Historic District Design Guidelines: Dayton Register Washington Street Historic District and Dayton Register South Side Historic District

Dayton Historic Preservation Commission

From introduction: "The purpose of design guidelines for Dayton residential historic districts is to provide guidance to property owners, architects, designers, builders, developers, City staff, and the Historic Preservation Commission and City Council. These guidelines inform about design policies in the two specific neighborhoods. These Guidelines provide direction on preserving the integrity of the community's historic resources through congruous new construction and alterations. Congruous in this instance focuses attention on mass, size, scale, and architectural features that characterize both the immediate setting that surrounds the project site and the whole historic district. These Guidelines also indicate an approach to design that will help sustain the character of the district that is so appealing to residents who already live there. Another purpose is to provide information about basic principles of urban design, not just historic preservation. These Guidelines encourage property owners to make design decisions which promote an environment that is scaled to the pedestrian, maintains cohesive neighborhood identity and respects the unique natural setting of old Dayton neighborhoods. The Guidelines further provide Dayton residents, through the Dayton Historic Preservation Commission, a basis for making informed, consistent decisions about proposed new construction and alterations to buildings and sites in the community through its formal permitting process. When the Guidelines are followed carefully, they will provide uniform review and increased predictability, while serving as a means to prevent delays and minimize added costs to developers and builders. The Guidelines work best when used as the benchmark during early stages of project conception and design. The historic residential design review process utilizes design guidelines to guide consistent review of applications for major modifications to existing buildings or the construction of new structures. Building owners and developers must apply for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) with the Dayton Planning Department before they can proceed with any construction activity. The COA is granted by the Dayton Historic Preservation Commission, a volunteer group of citizens appointed by the mayor and council that evaluates the application against the design guidelines in order to determine acceptance, rejection or modifications required. The Dayton City Planner has been granted the authority to approve minor exterior alteration requests without Commission review. Significant changes that may require greater discretion and interpretation require Commission review and approval. Although the design guidelines are written so that they can be used by the layman to plan improvements, property owners are strongly encouraged to enlist the assistance of qualified design and planning professionals, including architects and preservation consultants." Project funding was provided in part by a 2014 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Dayton (project number WA-14-002) administered by the Washington State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P14AF00053) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Dayton, Washington is a Certified Local Government.