Historic Register Requirements, Restrictions

There are three historic registers national, state and local. The closer to home, the more stringent the requirements and restrictions.

National Register of Historic Places: A list of nationally significant properties.

Restrictions: If federal funds are used for projects, such as freeways, the projects may not impact listed properties.

Benefits: Tax credits for commercial property. It also bring cohesiveness and recognition to neighborhoods.

In Spokane: More than 1,300 properties are on the national register, including Browne’s Addition, Fort George Wright, Peaceful Valley, Riverside Avenue, Eastern Washington University, Rockwood neighborhood, Mission Avenue, Ninth Avenue and Riverside Avenue.

Spokane County has more national register districts than any other in Washington State.

State Register of Historic Places: A list of properties with state significance.

Restrictions: None

Benefits: State Register Certificate In Spokane: More than 70 properties are listed, including: Drumheller Springs, Four Corners at Spokane Falls Boulevard and Howard, the Great Northern Railway Depot tower.

Spokane Register of Historic Places: A city and county catalog of locally significant properties.

Restrictions: Property owners must sign an agreement to seek review and approval before making significant changes to the outside of their home or building.

Benefits: Property tax incentives, design assistance, plaque, local recognition and building code relief.

In Spokane: More than 140 properties are on the list, including 83 homes in the Corbin Park Local Historic District, the Carlisle Hotel, Hendrickson Flats, Kellner’s Flats, Knight’s Diner and Angelica’s Bed and Breakfast.

As a local historic district, neighborhoods can draw up tight guidelines regarding signs, changes in landscape or changes to the exteriors of historic homes.

It’s not for everyone. And it can take a couple of years to draw up the guidelines and complete paperwork. It has taken the Rockwood neighborhood 2-1/2 years to do so.

Teresa Brum, Spokane city and county historic preservation director, said 51 percent of the homeowners have to be in favor of forming a district. To qualify, the neighborhood has to prove significance, either in its architecture, its people, its archeology and historic events.