The City of Dayton currently has 13 locally designated historic districts as well as over 70 individually listed local landmarks. In these districts, and for individually listed sites, Certificates of Appropriateness (COAs) are required for certain modifications.

Getting a COA helps to make certain that work done on your property is going to be done right the first time.

Depending on the historic designation category of your property, you may need a COA for any exterior work you plan to do. If you are looking to do any considerable modifications, such as new construction or changes to door or window layouts, you will need to apply for an obtain a Major COA.

Applications for Major COAs must be reviewed by our Landmarks Commission. However, most routine work, such as replacing a roof or door or painting the exterior, requires little more than a phone call or an email to our Historic Preservation Officer. So long as the proposed changes are all appropriate, a Minor COA can typically be processed and sent out in the mail to you the same day.

Since Major and Minor COAs are issued based on the historic designation category of your property, it is important to understand the differences between the categories. In Dayton, we have three historic designation categories:

• HD-1 is intended to protect the overall form (style), massing (size), and fenestration (windows) of structures, but it allows for some leeway for painting and minor replacements without oversight from the Landmarks Commission. In many historic districts, commercial areas are designated HD-1 instead of HD-2 to give business owners more freedom to make updates to their structures. For structures designated as HD-1, property owners must acquire Major COAs for any major modifications to the structure but are not required to obtain Minor COAs for routine work.
• HD-2 is the most restrictive designation and is generally applied to all residential areas in historic districts and to some significant individual structures. HD-2 requires a COA for any exterior work. For structures designated HD-2, property owners need to get a Major COA for any major modification, as mentioned above, but also need to get Minor COAs for all other exterior projects.
• HD-3 is intended to protect individual structures from unwarranted demolition and is usually applied to significant commercial structures. You will only need a Certificate of appropriateness for an HD-3 if you are seeking approval to tear down the building.

For a detailed map of our districts and individual sites, including their HD classification, please see this map.

Planning District maps showing local historic districts can be found here:

• Five Oaks
• Grafton Hill
• Historic Inner East
• McPherson
• Old Dayton View
• Oregon
• South Park
• Wolf Creek
• Wright-Dunbar

If you are planning modifications to properties in these districts please contact Historic Preservation Officer Holly Hornbeak, who can be reached at holly.hornbeak@daytonohio.gov or (937) 333-4271.

National Register Historic Districts and Sites

The City of Dayton is home to 21 National Register historic districts, and 78 individual National Register sites. Many of these districts and sites are also listed locally, as described above. The nomination forms for each district can be found in the links below.