OAR 660-023-0200: Historic Resources

(1) For purposes of this rule, the following definitions apply: (a) “Demolition” means any act that destroys, removes, or relocates, in whole or part, a significant historic resource such that its historic, cultural, or architectural character and significance is lost. This definition applies directly to local land use decisions regarding a National Register Resource. This definition applies directly to other local land use decisions regarding a historic resource unless the local comprehensive plan or land use regulations contain a different definition. (b) “Designation” is a decision by a local government to include a significant resource on the resource list. (c) “Historic context statement” is an element of a comprehensive plan that describes the important broad patterns of historical development in a community and its region during a specified time period. It also identifies historic resources that are representative of the important broad patterns of historical development. (d) “Historic preservation plan” is an element of a comprehensive plan that contains the local government’s goals and policies for historic resource preservation and the processes for creating and amending the program to achieve the goal. (e) “Historic resources” are those buildings, structures, objects, sites, or districts that potentially have a significant relationship to events or conditions of the human past. (f) “Locally significant historic resource” means a building, structure, object, site, or district deemed by a local government to be a significant resource according to the requirements of this division and criteria in the comprehensive plan. (g) “National Register Resource” means buildings, structures, objects, sites, or districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (PL 89-665; 16 U.S.C. 470). (h) “Owner”: (A) Means the owner of fee title to the property as shown in the deed records of the county where the property is located; or (B) Means the purchaser under a land sale contract, if there is a recorded land sale contract in force for the property; or (C) Means, if the property is owned by the trustee of a revocable trust, the settlor of a revocable trust, except that when the trust becomes irrevocable only the trustee is the owner; and (D) Does not include individuals, partnerships, corporations or public agencies holding easements or less than fee interests (including leaseholds) of any nature; or (E) Means, for a locally significant historic resource with multiple owners, including a district, a simple majority of owners as defined in (A)-(D). (F) Means, for National Register Resources, the same as defined in 36 CFR 60.3(k). (i) “Protect” means to require local government review of applications for demolition, relocation, or major exterior alteration of a historic resource, or to delay approval of, or deny, permits for these actions in order to provide opportunities for continued preservation. (j) “Significant historic resource” means a locally significant historic resource or a National Register Resource. (2) Relationship of Historic Resource Protection to the Standard Goal 5 Process. (a) Local governments are not required to amend acknowledged plans or land use regulations in order to provide new or amended inventories, resource lists or programs regarding historic resources, except as specified in section (8). Local governments are encouraged to inventory and designate historic resources and must adopt historic preservation regulations to protect significant historic resources. (b) The requirements of the standard Goal 5 process in OAR 660-023-0030 through 660-023-0050, in conjunction with the requirements of this rule, apply when local governments choose to amend acknowledged historic preservation plans and regulations. (c) Local governments are not required to apply the ESEE process pursuant to OAR 660-023-0040 in order to determine a program to protect historic resources. (3) Comprehensive Plan Contents. Local comprehensive plans should foster and encourage the preservation, management, and enhancement of significant historic resources within the jurisdiction in a manner conforming with, but not limited by, the provisions of ORS 358.605. In developing local historic preservation programs, local governments should follow the recommendations in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation, produced by the National Park Service. Local governments should develop a local historic context statement and adopt a historic preservation plan and a historic preservation ordinance in conjunction with inventorying historic resources. (4) Inventorying Historic Resources. When a local government chooses to inventory historic resources, it must do so pursuant to OAR 660-023-0030, this section, and sections (5) through (7). Local governments are encouraged to provide opportunities for community-wide participation as part of the inventory process. Local governments are encouraged to complete the inventory in a manner that satisfies the requirements for such studies published by the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office and provide the inventory to that office in a format compatible with the Oregon Historic Sites Database. (5) Evaluating and Determining Significance. After a local government completes an inventory of historic resources, it should evaluate which resources on the inventory are significant pursuant to OAR 660-023-0030(4) and this section. (a) The evaluation of significance should be based on the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, historic context statement and historic preservation plan. Criteria may include, but are not limited to, consideration of whether the resource has: (A) Significant association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local, regional, state, or national history; (B) Significant association with the lives of persons significant to local, regional, state, or national history; (C) Distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; (D) A high likelihood that, if preserved, would