(1) A local unit may, by ordinance, establish 1 or more historic districts. The historic districts shall be administered by a commission established pursuant to section 4. Before establishing a historic district, the legislative body of the local unit shall appoint a historic district study committee. The committee shall contain a majority of persons who have a clearly demonstrated interest in or knowledge of historic preservation, and shall contain representation from 1 or more duly organized local historic preservation organizations. The committee shall do all of the following:
  (a) Conduct a photographic inventory of resources within each proposed historic district following procedures established or approved by the department.

Terms Used In Michigan Laws 399.203

  • Commission: means a historic district commission created by the legislative body of a local unit under section 4. See Michigan Laws 399.201a
  • Committee: means a historic district study committee appointed by the legislative body of a local unit under section 3 or 14. See Michigan Laws 399.201a
  • Committee membership: Legislators are assigned to specific committees by their party. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.
  • Department: means the department of history, arts, and libraries. See Michigan Laws 399.201a
  • Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
  • Historic district: means an area, or group of areas not necessarily having contiguous boundaries, that contains 1 resource or a group of resources that are related by history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture. See Michigan Laws 399.201a
  • Historic preservation: means the identification, evaluation, establishment, and protection of resources significant in history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture. See Michigan Laws 399.201a
  • in writing: shall be construed to include printing, engraving, and lithographing; except that if the written signature of a person is required by law, the signature shall be the proper handwriting of the person or, if the person is unable to write, the person's proper mark, which may be, unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law, a clear and classifiable fingerprint of the person made with ink or another substance. See Michigan Laws 8.3q
  • Local unit: means a county, city, village, or township. See Michigan Laws 399.201a
  • Proposed historic district: means an area, or group of areas not necessarily having contiguous boundaries, that has delineated boundaries and that is under review by a committee or a standing committee for the purpose of making a recommendation as to whether it should be established as a historic district or added to an established historic district. See Michigan Laws 399.201a
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
  • United States: shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
  (b) Conduct basic research of each proposed historic district and the historic resources located within that district.
  (c) Determine the total number of historic and nonhistoric resources within a proposed historic district and the percentage of historic resources of that total. In evaluating the significance of historic resources, the committee shall be guided by the selection criteria for evaluation issued by the United States secretary of the interior for inclusion of resources in the national register of historic places, as set forth in 36 C.F.R. part 60, and criteria established or approved by the department, if any.
  (d) Prepare a preliminary historic district study committee report that addresses at a minimum all of the following:
  (i) The charge of the committee.
  (ii) The composition of the committee membership.
  (iii) The historic district or districts studied.
  (iv) The boundaries for each proposed historic district in writing and on maps.
  (v) The history of each proposed historic district.
  (vi) The significance of each district as a whole, as well as a sufficient number of its individual resources to fully represent the variety of resources found within the district, relative to the evaluation criteria.
  (e) Transmit copies of the preliminary report for review and recommendations to the local planning body, to the department, to the Michigan historical commission, and to the state historic preservation review board.
  (f) Make copies of the preliminary report available to the public pursuant to subsection (4).
  (2) Not less than 60 calendar days after the transmittal of the preliminary report, the committee shall hold a public hearing in compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the hearing shall be given in the manner required by the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275. Written notice shall be mailed by first-class mail not less than 14 calendar days before the hearing to the owners of properties within the proposed historic district, as listed on the tax rolls of the local unit.
  (3) After the date of the public hearing, the committee and the legislative body of the local unit shall have not more than 1 year, unless otherwise authorized by the legislative body of the local unit, to take the following actions:
  (a) The committee shall prepare and submit a final report with its recommendations and the recommendations, if any, of the local planning body to the legislative body of the local unit. If the recommendation is to establish a historic district or districts, the final report shall include a draft of a proposed ordinance or ordinances.
  (b) After receiving a final report that recommends the establishment of a historic district or districts, the legislative body of the local unit, at its discretion, may introduce and pass or reject an ordinance or ordinances. If the local unit passes an ordinance or ordinances establishing 1 or more historic districts, the local unit shall file a copy of that ordinance or those ordinances, including a legal description of the property or properties located within the historic district or districts, with the register of deeds. A local unit shall not pass an ordinance establishing a contiguous historic district less than 60 days after a majority of the property owners within the proposed historic district, as listed on the tax rolls of the local unit, have approved the establishment of the historic district pursuant to a written petition.
  (4) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a committee in the performance of an official function shall be made available to the public in compliance with the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Act 169 of 1970 Contents