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Once
a local government has set up their local historic preservation
program, they may apply to the State for CLG status.
To do so, the local government submits an application
containing the following:
Obtaining
Certified Local Government Status
Once a local
government has set up their local historic preservation
program, they may apply to the State for CLG status. To
do so, the local government submits an application
containing the following:
-
Letter
from the Mayor or Chairman of the Board of Supervisors requesting CLG Status
-
A
copy of the historic preservation
ordinance ( *)
or
resolution (*).
-
A
list of the members of the historic preservation commission, indicating the terms
of office of each and identifying the Commission officers.
-
Biographical
Sketches, resumes or vitae for each historic preservation commissioner demonstrating
that they meet the Secretary of the Interiors Professional Qualification Standards
or their positive interest in historic preservation.
-
A
copy of the local government's historic preservation plan.
-
A
copy of the local government's property inventory
The application
is reviewed by the State. If found satisfactory the
State sends the local government a copy of the CLG
Agreement. When the Agreement has been signed by the
local government and the state the application packet is
sent to the federal government for review and approval.
The federal government will notify the local government
and the State if CLG status has been awarded.
Assistance in Setting up the Local Preservation Program
To
assist local governments in establishing a local historic
preservation program and in applying for CLG status
the State has developed a
CLG Manual. The manual outlines the process
for setting up a local preservation program that will
meet CLG program requirements. The manual also contains
more information about the CLG program the local government's
responsibilities as a participant in the CLG program
and on the legal basis for historic preservation programs
in Iowa.
To
request a copy of the manual contact:
Paula
Mohr
CLG Program Coordinator
State
Historical Society of Iowa
600
East Locust Street
Des
Moines, Iowa 50319-0290
Phone:
515/281-6826
Fax:
515/282-0502
paula.mohr@iowa.gov
What
Happens
after Certification?
When a city or
county establishes a historic preservation program, it
should be ready to support the program and the historic
preservation commission. Ideally, the city/county
support includes a city/county staff member who is
assigned to the commission. The staff member sees that
the commission gets clerical assistance and explains
city/county operating procedures such as reporting to
the Mayor and City Council or Board of Supervisors,
preparing an annual budget, coordinating with other
city/county commissions and agencies. In addition, the
commission will need a meeting space as well as storage
space for commission files and the historic property
inventory.
There should be
financial support for the historic preservation program
and commission. This would include a budget for office
supplies, postage, telephone, printing, and photography.
The CLG Agreement with the State of Iowa stipulates that
a minimum of one commission member or representative
will participate in State sanctioned training annually.
There should be support for travel to training
sessions/conferences, including registration,
transportation, lodging and meals. The most effective
commissions are ones where all commission members are
trained and well versed in historic preservation.
There are a
variety of grant programs that can be used to support
local historic preservation activities. These include
the Certified Local Government Grant Program. the
REAP-Historic Preservation Development Program Grants,
The REAP Country School Grants, the Historic Sites
Program Grants, as well as the National Trust for
Historic Preservation's grant programs and the
National Center for Preservation Training and Technology
Grant programs to name a few. While these grant programs
help local governments defray the expense of historic
preservation activities, all require a local commitment
in the form of cash and/or in-kind match. The local
government will be the applicant for the grant and
should be prepared to provide the required match.
The Commissions
Role
The historic
preservation commission plays a number of roles. Under
the ordinance or resolution it is an advisory body to
local elected officials, city or county staff, other
city/county commissions and to those who live and own
property in the city or county. The historic
preservation commission alerts and advises on the
appropriate course of action to take regarding the
management and preservation of historic properties.
Under the Certified Local Government Agreement, the City
not the historic preservation commission, is responsible
for fulfilling the terms of the Agreement. However, the
commission reminds the local government of its
obligations.
It is important
have a commission spokesperson. Generally this is the
Chairman or a commission member who is an effective
public speaker. Whenever the commission deals with
elected officials, the press, or makes public
presentations, the commission spokesperson should do the
presentation. This is especially true in cases when the
commission is fortunate enough to be assisted by a city
or county staff person. The staff person and the
commission spokesperson have different roles and
responsibilities within the local preservation program.
Thus, to retain this distinction and maintain commission
autonomy and identity, a commission member should serve
as spokesperson.
The historic
preservation commission may undertake historic
preservation activities directly or delegate
responsibility. If the commission is assisted by a staff
person, the commission needs to find out how much time
the staff person can give to commission work as well as
establishing the activities that the commission will
undertake directly and those that will be undertaken by
the staff person or other personnel, departments, or
commissions within the local
government. If the commission chooses to undertake a
preservation activity, it may recruit volunteers to
assist in the effort and even appoint a volunteer as
project director. Several commissions have advisory
committees, composed of non-commission members, who
assist in particular activities.
The historic
preservation commission plays an advocacy role,
encouraging the city or county to adopt policies,
regulations and other measures that will encourage
preservation and use of historic properties. When a
historic property is threatened with demolition or
inappropriate rehabilitation, the historic preservation
commission may approach the property owner and advocate
for appropriate treatment by outlining alternative
courses of action and information about financial
incentives.
The
commission has an educational function. Broadly, the commission needs to educate
the entire community about its preservation program, the benefits and opportunities
that it offers. Specifically, the commission educates local governmental officials,
staff and other commissions about their responsibilities under the
Certified Local Government Agreement (*).
The commission educates and provides technical assistance to owners of properties
that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Remember,
the local government through the commission and as a participant in the CLG program,
has access to two grant programs to help defray the cost of preservation activities.
