Design Guidelines for Preservation Overlay Districts, City of Greenville, South Carolina

Winter and Company

From introduction: "This document provides guidance for improvements to historic properties and work within Preservation Overlay Districts in Greenville, South Carolina. The guidelines are for property owners planning exterior alterations, additions or demolition to existing buildings. They also apply to the design of new buildings within the Preservation Overlay Districts. The guidelines will be used by the City’s Design and Preservation Commission (DPC) when making decisions about granting approval to exterior alterations and additions to structures and to proposed new construction and demolition in the districts. These guidelines also will assist property owners in understanding the historic character of their buildings and the environment in which they live, and to help owners when they are faced with decisions about repair, maintenance, rehabilitation and new construction. The guidelines are not a rigid set of rules, and they do not require that buildings be restored to a historical period or style. Rather, their purpose is to provide information to property owners and tenants about buildings, their distinctive characteristics and how to maintain them; they suggest various appropriate ways to address design, repair and rehabilitation issues; and, they suggest good maintenance practices. The City of Greenville has established a series of Preservation Overlay Districts (also called historic districts) to “protect designated areas having architectural significance against intrusion of designs that fail to protect such significance” (Greenville Code Section 50-166). While most of the design guidelines in chapters 1 through 4 apply to all historic districts, the context varies within individual neighborhoods. Therefore, each historic district has its own chapter that presents a brief history of development, a summary of the design characteristics, the neighborhood’s design goals (as identified by neighborhood residents) and any special guidelines based upon a district’s unique character. The current districts are shown on the map on the opposite page (page viii)." Funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Greenville administered by the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Design Guidelines for Preservation Overlay Districts, City of Greenville, South Carolina

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