Design review board says Fort Scott has no local mural rules; urges City Commission to adopt state guidance and discusses CLG option

The Fort Scott City Design Review Board on May 27 clarified that the city currently has no locally adopted mural guidelines and discussed asking the City Commission to adopt the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) mural guidance so that the standards would apply to the city's local historic (H) district as well as the federally listed district.

Board members and staff said the lack of a local document has caused confusion: applicants often do not consult state guidance and the board has handled mural matters informally through application language rather than an adopted local standard. City staff confirmed that, if the City Commission approves, the board would ask that the state guidelines be incorporated into the city's materials so applicants could find local guidance in one place.

The board also discussed the Certified Local Government (CLG) program, which several members described in the meeting as a potential way to shorten review times once a local government is certified. Under the CLG model discussed, a certified local body can approve some work without sending every application to SHPO, and the state subsequently audits CLG decisions; the board said this can reduce delays caused by the 45-day SHPO review period when applications must be submitted to the state.

Members said commissioners appear to have been operating under a misimpression that the board already had local mural guidelines and that the current request was only an "expansion" of existing local rules into the H district. The board clarified that, in practice, the city has been applying state guidance but has not incorporated that guidance into a local document, and that the board's request to the City Commission is to adopt the state guidance locally so it is clearly available and enforced in the local historic district.

During the discussion board members raised a related procedural point: some state historic guidelines previously referenced a viewshed rule (where features visible from the district could trigger review), but the board said the state rules were rewritten in the 1990s and a viewshed provision no longer applies in the same way. Board members said they would clarify that point to commissioners to avoid further confusion.

On CLG, members noted that if the City Commission approves formation of a CLG the local review process could change: the CLG would require an ordinance to form, the state would have to accept the city's CLG application, and membership rules would change (members said a CLG typically has seven seats, with a required number drawn from planning/zoning). Several board members said the City Commission has discussed CLG previously but has not yet acted; one commissioner is reportedly pushing the topic forward.

Board members also called for an update to the city's historic resource inventory (historic survey), saying the inventory has not been comprehensively updated since the national district update in 2009 and needs review to reflect demolished and altered properties. Members suggested that updating the inventory is work the board can begin regardless of the CLG decision.

The board agreed to seek clarification from the City Commission at its next meeting about adopting state mural guidance for the local historic district and to provide commissioners with a clearer explanation of how CLG status would affect local review and SHPO's 45-day review window.

Ending: The board did not take a formal vote on adopting guidelines or pursuing CLG at the May 27 meeting; members asked staff to prepare clarifying information for the City Commission and to pursue updates to the historic resource inventory.