A. “Accidental damage” means unintentional damage. Accidental damage does not include damage that occurs during the course of construction where adequate protection measures were not employed.

B. “Alteration” means any work changing the exterior appearance and visual quality of character-defining features of a historical resource.

C. “Alteration permit” means a permit approving an alteration to a historic building, structure, or a property determined eligible for historic resource designation pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

D. “Atherton historical register” is the official list of historic buildings within the town.

E. “Character-defining features” means the elements embodying style, design, general arrangement and components of all of the exterior surfaces of any building including, but not limited to, the type of building materials and type and style of elements related to such building.

F. “Demolition” means the act or process that destroys, completely or partially, any building.

G. “Historic building” means a building that meets the criteria for listing on the national, state, or local level, and that has been added to the Atherton historical register.

H. “Historic integrity” means the authenticity of a resource’s physical identity, evidenced by the survival of characteristics that existed during the resource’s period of significance. Integrity is evaluated with regard to the retention of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. It must also be judged with regard to the particular criteria under which a resource is proposed for eligibility.

I. “Historical property contract” means an agreement between the town and a property owner of an historic building pursuant to the Mills Act (California Government Code, Article 12, Sections 50280 through 50290) which may provide economic incentives to owners of qualified properties in the form of tax relief if they pledge to rehabilitate and maintain the historical and architectural character of their properties for at least a ten-year period.

J. “Major alteration” means permanent changes to the visual character of a historical building or its setting, including, but not limited to, changes in size, surface treatment or location of a historic resource.

K. “Minor alteration” means small changes to the details of a historical building, such as the replacement of missing or damaged elements. The relocation of a moveable object on the property is a minor alteration, and temporary removal of a structure from the property during restoration or for its protection during construction shall be treated as a minor alteration under this chapter.

L. “National Register of Historic Places” means the official inventory of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archaeology and culture which is maintained by the Secretary of the Interior under the authority of the Historic Sites Act of 1935 and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq., 36 C.F.R. Sections 60 and 63).

M. “Owner” means the individual or entity whose name appears as the owner of a property on the last tax assessment roll of San Mateo County.

N. “Preservation” means the maintenance and repair of existing historically significant materials and features.

O. “Preventative maintenance” means work performed to aid in the preservation of historic buildings. Examples of preventative maintenance include, but are not limited to, painting, grouting or repainting, foundation work or landscaping. Preventative maintenance does not include any work that changes materials, design, or appearance.

P. “Reconstruction” means recreating damaged, degraded, or missing portions of a property.

Q. “Rehabilitation” means repairing damaged or degraded portions of a property.

R. “Repair” means fix or mend in a manner that returns to a former condition; for functional objects, repair includes returning the object to a functional condition.

S. “Restoration” means bringing back, rehabilitating, reconstructing, or replacing in a historically accurate manner.

T. “Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Illustrated Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings” means the illustrated version of the Standards and Guidelines for Rehabilitation developed by the Technical Preservation Services Branch, Preservation Assistance Division of the National Park Service, as it may be amended.

U. “Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties” means principles developed by the National Park Service (36 C.F.R. Section 68.3, as it may be amended from time to time) to help protect historic properties by promoting consistent preservation practices and providing guidance to historic building owners and building managers, preservation consultants, architects, contractors, and project reviewers on how to approach the treatment of historic properties. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties may also be referred to in this chapter as “Secretary of the Interior’s standards.”

V. “State Historical Building Code” means California Code of Regulations, Part 8 of Title 24 (California Building Standards Code), as it may be amended. (Ord. 652 § 1, 2022)