Novi, MI Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

The Novi Historical Commission, created under Section 17-16 with seven resident members, gathers and preserves local history, but formal landmark protection runs through the separate Historic District Commission described in Article III. Under Section 17-43, a seven-member historic district study committee first studies and reports on a site's significance, sending its findings to the Planning Commission, the State Historical Commission and the State Historical Advisory Council. Sixty days after that transmittal, the study committee holds a public hearing with written notice to affected property owners, then files a final report within thirty days recommending whether the council should establish a historic district or landmark.

Section 17-56 governs how the council actually designates an individual landmark: notice of the hearing must run in a newspaper of general circulation at least twenty days beforehand and be mailed to every affected property owner's last known address at least ten days out, and the commission must keep a roster of every designated landmark and historic site describing the features that justify protection. Once a landmark or district exists, Sections 17-44 and 17-45 require the owner to file plans with the Historic District Commission and bar the Department of Building and Safety from issuing any construction, alteration, moving or demolition permit affecting the exterior until the commission approves; Section 17-46 limits the commission's review to exterior features and historical, architectural and economic factors.

Section 17-49 gives the commission sixty days to act, after which its silence counts as approval, and Section 17-50 allows the same appeal rights as a zoning board of appeals decision.