Cincinnati, OH Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Section 1435-07-1(a) sets the test for Historic Significance: a structure qualifies if it has at least one of four attributes, association with a significant historical event, association with a historically significant person, distinctive characteristics of a construction type, period, or method, or the likelihood of yielding important historical or prehistoric information. Section 1435-01-H2 defines a "Historic Landmark" as a Historic Structure or group of Historic Structures on a single parcel or contiguous parcels designated under the chapter. Designation runs through § 1435-07-2: an owner, a Council member, the City Manager, the Urban Conservator, the City Planning Commission, or a local community organization may file a designation application; the Urban Conservator must deliver a report and proposed conservation guidelines to the Historic Conservation Board within 60 days, the Board holds a public hearing and forwards a recommendation to the City Planning Commission, and Council then votes to ordain the designation by simple majority, or by a two-thirds override vote if the Planning Commission disapproved.

Once designated, § 1435-09 requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before any alteration, demolition, or infill development, and § 1435-09-3 lets the Historic Conservation Board delay a demolition decision up to 180 days to pursue alternatives such as acquisition or relocation. Owners must also maintain the landmark under § 1435-09-4's minimum-maintenance requirement or face a "demolition by neglect" violation. A designation may later be repealed under § 1435-07-3, but only if the owner shows "clear and convincing evidence" that the qualities justifying designation have been lost or destroyed.