§ 20.20.020. Definitions.

A.

In addition to the definitions of Chapter 20.02, the following definitions apply only to this chapter of the code, and control if in conflict with Chapter 20.02.

1.

"Addition" means a completely new structure or new component to an existing structure.

2.

"Administrative review" means the approval process by which the historic preservation officer (HPO) or his designee administratively approves or denies submitted applications in accordance with the Administrative Review Design Guidelines.

3.

"Alteration" means any construction or change of the exterior of a building, site or structure including, but not limited to, the erection, construction, reconstruction or removal of any structure or of an interior space designated as a landmark. Alteration shall include, but not be limited to, the changing of roofing or siding materials; changing, eliminating or adding doors, door frames, windows, window frames, shutters, fences, railings, porches, balconies, signs or other ornamentation; the changing of paint color; re-grading; fill; imploding or other use of dynamite. Alteration shall not include ordinary repair and maintenance.

a.

"Alteration, major" an alteration shall be deemed to be major if it is the kind of work, which is customarily done with the aid of plans or specifications.

b.

"Alteration, minor" an alteration shall be deemed to be "minor" if it is the kind of work which is customarily done without the aid of plans and which would not substantially change the external appearance of the building, site, or structure, and if new material added does not exceed one hundred square feet of floor area.

4.

"Appurtenance" means any accessory or subordinate building, object or structure, fence, street furniture, fixture, vending machine, fountain or artwork, located on the grounds of an historic landmark or in an historic district.

5.

"Archaeology" means the science or study of the material remains of past life or activities and the physical site or context in which they are found.

6.

"Architectural style" means the architectural character and general composition of a structure, including but not limited to, the kind, color and texture of the building material and the type, design and character of all windows, door, light fixtures, signs and appurtenant elements.

7.

"Area" means a specific geographic division of the City of El Paso.

8.

"Building" means a structure created to shelter people or things, such as a house, barn, church, hotel, warehouse or similar structure, including a historically related complex, such as a courthouse and jail or a house and barn.

9.

"Cemetery" means any site, as defined by Texas statute, which contains at least one burial, marked or previously marked, dedicated to and used or intended to be used for the permanent interment of the human dead, to include perpetual care and non-perpetual care cemeteries.

10.

"Certificate of appropriateness" means the certificate issued by the historic landmark commission after review of a submitted application, and it is determined that the proposed project is appropriate for the historic district for which it is requested. It is not considered or defined as a building permit.

11.

"Character-defining architectural element" means a distinctive architectural feature, quality, or combination thereof, that distinguishes one structure from another or which is unique to that structure.

12.

"Cluster" means a group of cultural resources with compatible buildings, objects or structures geographically or thematically relating to and reinforcing one another through design, setting, materials, workmanship, congruency and association.

13.

"Construction" means the act of adding new material to an existing building, structure or site.

14.

"Contributing property" means a building, object, site or structure, in an historic district or "cluster" that contributes to the district's or cluster's historical significance through location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and/or association.

15.

"Cultural" means the quality in a society that arises from an interest in or an acquaintance with what is generally regarded as excellence in arts, literature, architecture, manners, or scholarly pursuits and/or the socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work that are considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community or population.

16.

"Cultural resources" means districts, sites, or structures that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, congruency, and association in such a way that they are symbolic of excellence in North American, Texas, or El Paso history, architecture, archeology or culture.

17.

"Demolition" means any act or process that destroys, razes, or permanently impairs the structural integrity, in whole or in part, of any mobile or immobile structure governed by this chapter.

18.

"Design guidelines" means the written standards adopted by the city council which are intended to provide guidelines to the historic landmark commission and historic preservation officer to govern construction to preserve the historic, cultural and architectural character of an area or of a building, object, site or structure.

19.

"Economic return" means a financial profit or capital appreciation from use or ownership of a building, object, site or structure.

20.

"Effect" means a change in the quality of the historical, architectural, archaeological, or cultural significance of a resource, or in the characteristics that qualify the resource as historically important.

21.

"Effect, adverse" means a negative change in the quality of the historical, architectural, archaeological or cultural significance of a resource, or in the characteristics that qualify the resource as historically important.

22.

"Enclosure" refers to fences, walls or other physical features used to contain open space or provide privacy.

23.

"Historic district" means an area designated by city council, state or federal authority and which contains within definable geographic boundaries one or more "H-overlay" properties or clusters, including their accessory buildings, fences and other appurtenances, and natural resources having historical, cultural and archaeological significance, and which may have within its boundaries other noncontributing buildings or structures.

24.

"Historic interiors" means an architecturally or historically significant interior space which remains substantially intact in terms of: (1) original configuration, (2) original volume, and/or (3) original architectural ornamentation and decoration; which exhibit surviving original historical finishes or has the potential for accurate restoration of such finishes; and which is open, to be used by, or may be used by the public.

25.

"Historic landmark" also referred to as an "H-overlay" property, means those buildings, objects, sites or structures of historical, cultural, architectural or archaeological importance and whose demolition or destruction would constitute an irreplaceable loss to the quality and character of El Paso; certain inventoried interior spaces which are accessible to the public; such buildings, objects, sites or structures, their appurtenances, and the property which they are located, having been so designated by city council.

26.

"Historic landmark commission ("HLC")" the commission appointed by the mayor and city council to assist in the preparation of the city's historic preservation plan, to create and review guidelines for historic districts, to review and approve, approve with conditions or deny applications relating to historic properties and to perform other functions as delineated in Title 2.

