UDC Language Proposal - ‘ Facing’

 
 
 

Meeting Schedule:

City Council - Public Hearing (Agenda)

City Council - Introduction (Agenda)

P/Z Meeting: Recommendation From Planning & Zoning

  • October 7, 2021 at 5:30PM - City Council Chambers - 312 E Charles

Public Forums:

  • August 19, 2021 at 5:30PM – 7:30PM - Permit Office - 219 E Robert

  • August 23, 2021 at 5:30PM – 7:30PM - City Council Chambers - 312 E Charles

Virtual Forums

HHDC MOTION TO PROPOSE UDC LANGUAGE CHANGE: 11am @ 312 E Charles 7/21/2021

That the legal definition for the Historic District as found in the UDC 8.1.7 that reads as follows:

“… The historical district above designated shall include all building sites or lots and all structures, houses or other buildings facing any of the streets on the perimeter of the area.”

To be changed to:

“The historical district above designated shall include all building sites or lots and all structures, houses or other buildings on a building site or lot touching any of the streets on the perimeter of the area. It is the intent of this definition to include all properties which are diagonally opposite (catty corner) from the intersection of streets on the perimeter of the area.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
If approved all structures that are ‘touching’ or ‘catty-corner’ to the Hammond Historic District will be re-incorporated back into the historic district and be required to once again be in compliance with District Guidelines.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
In 2015 a controversial case brought under questioning the definition of ‘facing’ established in the 1980 Ordinance for the Hammond Historic District. As a result, the City of Hammond was required to provide a legal definition that determined facing to mean all properties whose assessed address was facing the district.

Prior to this 2015 ruling over 60 structures were considered to be ‘facing’ the district. After the redefining there was a 31% loss of facing building stock; 36% of those lost structures had already previously applied for HHDC approval during the 35 years they were incorporated. The intent of redefining once again the establishing ordinance is to reincorporate the 19 lost properties back into the historic district and to prevent any further loss to the historic fabric.

REGULATION: I DO NOT HAVE A COMMERCIAL PROPERTY.
In 2017, the HHD Guidelines were updated to accommodate residential structures within the district to allow for more lax regulation. This can be found in Appendix A of the District Guidelines.

WHO DOES THIS AFFECT?
Property owners and tenants at the following locations will be directly impacted by the proposed UDC Langauge change. Please know that (*) marked properties have been added based on clarifications from owners.

1. 300 E Thomas 2. 303 E Thomas

3. 300 /310/312 E Charles 4. 305 E Charles

5. 201 E Robert 6. 300 N Cate

7. 301 N Oak 8. 300 W Robert

9. 201 N Pine 10. 500 W Charles

11. 500 W Thomas 12. 500 W Morris

13. 501 Edwin Neill Way 14. 505 Edwin Neill Way

15. 302 S Pine 16. 303 S Pine

17. 301 S Magnolia 18. 200 S Cypress/ 120 E Morris

19. 300 E Morris 20. 202 E Robert*

21. 200 S Oak*

TIMELINE:

  • July 2021

    • UDC Proposal Incorporated into Monthly Advertisement

    • Motion at meeting to propose change UDC Definition

    • Mail out letters to all properties facing and next to the district.

    • Notification to Zoning & Planning for Recommendation

  • August 2021

    • Hold 2 Public Forums:

      • August 19, 2021 at 5:30PM – 7:30PM

      • August 23, 2021 at 5:30PM – 7:30PM

    • Hold 2 Virtual Forums

      • August 12, 2021 at 11AM – 1PM

      • August 24, 2021 at 11AM – 1PM

    • Send out a second round of notification and in-person canvassing 

  • September 2021

    • Attend Hammond City Council Meeting to place the proposal before Council Members

NOTE: It is the Historic District’s goal to be transparent during this process to ensure there is a complete understanding of intention by the District, City, Council, and Property Owners. This is not an effort to expand the District, but instead simply a request to re-incorporate structures that for 35 years were considered part of the Hammond Historic District.