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What is the
Tempe Historic Property Register?
[answers to property owner questions]
Q: What is the Tempe
Historic Property Register?
A:
The
Tempe Historic Property Register is the official
city list of historically, culturally and visually significant buildings,
structures, landmarks, districts, and archaeological sites in Tempe that have
undergone the process of historic designation provided for their protection by
Tempe City Code.
The intent of historic designation is to provide protection for
significant properties and archeological sites which represent important aspects
of Tempe's
heritage; to enhance the character of the community by taking such properties
and sites into account during development, and to assist owners in the
preservation and restoration of their properties.
Q:
What qualifies a property for listing in the Tempe Historic Property Register?
A:
The
Tempe Historic Preservation
Ordinance establishes the criteria for listing or designation of
historic
properties. Generally, properties
must meet the criteria for listing in the Arizona or National Register of Historic
Places. By ordinance, properties
found to be of exceptional significance, expressive of distinctive character,
reflective of Tempe's
cultural, social, political or economic past; or associated with a person or
event significant in community history may also be locally listed.
Properties that
represent an established and familiar visual feature of an area of the city due
to a prominent location or singular character may also be locally listed.
Q:
How does listing protect and preserve a property?
A:
Historic designation applies overlay zoning to a property or district.
All uses permitted by the underlying zoning continue to be permitted,
however, designated properties and districts are subject to the provisions of
the Tempe Historic Preservation Ordinance, as well as to applicable provisions
of the Zoning and Development Code and General Plan 2030.
Designated historic districts are governed by design guidelines developed
to preserve and enhance the distinctive character of the district.
Guidelines address general aspects such as building materials, massing,
scale and proportion of openings and other features, orientation and relative
position of buildings and landscape character; as well as specific aspects such
as roof forms, textures, color theme, character of signage, window and door
types, and other details relative to architectural styles evident in the
district.
Q:
If my property is listed will I be prohibited from making changes?
A:
Register listing does not prevent the owner of an historic property from
remodeling, repairing, altering, selling, or even demolishing a listed building.
It also does not obligate an owner to
make any repairs or improvements to the property.
Tempe Preservation understands that historic properties often change
over time to remain viable properties.
The way in which changes are made to historic properties can make the
difference between loss or maintenance of historic integrity.
Professional design assistance and historic property design guidelines
are available to assist owners in the preservation and restoration of their
properties.
Guidelines are advisory not regulatory and address general aspects of
properties in historic districts.
The intent of the guidelines is to provide protection for significant features
of those properties which represent important aspects of Tempe's heritage.
Q:
What are the benefits of having a property listed?
A:
The community benefits from maintaining tangible links to past events,
people, and artistic expressions that have molded the character of Tempe and local listing
reinforces these links by calling attention to historically significant
properties. Listing properties has
financial benefits for the community by contributing to the revitalization of
neighborhoods and business districts and by promoting tourism.
It is the intent of the city to make historic property ownership as
beneficial as possible. In addition
to the intangible benefits of owning a property recognized as an important
community resource, Tempe Preservation provides owners with assistance in
locating potential sources of financial assistance and tax credits; assistance
in preparing grant applications and potential third party sponsorship; technical
information and referrals; and assistance in obtaining other benefits available
through City, State, and Federal historic preservation programs.
Q:
How do I nominate a property to the Tempe Historic Property Register?
A:
Application
for the designation of a landmark, historic property or historic district can be
made by the property owner or by any officer, department, board, commission or
the city council.
Nomination
forms are available from the Tempe Historic Preservation Office or online at
http://www.tempe.gov/historicpres/applicat.html.
A new form, WAIVER OF RIGHTS AND REMEDIES UNDER A.R.S. §12-1134, is
available for submittal on all historic property designation applications
processed by the Tempe Historic Preservation Commission. This form is made
available in response to recent voter adoption of Proposition 207, the “Private
Property Rights Protection Act.” The
zoning waiver is available online at
http://www.tempe.gov/historicpres/docs/Prop207Waiver.pdf.
There is no fee to process the application and staff and commission
volunteers will assist with the nomination as well as other aspects of the
designation and listing process.
Q:
What is the difference between local and
national designation?
