The exterior features of any building or structure (including walls, fences, light fixtures, steps, pavement, paths, or any other appurtenant feature), or any type of outdoor advertising sign either designated as an Historic Landmark or found to have significance located within the Historic Overlay District shall be preserved by the owner or such other person who may have legal possession, custody, and control thereof against decay and deterioration and kept free from structural defects. The owner, or other person having such legal possession, custody, and control, shall upon written request by the City repair such exterior features if they are found to be deteriorating, or if their condition is contributing to deterioration, including but not limited to any of the following defects:

(a)     Deterioration of exterior walls, foundations, or other vertical support that causes leaning, sagging, splitting, listing, or buckling.

(b)     Deterioration of flooring or floor supports, roofs, or other horizontal members that causes leaning, sagging, splitting, listing, or buckling.

(c)     Deterioration of external chimneys that causes leaning, sagging, splitting, listing, or buckling.

(d)     Deterioration or crumbling of exterior plasters or mortars.

(e)     Ineffective waterproofing of exterior walls, roofs, and foundations, including broken windows or doors.

(f)     Defective protection or lack of weather protection for exterior wall and roof coverings, including lack of paint, or weathering due to lack of paint or other protective covering.

(g)     Rotting, holes, and other forms of decay.

(h)     Deterioration of exterior stairs, porches, handrails, window and door frames, cornices, entablatures, wall facings, and architectural details that causes delamination, instability, loss of shape and form, or crumbling.

(i)     Heaving, subsidence, or cracking of sidewalks, steps, or pathways.

(j)     Deterioration of fences, gates, and accessory structures.

(k)     Deterioration that has a detrimental effect upon the special character of the district as a whole or the unique attributes and character of the Historic Landmark.

(l)     Deterioration of any exterior feature so as to create or permit the creation of any hazardous or unsafe conditions to life, health, or other property.

The Historic Districts Commission or the County Historic Preservation Commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may file a petition listing specific defects with the Inspections Director requesting that he act under the following procedures to require the correction of deterioration or making of repairs to any Historic Landmark or significant structure located within the Historic Overlay District so that such structure shall be preserved and protected in accordance with the purposes of §§10-1051 and 10-2011(c) of this Code.

(a)     Whenever a petition is filed with the Inspections Director charging that a structure is undergoing demolition by neglect, the Director (or a designated agent) shall, if his preliminary investigation discloses a basis for such charges, within seven (7) days issue and cause to be served upon the owner and/or such other person who may have legal possession, custody, and control thereof, as the same may be determined by reasonable diligence, a complaint stating the charges in that respect and containing a notice that a hearing will be held before the Director at a place within the County in which the property is located therein fixed not less than thirty (30) nor more than forty-five (45) days after the serving of such complaint; that the owner and/or parties in interest shall be given a right to answer to give testimony at the place and time fixed in the complaint; that the commission with jurisdiction shall also be given notice of the hearing; and that the rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law or equity shall not be controlling in hearings before the Director. The purpose of the hearing is to receive evidence concerning the charge of deterioration and to ascertain whether the owner and/or other parties in interest wishes to petition the Historic Districts Commission for a claim of undue economic hardship.

(b)     If after such notice and hearing, the Director determines that the structure is undergoing demolition by neglect because it is deteriorating, or if its condition is contributing to deterioration, according to the standards of §10-6181, the Director shall state in writing the findings of fact in support of such determination and shall issue and cause to be served upon the owner and/or other parties in interest therein an order to repair within the time specified those elements of the structure that are deteriorating, contributing to deterioration, or deteriorated. In the event that the owner and/or other parties in interest wish to petition for a claim of undue economic hardship, the Director's order shall be stayed until after the Historic Districts Commission's determination in accordance with the procedures of §10-6183, except as provided in §10-6185.

Complaints or orders issued by the Director shall be served upon persons either personally or by registered or certified mail; but if the whereabouts of such persons are unknown and the same cannot be ascertained by the Director in the exercise of reasonable diligence, and the Director shall make an affidavit to that effect, stating the steps taken to determine and locate the persons in interest, then the serving of such complaint or order may be made by publishing the same once each week for two (2) successive weeks in a newspaper generally circulated within the City. Where such service is by publication, a notice of the pending proceedings shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises thereby affected.

(a)     When a claim of undue economic hardship is made owing to the effects of this article, the Inspections Director shall notify the Commission with jurisdiction within three (3) days following the hearing on the complaint. The Commission shall schedule a hearing on the claim at its next regular meeting, within the limitations of its procedures for application deadlines.

The petitioner shall present the information provided under subsection (b) to the Commission. The Commission may require that an owner and/or parties in interest furnish such additional information that is relevant to its determination of undue economic hardship. The Commission may direct its staff to furnish additional information as the Commission believes is relevant. The Commission shall also state which form of financial proof it deems relevant and necessary to a particular case.

In the event that any of the required information is not reasonably available to the owner and/or parties in interest and cannot be obtained by the owner, the owner shall describe the reasons why such information cannot be obtained.

(b)     When a claim of undue economic hardship is made owing to the effects of this article, the owner and/or parties in interest must provide evidence during the hearing upon the claim, describing the circumstances of hardship. The minimum evidence shall include for all property:

(1)     Nature of ownership (individual, business, or nonprofit) or legal possession, custody, and control.