Certified Local Government

This program allows local governments to strengthen their local preservation efforts by achieving Certified Local Government status from the National Park Service and the State Historic Preservation Office/State Historic Preservation Officer. This partnership between local governments and the State Historic Preservation Office provides municipalities with valuable technical assistance and small matching grants and allows communities to participate more formally in federal and state historic preservation programs. A minimum of 10 percent of the State's annual federal appropriation for historic preservation is earmarked for CLG programs

Jointly administered by the National Park Service and the State Historic Preservation Office, the CLG program is a model and cost-effective local, state and federal partnership that promotes historic preservation at the grassroots level. The CLG programs seeks to develop and maintain local historic preservation programs that will influence the zoning and permitting decisions critical to preserving historic properties and ensures the broadest possible participation of local governments in the national historic preservation program while maintaining preservation standards.

In Connecticut, this partnership ensures that local historic district legislation and historic district commissions are established in towns where they do not exist and updated in towns where they already exist; that local historic preservation issues are understood and integrated into the local planning and decision making process; and that local interests and concerns are included into the local planning and decision making processes.

Local governments seeking certification must meet the following standards as outlined in the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980:

1. Enforce appropriate state/local legislation for the designation and protection of historic properties;
2. Establish an adequate and qualified historic preservation review commission by state/local legislation;
3. Maintain a system for the survey and inventory of historic properties;
4. Provide for adequate public participation in the local historic preservation program, including the process of recommending properties to the National Register;
5. Satisfactorily perform the responsibilities delegated to it under the National Historic Preservation Acts Amendments of the 1980 and those specifically designated to it by the SHPO.

By participating in the CLG program, local governments can assume a leadership role in the preservation of their community's resources; have a formal role in the National Register of Historic Places nomination process; participate in the establishment of regional and state historic preservation objectives and be eligible to apply for CLG grants.

Grants are given to projects, which further the goals of identification, evaluation, nomination and protection of a community's historic resources. They may be used to produce historic and cultural resource surveys, assessments of properties to determine their eligibility for local and National Register of Historic Places designation, building reuse and feasibility studies, design guidelines and conservation ordinances and publications to educated the public about the benefits of historic preservation.

For more information regarding the Certified Local Government Program please use the links provided below.

SHPO - Certified Local Government Program NPS - Certified Local Government Program