City of Spokane - Municipal Code

Title 17D City-wide Standards

Section 17D.040.220 Certificates of Appropriateness – Demolition of Structures Listed on the Spokane Register or Contributing Structures in Local Historic Districts

Upon receipt of an application for the demolition of an historic structure listed on the Local Spokane Register or a contributing structure within a local historic district, the applicant is required to apply for a certificate of appropriateness for the proposed action. The application for and subsequent issuance of a demolition permit by the building official for a historic structure listed on the Local Register or a contributing structure within a local historic district shall be subject to the following provisions:

The applicant shall apply for a certificate of appropriateness with the historic landmarks commission.
The demolition permit may not be issued until ninety days from the date of the application for the certificate of appropriateness, except with the concurrence of the historic landmarks commission.
Within forty-five days of the application for a certificate of appropriateness, the applicant and the historic landmarks commission shall meet to determine if there are feasible alternatives to demolition. The attempt to find feasible alternatives may continue beyond forty-five days if both parties agree to an extension.
If no feasible alternative to demolition has been agreed to, the historic landmarks commission may either grant the certificate of appropriateness, thereby permitting the subsequent issuance of a demolition permit, or deny the certificate of appropriateness.
If the historic landmarks commission denies the certificate of appropriateness, the demolition permit may not be issued for an additional forty-five days in order to permit the historic landmarks commission to develop non-binding mitigation measures to encourage the landowner to salvage significant architectural features of the structure and to require the landowner to provide documentation of the building before the issuance of the demolition permit.

Date Passed: Monday, May 4, 2009

Effective Date: Saturday, June 6, 2009

ORD C34416 Section 1