A:
Local designation and listing in the Tempe Historic Property Register is
designed to complement listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
Listing in the National Register honors a
historic place by recognizing its importance to the community, the State, or the
Nation. However, under Federal law,
owners of private property listed in the National Register are free to maintain,
manage, or dispose of their property as they choose provided that there is no
Federal involvement.
Local historic property designation is one of the strongest forms of protection
for historic properties. Local designation applies overlay zoning to the
historic property and thereby makes benefits and protections provided by the
Tempe Historic Preservation Ordinance
available for property conservation.
Q:
What assistance is available to assist me with my historic property?
A:
Preservation assistance is available through City,
State, and Federal historic preservation programs.
The Tempe Historic Preservation Office (Tempe
HPO) provides architectural design and planning assistance, grant sponsorship,
and technical assistance to owners to make ownership of an historic property as
beneficial as possible. Tempe HPO can
help with listing properties and assisting owners with obtaining incentives for
preservation by rehabilitation, restoration or maintenance to encourage the
preservation of historic properties.
Contact the Tempe HPO at 480-350-8870.
The
Arizona State Historic Preservation Office
(Arizona SHPO), a division of
Arizona State Parks, assists private citizens, private institutions, local
governments, tribes, and state and federal agencies in the identification,
evaluation, protection, and enhancement of historic and archaeological
properties that have significance for local communities, the State of Arizona, or the Nation.
Contact the Arizona SHPO at 602-
542-4009.
The Federal Government supports historic preservation
through a variety of funding sources and technical assistance programs. The
National Park Service
is a major source of support, but preservation assistance is also available,
either directly or indirectly, from many other agencies.
Consult Tempe HPO or the Arizona SHPO for assistance with Federal
programs.
The
National Trust for Historic Preservation
helps people protect, enhance
and enjoy the places that matter to them.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit
membership organization dedicated to saving historic places and revitalizing America's
communities. Contact the Western
Office of the National Trust at 415-947-0692.
Q:
How are properties worthy of preservation
identified?
A:
The City of
Tempe
has conducted two major surveys to identify properties eligible for listing in
the Tempe Historic Property Register.
The last comprehensive city-wide inventory was completed in 1997 and
lists 343 candidate properties of all types which may be eligible for historic
designation.
The most recent large scale survey and inventory of Tempe historic resources
focused on
Post World War II Tempe Subdivisions
built
between 1945 and 1960. The survey
completed in 2001 examined approximately 4,500
Tempe
properties built between 1945 and 1960. From
this survey, inventory forms were completed for 62 subdivisions containing
nearly 1,800 individual properties. Only
properties that conveyed high levels of architectural integrity (i.e., that
still possessed all elements of their original design) were inventoried in
detail.
In addition to the above Tempe surveys, the Arizona State Historic
Preservation Office has conducted surveys to identify National Register
Properties and completed documentation of many of these properties for
inventory. The SHPO provides
inventory forms that are used to document pertinent information about the
property. The SHPO reviews documentation provided and makes a determination of
eligibility for the National and/or State Registers of Historic Places.
Q:
Who maintains the list of designated or eligible historic properties?
A:
The Tempe
Historic Preservation Office maintains the
Tempe Historic Property Register as the
official city list of historically, culturally and visually significant
buildings, structures, landmarks, districts, and archaeological sites in Tempe
that have undergone the process of historic designation.
In addition, Tempe HPO compiles information about historic properties and
the historic character of Tempe
for the purpose of identifying structures, properties, districts and
archaeological sites worthy of preservation.
Contact the Tempe HPO at 480.350.8870.
The State
Historic Preservation Office maintains an inventory and documentation for
properties listed on the Arizona
and National Register of Historic Places.
The office also maintains a listing of properties that have been determined
Register-eligible. Contact the State
Historic Preservation Office at 602.542.4009.
REFERENCES
http://www.tempe.gov/historicpres/register.html
http://www.tempe.gov/citycode/14aHistoricPreservation.htm
http://www.tempe.gov/historicpres/applicat.html
http://www.tempe.gov/historicpres/
http://www.pr.state.az.us/partnerships/shpo/shpo.html#anchor561695
http://www.nps.gov/history/preservation.htm
http://www.preservationnation.org/
http://www.tempe.gov/historicpres/PostWWII/
http://www.tempe.gov/historicpres/docs/Prop207Waiver.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/
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