Marietta City Council revised the city’s historic preservation ordinance March 10 to clarify sections of the ordinance. The Historic Preservation Ordinance allows the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) to recommend to City Council specific districts or properties to be designated as a historic district.
A historic district is an area of a city that includes buildings with special character, historic, or aesthetic interest or value and represents one or more periods or styles of architecture typical of the city they’re located in, city of Marietta urban planner Shelby Little said. “Any property designated as a landmark or located in a designated district is required to receive a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission before the property owner alters or modifies any part of the building that can be seen from the street or sidewalk.”
Under the approved ordinance, Marietta would be allowed to proceed in creating its first historic district in approximately 30 years, director of development services Brian Binzer said. “The downtown area is the city’s first historic district.”
The approved ordinance would require property owners to get permission from the Historic Preservation Commission to change the outside appearance of their buildings, tear down the buildings or add on. Property owners wouldn’t need permission to repaint the buildings or make minor repairs to their buildings.
Council previously designated Kennesaw Avenue as Marietta’s first historic district, but Mayor Steve Tumlin vetoed the action with Council input to allow City Council an opportunity to revise the ordinance.
The city will conduct public hearings on the ordinance and design guidelines and notify property owners that the city is again considering establishing Kennesaw Avenue as a historic district. The HPC must poll residents and receive at least 60 percent approval before a historic district can be created. Sixty-seven percent approved the first version of the Kennesaw Avenue district.
Honoring Marietta’s past and preserving its history, while striving to create a more effective historic preservation ordinance is a goal City Council established as part of its vision statement.
For more information, call the Department of Development Services at 770-794-5669.
