate of Appropriateness shall be required (HPC Policy; adopted 12-16-91).
<br />Enforcement Procedures
<br />Enforcement of the preservation guidelines and standards for the historic district is made possible in the Zoning Ordinance of the City of South Bend, ordinance No. 5565-73, as amended and the Historic Preservation Commission’s Preservation Plan. The Historic Preservation Commission may petition the Building Commissioner to use the legal means available to him/her to force the maintenance and/or repair of any building or structure within the historic district in accordance with the intent of this ordinance . This ordinance, however, does not prevent the ordinary maintenance and repair of any building or structure which does not involve a change in any exterior feature, nor does it prevent the reconstruction, alteration, demolition or moving of any building or structure which the Building Commissioner or other official has determined to be a hazard to public safety. Property owners wishing to do, or have done, any work affecting the exterior of their build-ing or land must apply directly to the Historic Preservation Commission on the form prescribed by the Commission (see Appendix A) . The Historic Preservation Commission shall issue a Certificate of Appropriateness before commencement of any construction, reconstruction, alteration, demolition or moving of any house or structure within the historic district boundaries (see Appendix A) . The Historic Preserva-tion Commission will accept applications for Certificate of Appropriateness only from the property owner. In making its determination, the Historic Preservation Commission shall consider three factors: first, appropriateness of the proposed work to the preservation of the building and district; second, the detriment to the public welfare if the proposed work is permitted even though it is not deemed appropriate; third, the potential hardship that the denial of the Certificate of Appropriateness would cause the applicant. Where the Historic Preservation Commission deems it necessary, the commission may petition the Common Council for a temporary delay in the issuance of the required permit(s) for proposed construction, reconstruction, alteration, demolition or moving for the purpose of preparing an historic preservation plan for a building or district. Such a request shall be for a specified period of time. In no case may the delay granted by the Common Council exceed one (1) year, but the Commission may petition the Common Council for a continuance of any such delay in accordance with the same procedure as for the initial petition. The Commission will review the application and either issue a Certificate of Appropriateness or else deny the application, stating in writing the reasons for such denial . Upon such denial the applicant may appeal to the Common Council .
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