Lewis County, WA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- LCC Chapter 15.35, Flood Damage Prevention
- Historic exemption
- Register-listed structures excluded from substantial-improvement trigger
- Variance authority
- Administrator under LCC § 15.35.170(5)(a)
- Daily penalty
- Up to $1,000 per day per violation
- Landmark parking standard
- 3 spaces plus 1 per acre, § 17.145.040
- No local landmark commission
- County has no separate preservation ordinance
Summary
Unincorporated Lewis County has no separate historic landmark or cultural-monument ordinance. Its only textual protection for register-listed structures sits inside the floodplain code: alterations to buildings on the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory of Historic Places are excluded from the 50 percent "substantial improvement" trigger and can receive a streamlined variance from the county's flood-elevation standards without jeopardizing the listing.
(b) Any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places. ... Variance ... s may be issued for the reconstruction, rehabilitation, or restoration of structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory of Historic Places without regard to the procedures set forth in this section; provided, that the issuance of the variances will not preclude the structure's listing as a historical structure. ... A notice of violation and order for penalty may be issued by the administrator or designee pursuant to LCC § 1.20.040, except that the cumulative penalty may total up to $1,000 per day for each violation assessed against the person(s) to whom the notice and order to correct the violation is directed.
Full Breakdown
35 LCC, is the only place in the code that gives register-listed buildings different treatment than ordinary structures in the unincorporated area; the county has never adopted a landmark commission, a certificate-of-appropriateness process, or a demolition-review ordinance. 040 LCC, excludes any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places from the 50-percent-of-market-value threshold that otherwise turns a repair into a "substantial improvement" requiring full compliance with the chapter's elevation standards. 170(5)(a) LCC: the administrator may grant a variance for reconstruction, rehabilitation or restoration without regard to the standard variance procedures, provided the work will not cost the building its register listing.
170(3) LCC, covering flood danger, hardship and public cost. 120 LCC, with appeal available to the Lewis County hearing examiner. 040 LCC: three spaces plus one additional space per acre of land, a lighter ratio than most institutional uses in the same table. 170 variance before starting demolition or structural alteration.
Violations & Fines
Violating Chapter 15.35 LCC, including undertaking substantial improvements without the required elevation compliance or variance, is a civil infraction under § 15.35.180 LCC. The administrator can issue a notice of violation carrying a cumulative penalty of up to $1,000 per day for each violation until it is corrected. Penalties imposed jointly with the state under WAC 173-158-090 may be appealed to the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board rather than through the county hearing examiner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does unincorporated Lewis County have a historic landmark designation process?
Can I remodel a National Register-listed building without triggering flood elevation requirements?
Who decides a variance for a historic structure in the floodplain?
What happens if I violate the flood damage prevention chapter while working on a historic building?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lewis County
Compare Lewis County to another location·View the Washington historic preservation overview
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