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Heritage board asks city counsel to enforce sign removal at closed restaurant and approves letters to owners of broken windows
Summary
The Danville board authorized its counsel to contact the city attorney to enforce a COA condition requiring removal of a closed restaurant's sign and approved sending letters to downtown businesses to address longstanding broken windows; both motions passed unanimously.
The Danville Architectural Heritage Board voted to ask its legal counsel to contact the city attorney and seek enforcement of a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) condition that requires removal of a sign now that the restaurant has closed.
Staff told the board that the COA allowing the sign included a condition that the sign be removed when the business ceased operations and that the city commission had previously overturned an initial denial. "We approved the COA as per the instructions of the city attorney with the condition," the preservation officer said. The board directed legal counsel to follow up with the city attorney and, if necessary, consider recording a certificate of land-use restriction so the condition would appear in title searches.
The board also authorized staff to send letters to owners of downtown storefronts with broken windows that have remained unrepaired for months, directing them to appear before the commission or coordinate repairs. Staff noted planning and zoning/code enforcement may also cite property owners, but the board opted to send its own letters first to hold building owners accountable and apply standards consistently across downtown.
Both measures were passed by motion and voice vote with no recorded opposition. The chair thanked counsel for the guidance and staff for preparing follow-up steps.
Next steps: board counsel will contact the city attorney about enforcing the COA condition; staff will prepare and transmit letters to affected property owners and coordinate with planning and zoning as needed.
