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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-3223 SPECIAL PROPERTY TAX VALUATION ORDINANCE NO. 322:3 AN ORDINANCE related to building; enacting a historic preservation ordinance for special property tax valuation; enacting Chapter 11.60 and sections 11.60.010, 11.60.020, 11.60.030, 11.60.040, and 11.60.050 as a Chapter and sections thereof all of the City of Yakima Municipal Code. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF YAKIMA: Section 1: Chapter 11.60 and sections 11.60.010, 11.60.020, 11.60.030, 11.60.040, and 11.60.050 are hereby enacted as a new Chapter and sections of the City of Yakima Municipal Code to read as follows: "Chapter 11.60 HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDINANCE FOR SPECIAL VALUATION Sections: 11.60.010 Purpose 11.60.020 Title 11.60.030 Definitions 11.60.040 Local Review Board 11.60.050 Review and Monitoring of Properties for Special Property Tax Valuation 11.60.010 Purpose. The purpose of this Chapter is to preserve and rehabilitate eligible historic properties within the City of Yakima for future generations through special valuation, a property tax incentive, as provided in Chapter 84.26 RCW and as it may be amended. Except as expressly provided it is not the intent of this Chapter to expose anyone to criminal liability under Section 11.01.010 of this title for violation of or failure to comply with the terms of this Chapter. 11.60.020 Short Title. The following sections shall be known and may be cited as The Historic Preserva- tion Ordinance for Special Valuation. 11.60.030 Definitions. The following words and terms when used in this ordinance shall have the following meanings unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context A. 'Actual costs of Rehabilitation' means costs in- curred within twenty-four (24) months prior to the date of application and directly resulting from one or more of the following: 1) Improvements to an existing building located on or within the perimeters of the original structure; or 2) Improvements outside of but directly at- tached to the original structure which are 1110 necessary to make the building fully useable but shall not include rentable or habitable floor space attributable to new construc- tion; or - 1 - (ord/historic) 3) Architectural and engineering services attributable to the design of the improve- ments; or 4) All costs defined as qualified rehabilita- tion expenditures for purposes of the feder- al historic preservation investment tax credit. B. 'Class of properties eligible to apply for Special Valuation' means all properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places or certified as contributing to a National Register Historic District which have been substantially rehabilitated at a cost and within a time period which meets the requirements set forth in Chapter 84.26 RCW. C. 'Cost' means the actual cost of rehabilitation, which cost shall be at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the assessed valuation of the historic property, exclusive of the assessed value at- tributable to the land, prior to rehabilitation. D. 'Historic property' means real property together with improvements thereon, except property listed 4 11 1 in a register primarily for objects buried below ground, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. E. 'Local Review Board' or 'Board for the special valuation of historic properties' means the board created in Section 11.60.040 of this Chapter. E. 'National Register of Historic Places' means the national listing of properties significant to national cultural history because of their docu- mented importance to national history, architec- tural history, engineering, or cultural heritage. G. 'Owner' means the fee simple owner of record of historic property as exists in the Yakima County Assessor's records. H. 'Special Valuation for Historic Properties' or 'Special Valuation' means the determination which when implemented makes available to property 4 11 1 owners a special tax valuation for rehabilitation of historic properties under which the assessed value of an eligible historic property is deter- mined at a rate that excludes, for up to ten (10) years, the actual cost of the rehabilitation. 1. 'Washington State Advisory Council's Standards for the Rehabilitation and Maintenance of His- toric Properties' or 'State Advisory's Council's Standards' means the rehabilitation and mainten- ance standards used by the Local Review Board as minimum requirements for determining whether or not an historic property is eligible for special valuation and whether or not the property con- tinues to be eligible for special valuation once it has been so classified. 11.60.040 Local Review Board A. Creation and Size 4110 There is hereby established a Local Review Board consisting of seven (7) members, as provided in Subsection B herein. Members of the board shall - 2 - (ord/historic) be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council and such members shall be resi- dents of the City of Yakima. In the event a board member is no longer a resident of the City, his or her position shall become vacant and a new member shall be appointed. B. Composition of the Board 1) All members of the board shall have a demon- strated interest and competence in historic preservation and possess qualities of impar- tiality and broad judgment. 2) The board shall always include seven (7) members who have experience in identifying, evaluating, and protecting historic re- sources and of these seven (7) at least three (3) which are professional persons selected from among the disciplines of history, architecture, architectural his- tory, historic preservation, planning, cultural anthropology, archaeology, cultural geography, American studies, law, and real estate. 3) In making appointments, the Mayor may con- sider names submitted from any source, but the Mayor shall notify historical and City development related organizations of vacan- cies so that names of interested and quali- fied individuals may be submitted by such organizations for consideration along with names from any other source. C. Terms The original appointment of members to the board shall be as follows: three (3) for two (2) years, four (4) for three (3) years. Thereafter, appointments shall be made for a three (3) year term in the same manner as the original appoint- • ment. Vacancies shall be filled by the Mayor with the approval of the Council for new or unexpired terms in the same manner as the origi- nal appointment. D. Powers and Duties The board shall serve as the local review board for Special Valuation pursuant to Chapter 84.26 of RCW and shall: 1) Make determinations concerning the eligibil- ity of historic properties for special valuation; 2) Verify that the improvements are consistent with the Washington State Advisory Council's Standards for Rehabilitation and Mainten- ance; 3) Enter into agreements with property owners for the duration of the special valuation period as required under WAC 254 -20- 070(2) and as amended; 4) Approve or deny applications for special valuation; - 3 - 5) Monitor the property for continued compli- ance with the agreement and statutory eligi- bility requirements during the ten (10) year special valuation period; and 6) Comply with all other board responsibilities 4111 identified in Chapter 84.26 RCW. E. Compensation All members shall serve without compensation. E. Rules and Officers The board shall establish and adopt its own rules of procedure, and shall select from among its membership a chair person and such other officers as may be necessary to conduct the board's business. G. Board Staff Board and professional staff assistance shall be provided by the Community and Economic Develop- ment Department with additional assistance and information to be provided by other City depart- 4 111 ments as may be necessary to aid the board in carrying out its duties and responsibilities under this Chapter. 