yield information important in prehistory or history; or (E) Relevance within the local historic context and priorities described in the historic preservation plan. (b) Local governments may delegate the determination of locally significant historic resources to a local planning commission or historic resources commission. (6) Designating Locally Significant Historic Resources. After inventorying and evaluating the significance of historic resources, if a local government chooses to protect a historic resource, it must adopt or amend a resource list (i.e., “designate” such resources) pursuant to OAR 660-023-0030(5) and this section. (a) The resource list must be adopted or amended as a land use decision. (b) Local governments must allow owners of inventoried historic resources to refuse historic resource designation at any time during the designation process in subsection (a) and must not include a site on a resource list if the owner of the property objects to its designation on the public record. A local government is not required to remove a historic resource from an inventory because an owner refuses to consent to designation. (7) Historic Resource Protection Ordinances. Local governments must adopt land use regulations to protect locally significant historic resources designated under section (6). This section replaces OAR 660-023-0050. Historic protection ordinances should be consistent with standards and guidelines recommended in the Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation published by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, produced by the National Park Service. (8) National Register Resources are significant historic resources. For these resources, local governments are not required to follow the process described in OAR 660-023-0030 through 660-023-0050 or sections (4) through (6). Instead, a local government: (a) Must protect National Register Resources, regardless of whether the resources are designated in the local plan or land use regulations, by review of demolition or relocation that includes, at minimum, a public hearing process that results in approval, approval with conditions, or denial and considers the following factors: condition, historic integrity, age, historic significance, value to the community, economic consequences, design or construction rarity, and consistency with and consideration of other policy objectives in the acknowledged comprehensive plan. Local jurisdictions may exclude accessory structures and non-contributing resources within a National Register nomination; (b) May apply additional protection measures. For a National Register Resource listed in the National Register of Historic Places after the effective date of this rule, additional protection measures may be applied only upon considering, at a public hearing, the historic characteristics identified in the National Register nomination; the historic significance of the resource; the relationship to the historic context statement and historic preservation plan contained in the comprehensive plan, if they exist; the goals and policies in the comprehensive plan; and the effects of the additional protection measures on the ability of property owners to maintain and modify features of their property. Protection measures applied by a local government to a National Register resource listed before the effective date of this rule continue to apply until the local government amends or removes them; and (c) Must amend its land use regulations to protect National Register Resources in conformity with subsections (a) and (b). Until such regulations are adopted, subsections (a) and (b) shall apply directly to National Register Resources. (9) Removal of a historic resource from a resource list by a local government is a land use decision and is subject to this section. (a) A local government must remove a property from the resource list if the designation was imposed on the property by the local government and the owner at the time of designation: (A) Has retained ownership since the time of the designation, and (B) Can demonstrate that the owner objected to the designation on the public record, or (C) Was not provided an opportunity to object to the designation, and (D) Requests that the local government remove the property from the resource list. (b) Except as provided in subsection (a), a local government may only remove a resource from the resource list if the circumstances in paragraphs (A), (B), or (C) exist. (A) The resource has lost the qualities for which it was originally recognized; (B) Additional information shows that the resource no longer satisfies the criteria for recognition as a historic resource or did not satisfy the criteria for recognition as a historic resource at time of listing; (C) The local building official declares that the resource poses a clear and immediate hazard to public safety and must be demolished to abate the unsafe condition. (10) A local government shall not issue a permit for demolition or modification of a locally significant historic resource during the 120-day period following: (a) The date of the property owner’s refusal to consent to the historic resource designation, or (b) The date of an application to demolish or modify the resource if the local government has not designated the locally significant resource under section (6). (11) OAR 660-023-0200(1)(a) and (1)(h) are effective upon filing of the rule with the Secretary of State. (12) OAR 660-023-0200(8) is effective upon filing of the rule with the Secretary of State and applies directly to local government permit decisions until the local government has amended its land use regulations as required by OAR 660-023-0200(8)(c). (13) OAR 660-023-0200(9) is effective upon filing of the rule with the Secretary of State and applies directly to local government decisions until the local government has amended its land use regulations to conform with the rule. (14) OAR 660-023-0200(10) is effective upon filing of the rule with the Secretary of State and applies directly to local government permit decisions.