Read your community's historic preservation ordinance and refer to it often. Make special note of the purposes of the ordinance.
Be friendly with all applicants and leave them with a good impression of the local government process.
Use the specific criteria outlined in the ordinance for designating districts and/or landmarks when making designations.
Use the design guidelines in the ordinance when making a decision on the appropriateness of a building alteration.
review each application as a separate case and apply the ordinance's criteria each time.
Do Not:
Apply your idea of what is "pretty" or "in good taste" to decide if a proposed alteration is appropriate.
Require a design of all new buildings, alterations or additions to follow a particular theme or architectural style.
Embarrass the applicant by criticizing his/her application openly in the meeting or in the media.
Turn down an application without giving the applicant specific guidance as to how the application could be improved to meet the criteria of the ordinance.
Be afraid to ask the applicant for more information if the application is incomplete or if there is not enough information to make a decision.
.
