A. “Alteration” means any change or modification, through public or private action, of any designated cultural resource or property within a designated historic district which requires a permit from the city.

B. “Area of historic interest” means geographic areas, places, structures, buildings, improvements, sites or objects within the city which have distinctive character or special historic, aesthetic, architectural, cultural interest or value. Area of historic interest can also mean a single location such as a place, structure, building, improvement, site or object within the city, which has distinctive character or special historic, aesthetic, architectural, cultural interest or value.

C. “Designated area of historic interest” is an area of historic interest as defined above that has been designated by the commission.

D. “Bakersfield register of historic places” means the official city list of designated cultural resources, historic districts, and areas of historic interest.

E. “Commission” means the Bakersfield historic preservation commission.

F. “Cultural resource” means on site improvements, buildings, structures, signs, features (including significant trees or other landscaping), places, place names, interior architecture features, landmark sites, historic sites, areas (including significant trees or other landscaping located thereon) or other objects of scientific, archaeological, aesthetic, educational, cultural, architectural or historical significance to the citizens of the city.

G. “Designated cultural resource” means a cultural resource that has been approved by the commission and designated by the city council.

H. “Exterior architectural feature” means an architectural element embodying style, design, general arrangement and components of all of the outer surfaces of an improvement, building or structure, including but not limited to the kind, color and texture of the building materials and the type and style of all windows, doors, lights, signs and other fixtures appurtenant to such improvement, building or structure.

I. “Historic district” means any geographically definable urban or rural, small or large area containing buildings, structures, sites and objects linked historically through location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and/or association. The significance of a district is the product of the sense of time and place in history that individual components collectively convey. This significance may relate to developments during one period or through several periods in history.

J. “Designated historic district” means a historic district, as defined in subsection I of this section, that has been approved by the commission and designated by the city council.

K. “Historic site” means any parcel or portion of real property which has special character or special historical, cultural, archaeological, architectural, community or aesthetic value.

L. “Landmark site” means any site or improvement, manmade or natural, which has special historical, cultural, architectural, archaeological, community, or aesthetic character, interest, or value as part of the development, heritage or history of the city, the state of California or the nation.

M. “National Register of Historic Places” means a national list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects of local, state or national importance that are significant for their historical, architectural, archaeological or cultural values. Properties less than fifty years old ordinarily are not eligible for the Register unless they are of exceptional importance. The Register is administered by the Keeper of the National Register, U.S. Department of the Interior, and is the nation’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.

N. “Object” means a material thing or functional, aesthetic, cultural, symbolic, or scientific value, usually by design or nature movable.

O. “Preservation” means the act or process of applying measures to sustain the existing form, integrity, and material of a building or structure, and the existing form and/or vegetative cover of a site. It may include initial stabilization work, where necessary, as well as ongoing maintenance.

P. “Preservation plan” means a list of the proposed restrictions, height and area regulations, minimum dwelling size, floor area, sign regulations, parking regulations, and any other proposed modification to existing development standards appropriate to the proposed historic district.

Q. “Property owner” or “owner of property” or “owners of property” means the person or persons shown as the record owner(s), as determined by a title search, of the property proposed to be designated as a cultural resource. As to property to be included in a historic district and as to owners of property to be notified of any hearing as to property other than their own, “property owners” means owners as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll of the county of Kern.

R. “Protection” means the act or process of applying measures designated to affect the physical condition of a property by protecting or guarding it from deterioration, loss or attack, or to cover or shield the property from danger or injury. In the case of buildings and structures, such treatment is generally of a temporary nature and anticipates future historic preservation treatment; in the case of archaeological and paleontological sites, the protective measure may be temporary or permanent.

S. “Restoration” means the act or process of accurately returning the form and details of a property and its setting as it appeared at a particular period of time, or the removal of later work or the replacement of missing earlier work.

T. “Stabilization” means the act or process of applying measures designed to reestablish a weather resistant enclosure and the structural stability of an unsafe or deteriorated property while maintaining the essential form as it exists at present.

U. “State Office of Historic Preservation” means a division of the State Department of Parks and Recreation which serves as the staff for the State Historic Preservation Officer who is the official designated and appointed by the Governor to administer the historic preservation program in California. (Ord. 4460 § 1, 2007)