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1. Organization

1. Appointment: The Will County Board shall by ordinance appoint members to the Will County Preservation Commission from names submitted by the County Executive.

2. Composition: The Preservation Commission shall consist of nine (9) members. All members shall be residents of Will County. The County Executive shall nominate to the Preservation Commission at least one (1) attorney, one (1) historian or architectural historian, one (1) architect/engineer, and one (1) real estate professional knowledgeable in preservation; the other members shall be persons with a demonstrated interest in pre-history, history, architecture, engineering, or preservation.

In addition to the nine (9) voting members, the Planning Director of the Will County Land Use Department or the Director's designee shall serve as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Commission and shall be responsible for providing staff support. The President of the Forest Preserve District of Will County or the President's designee shall also serve as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Commission.

3. Terms: Terms of the initial members shall be staggered so that at least five serve respectively for the following terms: one for one year; one for two years; one for three years; one for four years; one for five (5) years. Any additional initial members shall also serve terms staggered in the same sequence. Successors to initial members shall serve for five year terms. All ex officio members shall serve the term of their elected or appointed office. All members shall serve until their successors are appointed. Vacancies shall be filled by the Will County Board from names submitted by the County Executive. Any Commission member may be removed by the County Board for cause after a public hearing.

4. Officers: One of the appointed members shall be named Chairman at the time of appointment and Vice-Chairman and Secretary shall be elected by the Preservation Commission. The chairman shall preside over meetings. In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman shall perform the duties of the Chairman. If both the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman are absent, a temporary chairman shall be elected by those present. The Planning Director and his staff shall ensure that the following duties are performed.

1. That minutes are taken of each Preservation Commission meeting;

2. That copies of the minutes, reports, and decisions of the Preservation Commission be published and distributed to the members of the Preservation Commission.

3. The Will County Executive is advised of vacancies on the Preservation Commission and expiring terms of members; and

4. That there be prepared and submitted to the Will County Board a complete record of the proceedings before the Preservation Commission on any matters requiring County Board consideration. The Will County Land Use Department shall be the official keeper of the records.

5. Rules and Procedures. The Historic Preservation Commission shall have the authority to develop and adopt rules and procedures necessary to carry out its functions under the provisions of this Ordinance.

6. Meetings. Meetings of the Preservation Commission shall be held no less than monthly, except in those months when no business is pending, and shall be held at such times and places within the County as the Commission shall decide. All meetings of the Commission shall be open to the public. The Commission shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing a vote of each member upon every question, or if absent or failing to vote, and shall also keep records of its official actions. Such minutes and records shall be open to the public for inspection and maintained at offices of the Will County Land Use Department.

7. Quorum. A quorum shall consist of five (5) members. The transaction of business shall be made by a majority vote of those members in attendance while a quorum is present, except that the adoption, modification or recision of any rule or part thereof shall require the affirmative vote of five (5) members.

8. Compensation. The members shall serve without compensation, but they shall be reimbursed for their expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties as such and approved by the Director of the Land Use Department.

9. Annual Report. The Commission shall submit an annual report of its activities to the Will County Board.

2. Powers and Authorities. The Preservation Commission shall have the following powers and authority.

1. To conduct an ongoing survey of the County to identify buildings, structures, areas, sites and landscapes that are of historic, archaeological, architectural, or scenic significance, and, therefore, potential landmarks or preservation districts;

2. To hold public hearings and recommend to the County Board the designation of landmarks or preservation districts;

3. To compile information concerning and prepare descriptions of the landmarks or preservation districts identified and recommended for designation and the characteristics that meet the standards for designation;

4. To prepare, keep current, and publish a map or maps showing the locations and exact boundaries of proposed and designated landmarks and preservation districts, and, if the Commission so chooses, the locations and boundaries of designated state or federal landmarks or districts;

5. To keep a register of all designated landmarks and preservation districts;

6. To establish an appropriate system of markers or plaques for all designated landmarks and preservation districts, and for streets, roads, trails, and highways leading from one landmark or preservation district to another and to confer recognition upon the owners of landmarks or property within preservation districts by means of certificates, plaques, or markers;

7. To nominate landmarks and preservation districts to any state or federal registers of historic places;

8. To advise and assist owners of landmarks and property within preservation districts on physical and financial aspects of preservation, renovation, rehabilitation, and reuse, and on procedures for inclusion on any state or federal register of historic places;

9. To inform and educate the citizens of the County concerning the historic, archaeological, architectural, or scenic heritage of the County by publishing appropriate maps, newsletters, brochures, and pamphlets, and by holding programs and seminars;

10. To hold public hearings and to review applications for construction, alteration, removal, or demolition affecting landmarks or property within preservation districts and issue or deny Certificates of Appropriateness for such actions;

11. To consider applications for Certificates of Economic Hardship that would allow the performance of work for which a Certificate of Appropriateness has previously been denied;

12. To develop specific criteria and guidelines for the proper alteration, construction, demolition, or removal of landmarks, or of property within preservation districts;

13. To review proposed amendments to zoning regulations, applications for special uses or applications for zoning variations that affect any and all landmark or preservation district. Proposed zoning amendments, applications for special use, or zoning variations that affect any landmark or preservation district as defined in this ordinance or any application for demolition of any structure which is more than 30 years old shall be reviewed by support staff and/or at the discretion of the staff shall be forwarded to the Preservation Commission for review within seven (7) working days.

14. To administer on behalf of the County Board any property, or full or partial interest in real property, including a conservation right, upon designation by the County Board;

15. To accept and administer on behalf of the County Board gifts, grants, money or other personal property as may be appropriate for the purpose of this Ordinance. Such money may be expended for publishing maps and brochures, for hiring staff or consultants or performing otherwise appropriate functions for the purpose of carrying out the duties and powers of the Preservation Commission and the purposes of this Ordinance.

16. To administer any system established by the County Board for the transfer of development rights;

17. To call upon available County agencies and staff as well as other experts for technical advice;

18. To retain specialists or consultants, or to appoint citizen, neighborhood or area advisory committees, as may be required;

19. To testify before all boards and commissions including the Will County Planning and Zoning Commission, also known as the Will County Regional Planning Commission, on any matter affecting potential or designated landmarks or preservation districts;

20. To periodically review any County comprehensive plan and to develop a preservation component in any comprehensive plan of the County and to recommend it to the Planning and Zoning Commission and the County Board;

21. To periodically consult the County zoning administrator, review any County zoning ordinance and building code, and to recommend to the County Board any amendments appropriate for the protection and continued use of landmarks or property within preservation districts;

22. To undertake any other action or activity necessary or appropriate to the implementation of its powers and duties or the implementation of the purposes of this Ordinance.