Historical September 1979 ordinance and permit discussion by Brad Weir. Original interpretation and quotations are archival material, not current legal or permit guidance.
The Historic District Review Committee has had two quarterly meetings since the committee was formed in December, 1978. These meetings were held at the SkinkerDeBaliviere Community Council office in February and May, 1979, for the purpose of providing an opportunity for residents of the Skinker-DeBaliviere Historic District to discuss what effects, if any, the recentlypassed Historic District Ordinance was having on the community. Since there was no public outcry at either meeting concerning the ordinance, it may be tempting to conclude that the passage of the ordinance hadn’t caused a ripple in the neighborhood. Such a conclusion would be wrong.
It has come to the attention of members of the Historic District Review Committee that a number of residents of the SkinkerDeBaliviere area have experienced delays in obtaining routine permits for such building work as replacing back fences, repairing back retaining walls, or repairing back porches. Formerly, it was customary to receive the permit the same day the application was made. It appears, however, that since the passage of the Historic District Ordinance, employees in the Building Commissioner’s office have taken the view that all permit applications must undergo the special review procedures provided for in the ordinance without regard to what sort of work was being contemplated. This view is distinctly at odds with the understanding of most of the people who have had anything to do with the Historic District Ordinance.
During the time that the Historic District Ordinance was being discussed for our neighborhood, it was emphasized again and again that the Appearance Standards would apply only to those parts of a house which are visible from the front of the structure. Thus, permit applications for work involving such parts would have to be reviewed by the City Plan Commission and by the Landmarks and Urban Design Commission to insure that the work would not result in a violation of the Appearance Standards of the ordinance. In the case of work not involving the front of the building, however, the procedures for permit applications were to remain unchanged. It is clear that this was the intention of those neighborhood volunteers who worked on drafting the Historic District Ordinance.
Unfortunately, this idea didn’t find its way into the ordinance in any clear and forthright statement. There is no specific language in the ordinance which states that the Appearance Standards apply only to the parts of houses and grounds visible from the front. Furthermore, employees of the Building Commissioner’s office rely, for their interpretation, not upon the Skinker-DeBaliviere Historic District . Ordinance, but upon an earlier ordinance, which provides the enabling legislation for all such Historic Districts. This ordinance, No. 56100, passed in February, 1972, contains a section entitled “Procedure for Obtaining a Building Permit In Historic District”:
1. The Building Commissioner upon receipt of an application for any excavation, construction, erection, demolition, alteration to the exterior, change of the exterior by painting, or removal of architectural detail of any structures, wall, fence, street, walk, drive, or sign within the boundaries of a designated Historic District shall forward same, together with all plans and specifications relative thereto, to the staff of the City Plan Commission…. etc., etc.
Note that this section makes no distinction between the front or back of a structure.
Nevertheless, members of the Historic District Review Committee and others continue to believe that a simple permit application for replacement of a back fence or the like is not a proper subject for review by either the City Plan Commission or the Landmarks and Urban Design Commission. With this view in mind, a meeting between representatives of these two bodies and the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood was set up in June, 1979. Out of this meeting came a consensus that it should be possible to streamline the permit application procedure and to separate, at the City Plan Commission, permit applications into major and minor categories. Minor applications would require no further review and would be granted immediately, while the others would go through the full review process. In this way, it is hoped, a majority of residents would be spared a wait and a second trip to City Hall, while, at the same time, the City Plan Commission would be meeting the letter of the law.
The next meeting of the Historic District Review Committee will be held on Tuesday, September 25, at the SkinkerDeBaliviere Community Council office at 7:30 P.M. One of the prime topics for discussion will be whether a streamlining procedure for building permits is working and, if not, what needs to be done to get one in place. All interested members of the community are invited to attend.
Originally published in The Paper, September 1979.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1979_09.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
