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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Revisions to Downtown Facade Grant Guidelines RESOLUTION NO. 08-447 RESOLUTION APPROVING REVISIONS TO CURRENT DOWNTOWN FACADE GRANT GUIDELINES FOR THE CITY OF AMES WHEREAS,in 2001,the City Council established the program to encourage improving facades of downtown buildings with the following purposes: increase economic vitality; preserve historic character; encourage historic facade improvements; and, complement each other and present a more unified image; and, WHEREAS, the program criteria include a set of Design Guidelines that are based on architectural elements appropriate to the commercial style that prevailed in downtown Ames during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s; and, WHEREAS, since the beginning of this program,the Council has approved 12 projects,but has directed staff to provide a proposal for increasing the impact of the Downtown Facade Grant Program; and, WHEREAS, to encourage restoration projects with greater visual impact, staff proposed the following changes to the existing criteria for Downtown Facade Grants: a)grant money will be provided for replacing existing compliant elements only when the proposed project also includes replacing non- compliant elements with compliant elements;b)if all non-compliant elements of the entire facade are not to be restored under one grant project, a plan shall be prepared for the entire facade that illustrates how the applicant intends to improve the facade long-term and what the completed proj ect will ultimately look like; c)the scope of proposed improvements for each grant shall be visually significant in the context of how the whole building is intended to look when all improvements to the facade are complete; and, d) grants for phased projects shall only be awarded for those improvements that are done in the correct sequence of construction; and, WHEREAS,this amendment is intended to prevent loss of historic integrity in the Downtown area as a result of no longer funding small preservation projects. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Ames,Iowa, that the above-mentioned revisions to the current guidelines for the Downtown Facade Grant Program are hereby approved. ADOPTED THIS 14t'day of October,2008. Diane R. Voss, City Clerk Ann H. Campbell, Mayor Introduced by: Popken Seconded by: Rice Voting aye: Doll, Goodman,Larson,Mahayni, Popken, Rice Voting nay: None Absent: None Resolution declared adopted and signed by the Mayor this 14t'day of October,2008.