Washington County, OR Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Section 373 of the Community Development Code creates the Historic and Cultural Resource Overlay District. Section 373-2.3 defines the 'Object' category the district protects as constructions 'primarily artistic in nature or relatively small in scale and simply constructed,' giving sculpture, monuments, mileposts, boundary markers, statuary and fountains as examples, distinct from buildings and structures. The overlay attaches to a specific resource only through a Plan Amendment process under Section 373-4.1, either a quasi-judicial Type III action initiated by the property owner, the Board, the Planning Commission or the Director, or a legislative Type IV action any individual may request.

Section 373-4.2 directs the Review Authority to apply the overlay to all buildings and structures listed in the Washington County Cultural Resources Inventory, consistent with the county's Goal 5 ESEE analysis, though the owner can avoid designation by proving in front of the Review Authority or Appeal Authority that the resource creates a genuine economic burden, using the specific appraisal, insurance and rehabilitation-cost evidence itemized in Section 373-4.3.A through C. Once a resource is designated, Section 373-6.1 bars any development permit for exterior alteration, relocation or demolition while a designation hearing or appeal is pending.

Section 373-6.2 routes any change to exterior design, material or appearance, including siding, windows, doors, roofing or other architectural features, through a Type II procedure, and Section 373-6.3 requires the Review Authority to find the alteration will not impair the resource's essential historic form before approving it, applying the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation per Section 373-6.4. Relocation or demolition instead requires a Type III procedure under Section 373-6.7, with findings under Section 373-6.8 or 373-6.9 covering structural capacity to move, documented efforts of at least 90 days to find a relocation buyer, and confirmation the Washington County Museum or another preservation group was offered a chance to salvage the resource.

Section 373-7 lets a property owner obtain a Type I exemption from Section 373 under ORS 197.772(3), though the underlying designation stays on record until formally removed under Section 373-11.