If the Division of Archives and History comments favorably upon the prospective designation, the C-MHLC schedules a joint public hearing with the local governing board, e.g., Charlotte City Council, Matthews Town Board, which has zoning jurisdiction over the subject property. If the comment is not favorable, the C-MHLC reconsiders the issue and decides whether it wishes to continue the designation process regardless. The purpose of this public hearing is to give all interested parties the opportunity to comment upon the prospective designation. It is the decision of the appropriate local governing board as to whether the subject property becomes a historic landmark. If the appropriate governing board does designate the property as a historic landmark, an ordinance is sent to the owners of record and is filed in the Register of Deeds Office, the Buildings Standards Office, and the Mecklenburg County Tax Office.
Many people mistakenly believe that historic landmarks are always beautiful, old buildings.
Historic Landmarks can be archeological sites, such as the Isaac Newton Alexander Grist Mill Ruin on the Myers Park High School Campus, humble mill houses, like the representative Atherton Cotton Mill Mill House on Cleveland Ave. in Dilworth, farms of more than 200 acres, such as Rural Hill Plantation on Neck Road, or skyscrapers like the Johnston Building on South Tryon St. They can even be personal property, i.e., movable objects, such as Streetcar 85 in SouthEnd. Historic Landmark designation is not an award. It is a powerful land-use regulatory tool designed to serve the public good by affording the greatest possible protection for properties of individual historic significance. The demolition of a historic landmark may be delayed for up to 365 days by the Historic Landmarks Commission and during this period the appropriate local governing board may exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire the subject historic landmark.