Grand Forks, ND Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Chapter XVII, Article 3 of the Grand Forks City Code establishes the Historical Preservation Commission under Section 17-0302 and spells out its purpose in Section 17-0301: to promote historic districts and landmarks 'for the educational, cultural, economic, and general welfare of the public through the preservation, protection and regulation of buildings, sites, monuments, structures, and areas of historic interest.' The Commission has eleven members appointed by the mayor with city council consent under Section 17-0303, serving two-year terms without pay beyond expense reimbursement. Section 17-0304 requires a majority of members to come from professional disciplines such as architecture, history, or planning, subject to availability in the community.

Its working powers, listed in Section 17-0307, are chiefly advisory: adopting criteria to identify essential structures and priority preservation areas, building a comprehensive inventory of them, and recommending to the city council that the city acquire development rights, facade easements, or even purchase a threatened structure outright. The Commission can also recommend pursuing state or federal historic-registry listings and must report its findings to the State Historical Society. Under Section 17-0308, any rules the Commission adopts for itself need city council approval by resolution before taking effect, and Section 17-0309 requires it to meet at least four times a year in open, publicly noticed sessions.

The article stops short of creating a certificate-of-appropriateness or demolition-review process; its power over a monument or historic building runs through persuasion, inventories, and council recommendations, not a direct permit denial.