Historic Preservation Minor Alterations and Tax Credit Pre-Approval Program

About the Program

Category: Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Like many local governments, Howard County has established a historic preservation program. The program is codified in the county code, and these regulations safeguard the heritage of the County by preserving districts and sites which reflect elements of its cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history. The county does this through the regulation of construction, alteration, reconstruction, moving and demolition of structures of historic, architectural, and archeological value. The law establishes the Historic Preservation Commission, which serves as a resource to provide advice and counsel to Howard County agencies, Boards, Commissions, and property owners regarding historic sites.The Minor Alterations and Executive Secretary Tax Credit Pre-Approval processes (the program) were created by the Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) for the Howard County Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) following the July 30, 2016 flood in Ellicott City. Ellicott City is a local historic district, and all exterior alterations and tax credit pre-approvals for repairs require approval through the HPC. Due to the high volume of applications the Commission received in the months following the flood, DPZ sought to create an expedited administrative approval process. The goal was to create a process that would expedite the approval of applications for minor alterations and for repairs that qualified for tax credit pre-approval and allow interested parties to contest an application. This program required changes to the County Code and to the HPC’s procedures and established a 5-day online review process. If, after 5 days, staff has not received any HPC or public objections, then the application is administratively approved as a minor alteration, not requiring HPC approval; or it is pre-approved for tax credits. This new program has expedited the process for many applicants, reduced the workload associated with these applications and resulted in more efficient HPC monthly meetings.