27.

"Historic preservation program" city program under the direction of the city manager's office to encourage historic preservation through education, advocacy and incentives, and to oversee the application and enforcement process for historic properties.

28.

"Historic preservation officer ("HPO")" means the person or persons designated by the city manager for the City of El Paso to coordinate the historic preservation program; to review and administratively approve applications, refer violations as appropriate to the enforcement authorities and provide administrative staff support to the historic landmark commission. The HPO will coordinate the development and implementation of the historic preservation plan and the city's efforts to encourage participation in the plan.

29.

"Historic preservation plan" is a supplement to the plan for El Paso relating to the preservation of historic properties.

30.

"Intrusion" means a building, object, site or structure which detracts from a district's or cluster's historical significance because of its incompatibility with the district's or cluster's sense of time, place, and historical development; or its incompatibility of scale, materials, texture or color, whose integrity has been irretrievably lost; or whose physical deterioration or damage makes it infeasible to rehabilitate.

31.

"Inventory" means a systematic listing of cultural, historical, architectural or archaeological resources prepared by a city, state or federal government, following standards set forth by federal, state and city regulations for evaluation of cultural properties.

32.

"Landscape architectural feature" means the general arrangement of grounds including, but not limited to, the topographic grade water pooling and runoff, types and sites of plant materials, type and sites of surface materials such as decorative bark, rock, stone, gravel, concrete asphalt, brick, and the types and sites of constructions not otherwise deemed to be structures per se, such as fences, retaining walls, decks and other miscellaneous fixtures.

33.

"Minor modification" means a change or changes to an approved application that is in substantial conformity with the approved plans and application.

34.

"National register" means the national register of historic places maintained by the secretary of the interior.

35.

"National historic landmark" means a historic property that the Secretary of the Interior has designated a national historic landmark.

36.

"Noncontributing property" means a building, object, site or structure in an historic district which does not contribute to the district's or cluster's historical significance through location, design, setting, material, workmanship, feeling and association, but due to its proximity to historic landmarks and contributing properties, has the potential to affect the character of the historic district or cluster that it is located within.

37.

"Object" means a material thing of functional, aesthetic, cultural, historical, archaeological or scientific value that may be, by nature or design, movable yet related to a specific setting or environment.

38.

"Ordinary repair and maintenance" means any work, the purpose and effect of which is to correct or prevent any deterioration or decay of or damage to a building, object or structure or any part thereof and to restore same, as nearly as may be practicable, to its condition prior to such deterioration, decay or damage, using the same materials or those materials which are, in appearance, as close as possible to the original.

39.

"Reconstruction" means the act or process of reassembling, reproducing or replacing by new construction, the form, detail and appearance of a destroyed or vanished property and its setting as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of later workmanship, or by the replacement of missing earlier work, or by reuse of original materials.

40.

"Rehabilitation" means the act or process of returning a building, object, site or structure to a state of utility through repair, remodeling or alteration that makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions or features of the building, object, site or structure that are significant to its historical, architectural and cultural values.

41.

"Relocation" means any change of the location of a building, object or structure in its present setting to another setting.

42.

"Resource" means a source or collection of buildings, objects, sites, structures or areas that exemplify the cultural, social, economic, political, archaeological or architectural history of the nation, state or city.

43.

"Restoration" means the act or process of accurately recovering the form and details of a building, object, site or structure and its setting as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of later work or by the repair or replacement of missing earlier work.

44.

"Significant historic landmark" means:

a.

Those buildings, objects, sites, site improvements, appurtenances or structures of the highest and most unique historical, cultural, architectural or archaeological importance whose demolition or destruction would constitute an irreplaceable loss to the quality and character of El Paso;

b.

Inventoried interior spaces designed or intended to be occupied as part of the structure and which are accessible to the public; and

c.

Significant historic landmarks are also referred to as landmarks in this chapter.

45.

"Site" means the location of a significant event, a prehistoric or historic occupation or activity, or a building, structure or cluster, whether standing, ruined or vanished, where the location itself maintains historical or archaeological value regardless of the value of any existing structure.

46.

"Stabilization" means the act or process of applying measures designed to reestablish a weather-resistant enclosure or the structural stability of an unsafe or deteriorated building, object, site or structure while maintaining the essential form as it exists at present.

47.

"Substantial conformity" means the revisions to approved applications that do not significantly alter the historic character or alter additional physical elements of the structure as approved in the original application.

48.

"Thematic group" means a finite group of resources related to one another in a clearly distinguishable way, by association with a single historic person, event or developmental force, as one building type, design or use, as designed by a single architect, as a single archaeological site form, or as a particular set of archaeological research.

49.

"Unreasonable economic hardship" means an economic burden imposed upon the owner which is unduly excessive and prevents a realization of a reasonable rate of return upon the value of his property.

50.

"Vista" means a view through or along a right-of-way opening, including those along the river's banks, which, as a view corridor, frames, highlights or accentuates a prominent building, object, site, structure, scene or panorama, or patterns or rhythms of buildings, objects, site or structures; to include views of areas at a distance, such as a remote view of the downtown or the mountains.

51.

"Zone" means a designated area, within an historic district, which is unique in character, tone, theme, architecture, and/or culture. A district may be divided into zones, to assist property owners and the HLC in structuring design guidelines and further evaluating applications for certificates of appropriateness.

(Ord. 16653 § 2 (part), 2007)

(Ord. No. 17442, § 50, 10-26-2010)