Historic property; consent for designation; portable cooling devices allowed. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local government shall allow a property owner to refuse to consent to any form of historic property designation at any point during the designation process. Such refusal to consent shall remove the property from any form of consideration for historic property designation under ORS 358.480 to 358.545 or other law, except for consideration or nomination to the National Register of Historic Places pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.)

(2) A permit for the demolition or modification of property removed from consideration for historic property designation under subsection (1) of this section may not be issued during the 120-day period following the date of the property owner’s refusal to consent.

(3) A local government shall allow a property owner to remove from the property a historic property designation that was imposed on the property by the local government.

(4) A local government may not enforce any ordinance or design regulation restricting the use of a portable cooling device, as defined in ORS 90.355 (1), based on a historic property designation for property used as a residential tenancy, unless:

(a) The restriction is necessary to protect or prohibit the removal of historical architectural features of the property; or

(b) The restriction only requires that the device be removed from October 1 through April 30. [1995 c.693 §21; 2001 c.540 §19; 2021 c.97 §18; 2022 c.86 §5]