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Historic Preservation Members Absent: Joanna Lelekacs, <br /> Pete Sandbeck said this item is to conduct a joint public hearing between the Board of <br /> Commissioners and the HPC to receive public comment on the application and proposed <br /> ordinance to designate the Captain John S. Pope Farm as an Orange County Local Historic <br /> Landmark. He said this is part of the statutory process and the owner of the property is eager <br /> to obtain this designation. He said this application has been reviewed by the HPC and <br /> approved and by the state cultural office and approved. <br /> The background on this item is shown below: <br /> In 1991, Orange County adopted the "Ordinance Creating the Historic Preservation <br /> Commission (HPC) of Orange County", also referred to as the "Historic Preservation <br /> Ordinance". A few years later, in 1997, the County adopted a voluntary program to designate <br /> properties of local historic and architectural significance called the Local Landmark Program. <br /> One of the HPC's duties is to recommend properties for local landmark designation. Properties <br /> may be designated as individual landmarks or as part of historic districts. Properties must meet <br /> a higher standard of historic and/or architectural significance to be designated as an <br /> individual landmark. The higher standard is appropriate since landmark property owners are <br /> eligible for a fifty percent (50%) property tax deferral as long as the site continues to retain its <br /> historic character, as provided by North Carolina General Statutes under 160A-400.1-400.14. <br /> The historic landmark designation process, outlined in Article 3 of the County's Historic <br /> Preservation Ordinance, involves several steps culminating with the adoption of an ordinance <br /> for each individual landmark site or historic district. At its January 23, 2013 meeting, the HPC <br /> accepted a Part 2 application from Mr. Robert Pope to consider his property, the Captain John <br /> S. Pope Farm, for designation as an Orange County Local Historic Landmark, thus initiating <br /> the <br /> application process (Attachments 1 and 2). Mr. Pope's application materials were submitted to <br /> the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for review and comment as required by the <br /> Historic Preservation Ordinance. The HPC received a favorable response from the SHPO staff <br /> (Attachment 3). <br /> The HPC concurred with the SHPO's evaluation that the Captain John S. Pope <br /> Farm was worthy of consideration for local landmark designation (Attachment 4). The HPC <br /> voted unanimously to request a joint public hearing with the BOCC, as required by Section 3.7 <br /> of the Historic Preservation Ordinance (Attachment 5). In addition to the landmark designation <br /> process described above, members of the HPC endorsed a proposed National Register <br /> Nomination for the Captain John S. Pope Farm and voted unanimously to support this <br /> nomination at the January 23, 2013 regular meeting. The BOCC likewise endorsed the <br /> proposed National Register nomination for this property at the regular BOCC meeting on <br /> January 24, 2013. The Captain John S. Pope Farm was subsequently approved for final <br /> nomination to the National Register of Historic Places by the State National Register Advisory <br /> Committee and the State Historic Preservation Officer on February 14, 2013. <br /> The Pope Farm is one of the best-preserved historic agricultural complexes still surviving in <br /> northern Orange County, exemplifying a mid-sized tobacco farm of the type that prospered <br /> here <br />