§ 2.215.020. Historic preservation grants.

A.

The metropolitan government, through ECD, may make grants to property owners who make improvements to the exterior of historically significant structures for the purpose of preserving the historic character of the structures.

B.

Such grants shall be made from funds appropriated by the council from the general fund of the general services district for such purpose.

C.

Such grant funds shall be used for the sole purpose of rehabilitating the exterior portions of historically significant structures within eligible census tracts. Eligible census tracts are those where at least sixty-five percent of households are at or below eighty percent of the area median income as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. ECD shall maintain, on file and open for inspection, a list and map of eligible census tracts to be updated annually.

D.

The grant agreement shall require a minimum expenditure by the property owner of five thousand dollars, and the grant amount shall not exceed the greater of fifty percent of the cost of improvement(s) to the exterior of the historically significant structure or fifty thousand dollars. For example, a twenty thousand dollar grant would require an investment of at least twenty thousand dollars by the property owner, for a total project cost of at least forty thousand dollars.

E.

The grant shall be paid after the property owner has submitted proof of the required documented expenditures pursuant to the grant agreement.

F.

ECD shall make historic preservation grants to qualified developers on a first-come-first-served basis subject to the availability of funding approved for the program by the metropolitan council through the metropolitan government operating budget ordinance.

(Ord. BL2017-860 § 2, 2017)