Historic District Considerations

Most of the homes in Williams Woodland Park are in a locally designated Historic District. This means that there are certain considerations when doing exterior work on the home or to the property. A highlight of the considerations:

• Important Terms

  • Historic Preservation Commission (HPC)

    • This is the body that is responsible for enforcing Historic requirements

  • Staff

    • There are 2 Staff members that are full time City of Fort Wayne employees that take in applications, gather information, and present information to the HPC

    • Staff are empowered to approve certain applications without having to go to the full Commission, this is called a ‘Staff Approval’

  • Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA)

    • All proposed work to a historic property must have a CoA stating HPC approval

• Process

  • A CoA must be applied for BEFORE any work is performed on the exterior of the home or to the property. Only work that can be seen from the public right of way (i.e. the street) is covered by the HPC

    • Exterior work includes siding, paint, roofs, windows, doors, porches, fences, detached structures, etc…. Pretty much anything designed to be permanent on the home or in the yard (even sidewalks are covered, to a degree)

    • Considerations taken into account include material, style (architecture), color, neighborhood specific considerations, etc…

    • Interior work is not covered by the HPC

  • The applicant should take before pictures and provide a detailed description of the work to be done. If available, product information, drawings, or renderings of the end goal are very helpful and can sometimes speed up approval

  • This information should then be sent to the HPC Staff. This is done by emailing the following two people:

    • Nate Lafever - nate.lefever@cityoffortwayne.org

    • Creager Smith - creager.smith@cityoffortwayne.org

  • If possible, a ‘Staff Approval’ will be issued (potentially with modifications to the proposed work)

  • If a ‘Staff Approval’ is not possible, it will be referred to the full HPC for determination

    • Staff will gather more information about the proposed work ahead of the next meeting, if necessary

    • The HPC typically meets on the 4th Monday of every month at 5:30pm

    • HPC meetings are open to the public and are held at Citizen Square, typically in the Omni room, lower level

  • The HPC will then make a determination

    • The applicant, or representative, is encouraged to attend the meeting and join the conversation

    • The HPC may approve, approve with conditions, defer for additional information/consideration, or deny the application

• Other considerations

  • All work must meet all applicable building codes

  • All work must be properly permitted

  • Most contractors are not familiar with Historic District considerations, and so may not be familiar with HPC guidelines or for the need of a CoA. Be sure to bring up these requirements early in the process with any contractor to avoid surprises later

  • If work is found that did not have a CoA and does not meet the HPC guidelines, the HPC can demand that the offending work be removed

    • If the work was mistakenly performed without a CoA, but otherwise does meet HPC guidelines, a CoA can be issued after the fact

  • The HPC should not be considered an adversarial group. What they want to see the most are investments being made into Fort Wayne’s historic properties, they just want to ensure that the end result remains faithful to the historic identity of the property