● National Historic Status ● Historical Tax Reclassification Application ● Answers to Questions Regarding Making Changes to Historical Homes ● What it Means to Live in a Historic District National Historic Status On January 24, 2007 the North Encanto Historic District received word from Kathryn Leonard from the State Historic Preservation Office that our neighborhood had achieved historical status on the National Registry of Historic Places! The form below is what you need to fill out and submit to request a reduction in your property taxes. Click on Contributing Historic Homes to find out if your home is considered a “contributor” to the historic status. As long as your home is contributing and it's owner-occupied you should qualify for the tax credit. If you would like to find out more about the history of your home, go to Historic Preservation. The City Historic Preservation Office gave our association two of the Historic Home of Phoenix books to be circulated among neighbors. If you'd like to borrow the book, please contact Nicki Kirkeby at 480-586-8556. There are free  informational classes taught by Helen Prier about how to do research on your home and historic restoration/renovation. Her website is www.loveurbanliving.com. She offers classes under the Calendar section. The Burton Barr Library is also a great resource for researching the history of your home and the librarians are most helpful. Click on the Application Below to Open and Print Click on the Image Below to Open   Dear NENA Neighbors, When considering purchasing a home in a Historic District (HD), it’s likely that prospective buyers are told by their realtor that there is a benefit of paying a reduced property tax for living in a HD. Because we pay our taxes every year, this is the gift that keeps on giving. While this is one of the primary benefits of living in a HD, it is not the only one and there are also considerations homeowners will want to weigh when making exterior changes to their historic homes. The City Historical Preservation Office (CHPO) determines whether a house is a contributor or non-contributor to the HD the house is located in and the State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO) determines if a home is eligible to receive the State Property Tax reduction. The first step in achieving our historical status was to complete a detailed history of each house in the neighborhood. If a house has had a loss of two “character-defining” or important features and/or materials, the CHPO does not consider it as a historic contributor. The loss of an original roof material would only count against the house if the replacement roofing material is inappropriate. So if a wood shingle roof is replaced with a clay mission tile roof - that would count against it; but if a wood shingle roof is replaced with architectural shingles that would be okay as the architectural shingles mimic the appearance of a wood shingle roof. Each change is reviewed within the context of what is important about that particular house. The majority of changes to historic homes and likely the most complex is replacement of historic windows with windows that are inappropriate because they don’t match the original materials, the original operating system and the original configuration. Window replacement REQUIRES a building permit so homeowners need to meet with a planner from the CHPO first to review and get approval of the proposed work before beginning construction. If the work will not affect the character-defining features or is not visible, staff can usually issue an over-the-counter approval, known as a Certificate of No Effect (CNE). If the work does not qualify for a CNE, the property owner must apply for a Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA) which is the public hearing process. If the replacement requires a CoA, the CHPO staff and the hearing officer will work with homeowners to guide them toward a replacement window choice that closely matches the design, configuration, and materials of the original windows. The CHPO will approve dual pane glass if it can be retrofit within the historic/original window sashes, which is typically the operable part of the window that sits within the frame and as long as it is not replacing some sort of specialty glass like beveled or stained glass. The CHPO will also approve dual pane window replacements (the whole window) in cases where the original windows are missing, provided the design, configuration and materials match or are an acceptable replacement for the originals. Dual pane window replacement may also be acceptable in situations where the original windows are beyond repair. While painting a house does not require approval from the CHPO or a permit, the CHPO discourages the application of paint over brick if the house was originally an unpainted brick house. The SHPO considers the building’s original walls and windows as the two primary characteristics that make a building historic. So if you were to replace the windows and stucco or use siding on the exterior of your brick house your house would not qualify for the State Property Tax reduction. What the SHPO considers valuable is the actual materials and craftsmanship of the house. The SHPO’s perspective on changes to roofing is that it is meant to be changed over time. If your home is a contributor to the Historic District there are opportunities for exterior restoration grants that will match up to $10,000 (project costs $20K the grant will pay $10K) for an approved project(s). While the deadline for applications for this year is October 6th, it is something homeowners may want to consider in the future. Visit the CHPO web site at www.ci.phoenix.az.us/NBHDPGMS/histpres.html for more details. In addition to property tax reductions and exterior restoration grants, homes located in HD’s usually have a better record of maintaining their property values, especially in these difficult economic times. Historic neighborhoods also have a certain kind of charm and sense of community, as they are not “cookie cutter” communities. They each have their own unique character and style. Homeowners typically appreciate the look of the historic neighborhood and work to maintain it. NENA certainly fits the bill on all these qualities! We have had a few instances recently in NENA where homeowners have had to stop construction on changes that they were making to their homes because they had not attained permits for the work. It can be a costly and timely drawback that most likely could have been avoided by attaining the permits and meeting with the CHPO first. The above information was researched through the CHPO and the SHPO. There is much more detailed information I was provided from both these agencies and it can be reviewed in full detail on our web site under Grants & Tax Credits. I hope that homeowners find the information helpful. In closing I would also like to mention that there is an opinion article in this issue on feral cats in NENA. This is a difficult issue that affects everyone in NENA. Previous efforts to catch and neuter/spay the feral cats has been successful in reducing the number of feral cats, but they are still causing significant problems, especially for the home owners who have to live with their yards being used as cat litters. If there are neighbors who are willing to volunteer to look into to solutions to this problem or help with another catch and release effort please contact me at nmkirkeby@cox.net or 480.586.8556. Warmly, Nicki Kirkeby NENA President nmkirkeby@cox.net