Section 399.203 - Historic districts; establishment; study committee; duties; public hearing; notice; actions; availability of writings to public(1) A local unit may, by ordinance, establish 1 or more historic districts. The historic districts shall be administered by a commission established pursuant to section 4. Before establishing a historic district, the legislative body of the local unit shall appoint a historic district study committee. The committee shall contain a majority of persons who have a clearly demonstrated interest in or knowledge of historic preservation, and shall contain representation from 1 or more duly organized local historic preservation organizations. The committee shall do all of the following: (a) Conduct a photographic inventory of resources within each proposed historic district following procedures established or approved by the department.(b) Conduct basic research of each proposed historic district and the historic resources located within that district.(c) Determine the total number of historic and nonhistoric resources within a proposed historic district and the percentage of historic resources of that total. In evaluating the significance of historic resources, the committee shall be guided by the selection criteria for evaluation issued by the United States secretary of the interior for inclusion of resources in the national register of historic places, as set forth in 36 C.F.R. part 60, and criteria established or approved by the department, if any.(d) Prepare a preliminary historic district study committee report that addresses at a minimum all of the following:(i) The charge of the committee.(ii) The composition of the committee membership.(iii) The historic district or districts studied.(iv) The boundaries for each proposed historic district in writing and on maps.(v) The history of each proposed historic district.(vi) The significance of each district as a whole, as well as a sufficient number of its individual resources to fully represent the variety of resources found within the district, relative to the evaluation criteria.(e) Transmit copies of the preliminary report for review and recommendations to the local planning body, to the department, to the Michigan historical commission, and to the state historic preservation review board.(f) Make copies of the preliminary report available to the public pursuant to subsection (4).(2) Not less than 60 calendar days after the transmittal of the preliminary report, the committee shall hold a public hearing in compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the hearing shall be given in the manner required by the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275. Written notice shall be mailed by first-class mail not less than 14 calendar days before the hearing to the owners of properties within the proposed historic district, as listed on the tax rolls of the local unit.(3) After the date of the public hearing, the committee and the legislative body of the local unit shall have not more than 1 year, unless otherwise authorized by the legislative body of the local unit, to take the following actions: (a) The committee shall prepare and submit a final report with its recommendations and the recommendations, if any, of the local planning body to the legislative body of the local unit. If the recommendation is to establish a historic district or districts, the final report shall include a draft of a proposed ordinance or ordinances.(b) After receiving a final report that recommends the establishment of a historic district or districts, the legislative body of the local unit, at its discretion, may introduce and pass or reject an ordinance or ordinances. If the local unit passes an ordinance or ordinances establishing 1 or more historic districts, the local unit shall file a copy of that ordinance or those ordinances, including a legal description of the property or properties located within the historic district or districts, with the register of deeds. A local unit shall not pass an ordinance establishing a contiguous historic district less than 60 days after a majority of the property owners within the proposed historic district, as listed on the tax rolls of the local unit, have approved the establishment of the historic district pursuant to a written petition.(4) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a committee in the performance of an official function shall be made available to the public in compliance with the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.1970, Act 169, Imd. Eff. 8/3/1970 ;--Am. 1980, Act 125, Imd. Eff. 5/21/1980 ;--Am. 1992, Act 96, Imd. Eff. 6/18/1992 ;--Am. 2001, Act 67, Imd. Eff. 7/24/2001.