11.60.050 Review and Monitoring of Properties for Special Property Tax Valuation A. Time Lines 1) Application shall be forwarded to the board by the assessor within ten (10) days of filing. 2) Applications shall be reviewed by the board before December 31 of the calendar year in which the application is made. 3) Board decisions regarding the applications shall be certified in writing and filed with the assessor within ten (10) days of issu- ance. B. Procedure 1) The assessor forwards the application to the board. 2) The board reviews the application, con- sistent with its rules of procedure, and determines if the application is complete and if the properties meet the criteria set forth in WAC 254-20-070(1) (and as may be amended) and which is listed in Subsection C of this section. a. If the board finds the properties meet all the criteria, then, on behalf of the City of Yakima, it shall enter into an Historic Preservation Special. Valu- ation Agreement with the owner in a form set forth in WAC 254-20-120 and as may be amended and listed in Subsection 111 D of this section. Upon execution of the agreement between the owner and board, the board approves the applica- tion. - 4 - (ord/historic) b. If the board determines the properties do not meet all the criteria, then it shall deny the application. 11111 3) The board shall certify its decision in writing and state the facts upon which the approval or denial is based and file copies of the certification with the Yakima County Assessor. 4) For approved applications, the board shall: a. Forward copies of the agreement, appli- cation, and supporting documentation (as required by WAC 254-20-040(4) (and as may be amended) and identified in Subsection C of this section) to the assessor; b. Notify the state review board that the properties have been approved for special valuation; • c. Monitor the properties for continued compliance with the agreements through- out the ten (10) year special valuation period. 5) The board shall determine, in a manner consistent with its rules of procedure, whether or not a property is disqualified from special valuation either because of: a. The owner's failure to comply with the terms of the agreement or b. Because of a loss of historic value resulting from physical changes to the building or site. 6) In the event that the board concludes that a property is no longer qualified for special valuation, the board shall notify the owner, assessor, and state review board in writing and state the facts supporting its 4111 findings. C. Criteria For Special Valuation 1) Historic Property Criteria: The class of historic property eligible to apply for special valuation in the City of Yakima means all properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places or certified as contributing to a National Register Historic District which have been substantially rehabilitated at a cost and within a time period which meets the re- quirements set forth in Chapter 84.26 RCW and as may be amended. 2) Fees: a. All applicants shall pay to the Director of Community & Economic IP Development a fee of three hundred dollars ($300) for review by the board of any application for Special Valua- tion for Historic Properties under this Chapter. - 5 - (ord/historic) b. A fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) shall be paid to the Director of Commu- nity & Economic Development by the applicant for the preparation and recording of the Historic Preservation 1 1/ 0 Special Valuation Agreement. 3) Application Criteria: Complete applications shall consist of the following documentation: a. A legal description of the historic property, b. Comprehensive exterior and interior photographs of the historic property before and after rehabilitation; c. Architectural plans or other legible drawings depicting the completed re- habilitation work; d. A notarized affidavit attesting to the actual cost of the rehabilitation work completed prior to the date of appli- cation and the period of time during which the work was performed and docu- mentation of both to be made available to the board upon request. e. For properties located within historic districts, in addition to the standard application documentation, a statement from the U.S. Secretary of the Interior or Washington State Historic Preserva- tion Officer indicating that the prop- erty is a certified historic structure. f. It is unlawful for an applicant to knowlingly provide false or deceptive information to the board. 4) Property Review Criteria: In its review, the board shall determine if 411 the properties meet all the following cri- teria: a. The property is historic property; b. The property is included within a class of historic property determined eligi- ble for a special valuation by the City of Yakima under Subsection C of this section; c. The property has been rehabilitated at a cost which meets the definition set forth in RCW 84.26.020(2), and as may be amended, and identified in Subsec- tion C of this section within twenty- four (24) months prior to the date of application; and d. The property has not been altered in any way which adversely affects those elements which qualify it as histori- cally significant as determined by applying the Washington State Advisory - 6 - (ord/historic) Council's Standards for the Rehabilita- tion and Maintenance of Historic Prop- erties (WAC 254-20-100(1)). 5. Rehabilitation and Maintenance Criteria: The Washington State Advisory Council's Standards for the Rehabilitation and Main- tenance of Historic Properties in WAC 254- 20-100, and as may be amended, shall be used by the board as minimum requirements for determining whether or not an historic property is eligible for special valuation and whether or not the property continues to be eligible for special valuation once it has been so classified. D. Agreement: The historic preservation special valuation agreement found in WAC 254-20-120, and as may be amended, shall be used by the board as the min- imum agreement necessary to comply with the requirements of RCW 84.26.050(2). 111/ E. Appeals: Any decision of the board acting on any applica- tion for classification as historic property, eligible for special valuation, may be appealed to the Superior Court under Chapter 34.05.570 RCW in addition to any other remedy of law. Any decision on the disqualification of historic property eligible for special valuation, or any other dispute, may be appealed to the Yakima County Board of Equalization." Section 2: This ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its passage, approval, and publication as provided by law and the City Charter. PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, signed and approved this D141 day of P1C)o-o-PC , 1989. 4111 Paz Mayor ATTEST: 12-.4RAta- c_vvt City Clerk Publication Date: DEC 0 1 1 • Effective Date: DEC 3 1 men 141M- 1 11 - 7 - (ord/historic)