Iowa City, Iowa adopted it first Historic Preservation Plan in 1992 (which was updated in 2008). The Historic Preservation Commission was created in 1982 with the first regulated districts in 1984. For many years the Commission had a design committee that reviewed every application for exterior change based on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.
Iowa City has eight Historic Districts that are all local districts and also listed in the National Register and five Conservation Districts that are just a local designation. We also regulate 52 individual local landmarks. Some of those are also listed in the National Register and some are not. In addition, we have some additional properties and districts that are only listed in the National Register and are not locally regulated.
Most of the properties that are locally regulated are residential properties. In 2010, Iowa City adopted the Preservation Handbook that includes a review process and design guidelines that are used for all the regulated properties. With that said, each property is reviewed individually because it is not possible for us to create guidelines that pertain to all properties absolutely. Occasionally, a property falls under review that doesn't fit the guidelines so the commission refers to the SOI Standards, too. The main focus of our guidelines is retaining original, historic material. Many of our documents including those listed above are found here:
Historic preservation resources and documents | City of Iowa City.
------------------------------
Jessica Bristow
Historic Preservation Planner
City of Iowa City
Iowa City IA
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 07-09-2018 18:22
From: Cara Bertron
Subject: Citywide historic design standards
Hi colleagues,
We in Austin are discussing the possibility of common design standards for all designated historic properties in the city. Currently, our historic landmarks must follow the Secretary's Standards, which are clearly time-tested but can be vague for laypeople. Meanwhile, our prospective local historic districts develop their own design standards as part of the application process, which theoretically adds a nice measure of self-determination but also adds time, cost, uncertainty, and another layer of politics. (And practically speaking, the resulting standards are typically very similar to other districts.) We'd like to provide clearer guidance for current and potential historic property owners and streamline the historic district application process.
Do you know of other communities that have adopted citywide historic design standards? If so, we'd love to see what they came up with.
Thanks in advance for any recommendations and leads!
Cara Bertron
------------------------------
Senior Planner / Deputy Historic Preservation Officer
City of Austin Planning and Zoning Department
(512) 974-1446 / cara.bertron@austintexas.gov
------------------------------