Paint rules in Fort Wayne's historic districts

Which houses the rule covers

Only houses in a local historic district, or individually designated local landmarks. Fort Wayne's local districts include West Central, Williams Woodland Park, Shawnee Place and Columbia Avenue.

Being on the National Register of Historic Places is a different thing. Neighborhoods such as Lafayette Place, Wildwood Park, Indian Village, Foster Park and Brookview-Irvington Park are National Register districts, and that listing alone puts no limits on what an owner paints. To check one address, use the "Local Historic Districts" layer on Allen County's iMap, or call the city's historic preservation planners at 260-427-8311.

What needs a certificate and what doesn't

The job	Certificate of Appropriateness?
Repainting in the same colors	No. The guidelines treat it as routine maintenance.
Changing the body, trim or accent color	Yes, before work begins
Painting brick, stone or concrete block that has never been painted	The guidelines call it not appropriate
Repainting brick that was painted historically	Encouraged over trying to strip it. A new color still needs a certificate.
Stripping painted wood to bare and clear-coating it	The guidelines call it not appropriate

The rule comes from the city's historic preservation ordinance, which requires a certificate for any conspicuous change in exterior appearance, including "maintenance involving exterior color change." It applies to what can be seen from a public street or alley. Work started without a certificate is a violation, and the city warns it can mean delays and expensive do-overs.

How the color review works

There is no approved color chart. The guideline is one sentence: choose colors appropriate to the historic building and the district. In practice:

1. Call 260-427-8311 and ask for a historic preservation planner before you buy paint.
2. Fill in the city's External Paint application. It has its own short form, separate from the one for construction work.
3. Include your color samples and say where each color goes.
4. Wait for the certificate before the painter starts.

Filing is free. The city's guidelines say most applications can be approved by staff without going to the full Historic Preservation Commission. Staff also keep historic color references and will help work out a scheme that suits the house's style and what you like.

Rules for the prep work

The guidelines care about how old paint comes off as much as what goes on. Inside a local district:

• No sandblasting, high-pressure power washing or propane torches to remove paint
• Peeling paint comes off down to the first sound layer, by the gentlest means that works. Hand scraping and hand sanding come first.
• Wood siding gets a low-pressure wash with detergent and a bristle brush
• Chemical strippers are allowed to help, and the surface has to be neutralized afterward

A painter who mostly works on newer subdivisions may plan to pressure-wash first. Give them this list before they price the job, because hand prep takes longer and costs more.

Outside Fort Wayne

Huntington's Historic Review Board reviews exterior color changes too, for its Drover Town local district and 15 individually designated sites. Its published guidelines for single sites ask owners to repaint in colors that were in use when the building went up, and the board offers help choosing them. The contact is Huntington's Community Development office at 260-356-5146.

We found no local board that reviews paint colors in New Haven, Auburn, Columbia City, Decatur, Bluffton, Kendallville, Warsaw or Van Wert. Homes in a subdivision with recorded covenants can have color rules of their own. Those come from the homeowners association, and the covenants are on file with the county recorder.

For the painting itself, see exterior house painting in Fort Wayne and brick house painting. For the scraping rules on older houses, read the guide to lead paint and repainting older Fort Wayne homes.

Rules change, so confirm with the preservation office before you paint.