The CLG grant program is open only to participants in the CLG program and may
be used for planning, survey/evaluation, registration, public education, and pre-development
projects. The REAP HRDP grant program is open to all Iowa residents. These grants
can be used to underwrite planning, survey/evaluation, registration, public education,
predevelopment and rehabilitation projects.
Survey
and Evaluation
For the
commission to fulfill any of its responsibilities, the
commission must be able to locate the community's
historic properties. This is done through survey and
evaluation, two steps to distinguish old properties from
significant ones which merit preservation.
Survey and
evaluation are on-going activities because each year
another group of properties becomes 50 years old and
eligible for National Register listing. Consequently,
the commission needs to work with the local government
to set up a procedure to allow for on-going survey and
evaluation. The on-going survey-evaluation process can
be fairly simple involving an annual request to the
public to research their properties and instructing the
public on where they can get forms, instruction and
additional information. The local government can commit
to a policy of completing Iowa Site Inventory forms
whenever it works on a publicly or privately owned
property. The city could distribute Iowa Site Inventory
forms to applicants for building permits, requesting and
requiring them to complete the form. The city/county and
commission could commit to a multi-year
survey/evaluation program in an effort to cover larger
areas in a relatively short period of time.
Historic
Property Inventory
The commission
should work with the local government to develop its
historic property inventory. This will entail obtaining
copies of survey/evaluation project reports, National
Register nominations, Iowa Site or OSA forms for
properties within the local government's limits. In
many cases, the local government will have much of this
information; however, it may be filed in a number of
different places.
Registration
Under its
ordinance/resolution and the CLG Agreement, the local
government and the commission are to encourage
nominating eligible properties to the National Register
of Historic Places. Again there are many ways this can
be accomplished through informational mailings notifying
owners of the opportunity; through informational and
training workshops on preparing a nomination; through
distribution of information on the National Register and
the nomination forms. The commission should make sure
that the local government keeps a current list of owner's
names.
Whenever a
property in the local government's jurisdiction is
nominated to the National Register of Historic Places,
the commission and the chief elected official (Mayor or
Chairman of the Board of Supervisors) will be asked to
review the nomination. The State's national register
coordinator will send a letter and form to the
commission chair. or contact notifying them of the
review and providing instruction on its conduct. When
the commission reviews and comments on the nomination,
their review should focus on whether the nomination
contains an adequate description of the property, places
it within a context, and makes a solid case for its
significance and integrity within the context. If there
are factual errors in the nomination, the commission may
correct these. The commission may also provide
additional information that will strengthen the
nomination.
At
some point in time, the commission may recommend to
the local government that it develop its own listing
of historic places. This is called local designation.
The local government can chose to designate single properties,
typically called landmarks, and/or historic districts.
If the local government wishes to designate historic
districts, then it must follow the Code of Iowa, Section
303.20 et. Seq. In setting up the designation system.
As a participant in the CLG program, the local government
is asked to consult with the State and submit all ordinance
revisions, nomination forms, and design guidelines to
the State for review and comment when setting up a system
for local designation.
Management,
Protection and Preservation
The commission
will want to become familiar with the local government's
comprehensive land use plan. If there is no such animal,
recommend that one be developed which contains a
historic preservation component. If there is a plan,
review it, develop a historic preservation component for
it and an implementation procedure.
The commission
will want to look at local government policies,
regulations, practices and incentive programs to
determine how these effect historic properties. If the
local government lacks a policy, regulation or incentive
program, the commission might research these, develop
recommendations and encourage the local government to
adopt the recommendations. If the local government
engages in practices that harm historic properties such
as demolition of unsurveyed/unevaluated properties, the
commission might make recommendation for an alternative
practice that would allow for potential preservation if
the property was found to be significant. Some of the
local government's regulations may make it difficult
to preserve historic properties, e.g. building code,
parking, zoning. Again, the commission can investigate
the impact of these regulations, research alternatives
that would encourage preservation, and make
recommendation to the local government. Finally, the
commission should investigate the incentive programs
that the local government uses to encourage development
and revitilization. Often these focus on new
construction and do not encourage recycling or adaptive
reuse of historic properties. The commission could
research and propose special amendments to these
incentives that would make use of historic properties
attractive and financially viable.
Working with
the private sector (realtors, developers, the chamber of
commerce, the economic development corporation, banks
and contractors) is important. Often the private sector
resists historic preservation efforts because
misconceptions about its purpose, focus and cost. The
commission could initiate educational programming on the
economic benefits of historic preservation to
neighborhood and downtown revitalization efforts. The
commission could explore ways of training contractors in
appropriate rehabilitation techniques and supporting
their use of those techniques through incentive
programs. Working with realtors and financial
institutions to encourage the marketing of historic
properties and the provision of loans for their purchase
or rehabilitation is another step the commission might
take.
The
commission can also work with the owners of historic properties offering the use
of the commission library, directing owner's to appropriate consultants, incentive
programs, state staff who can assist. Using the the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation's
Land Owner's Options, the commission can explain the various ways that
a private property owner can insure preservation of his/her historic property.
Finally,
the commission can help the community enjoy and appreciate it rich, historic built
environment. Establishing an annual event during Historic Preservation Week in
May focuses attention on the local historic preservation program, individual efforts
and properties. An awards program also gives public recognition and positive feedback
and reinforcement. Getting the public schools to utilize the historic preservation
component in the Prairie
Voices Curriculum brings the youth of the community into the historic
preservation program as does encouraging service projects. Developing walk tours,
informative publications (these can be based on National Register nominations),
events at historic properties-all serve to bring community residents into the
historic preservation program.
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