Section 1: Iowa Certified Local Government Program Requirements

Table of Contents

State law, Code of Iowa, 15.451and 15.459, describes the qualifications, terms, number and other stipulations for city, county, and land use district historic preservation commissions.

Because there are some differences, each is discussed separately.

City Historic Preservation Commissions

  1. Must be established by ordinance. This can be part of the city’s historic preservation ordinance.
  2. The mayor appoints individuals to the Commission.
  3. Commissioners must either reside in the city or own property located in the city.
  4. Member appointments must be made with due regard to representation in the city and member qualification as mentioned herein.
  5. City commissions shall have at least three (3) members.
  6. Terms of office shall be staggered for at least two years.
  7. Cities over 50,000 shall not appoint more than one-third of the commission members who are members of a city zoning organization.
  8. For commissions with regulatory authority, there shall be the appointment of at least one resident from each designated district.

County Historic Preservation Commissions

Counties and townships (unincorporated areas). The governing body in an unincorporated area may apply for CLG status without a historic preservation ordinance if it does not designate a historic district. The chief elected official(s) must designate a historic preservation commission to oversee specified historic preservation matters in the government's jurisdiction. This is accomplished by passage of a historic preservation resolution. The resolution specifies the commission's powers and duties and its members' qualifications. Be advised that if an unincorporated area chooses to designate a local historic district, then it must follow the Code of Iowa, 15.451, procedures in establishing a commission.

Each participating city or county shall decide on the numerical limit of terms for the commission members.

If the historic preservation commission is given to regulatory authority, then design decisions by the commission must be binding, and the ordinance shall have a specific provision for enforcing decisions.

Commissioner training: all new historic preservation commissions shall undergo an orientation or training in historic preservation upon appointment to the commission. These may be arranged through the CLG Coordinator. Commissions with quasi-judicial authority (who designate local historic properties and issue certificates of appropriateness), and their staff undertake specialized training in design review and the Secretary of the Interior’s Treatments for Historic Properties every two (2) years.

If a city or county wishes to have the privilege of administrative review, then it must appoint a staff person to the commission who meets the following requirements:

  1. Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards in architectural history, historic architecture or preservation architecture as determined by the Iowa Historic Preservation Office and/or
  2. One or more commission members either meet the Professional Qualification Standards or are certified each year by the State Historic Preservation Office in design review using the Secretary of the Interior’s Treatments and Guidelines for Historic Properties.

Submission of biographical sketches or resume should be completed as commission members are considered for appointment to the historic preservation commission to ensure that they meet program requirements and that their data is entered into the CLG database.