Historic Preservation
PRESERVING ARLINGTON’S HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND NEIGHBORHOODS
After some instances where historic structures in Arlington County were either torn down or substantially modified without either a “certificate of appropriateness” from the County’s Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) or historical documentation of the property or both, Arlington’s legislators in Richmond sought and obtained a specific power to deal with this issue.
Virginia code (Civil penalties for wrongful demolition of historic buildings, [15.2-744]) now permits the County Board to establish, by ordinance, civil penalties for the wrongful demolition, razing or moving of part or all of a building that has been designated as historic or is part of a historic district. During the past decade, civil penalties have never been applied under 15.2-744. However, the HALRB has had 4 “certificate of appropriateness” (i.e. the architectural and historical appropriateness of modifications made to an historic building or property) cases during that time that have been appealed to the County Board. This ordinance prevented demolition in these cases, and perhaps in others, by alerting property owners that they should not act and seek forgiveness afterwards…that civil penalties for such actions will be forthcoming.
It is not that the power stated in this ordinance has to be used to be effective. Its effectiveness comes from the fact that it is known, and that by itself has forced property owners to be law abiding citizens.
No express provision is available to the Board of Supervisors under the County Board form of government. It may be possible to treat violations of the historic designation requirements as zoning violations and impose civil penalties. Va. code 15.2-2209.