Philadelphia Code section 14-1004 governs Historic Districts and individually designated buildings on the Philadelphia Register. Exterior alterations, demolition, and new construction within designated districts need Philadelphia Historical Commission review, with appeals to the Board of License and Inspection Review.
Title 14, Chapter 14-1004 (Historic Preservation) authorizes the Philadelphia Historical Commission to designate properties, districts, sites, and objects on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. Designated districts include Society Hill, Old City, Rittenhouse-Fitler, Diamond Street, Spruce Hill, and others. Property owners must obtain a Commission permit before exterior alterations, demolition, additions, or new construction visible from a public right-of-way under section 14-1004(2). The Commission applies the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Routine maintenance using in-kind materials does not require review. Applications pass through Architectural and Historic Designation Committees before full Commission action; demolition triggers financial-hardship analysis under section 14-1004(6).
Unauthorized alterations or demolition draw stop-work orders under Code 14-1004(7), civil penalties up to two thousand dollars per day, mandatory restoration to prior condition, and Licenses and Inspections refusal to issue future permits until cured.
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