(1) Recipients of Option 2 grants must convey a deed of conservation easement for the affected property before receiving any grant funds.
(2) An easement is a voluntary transfer of some rights inherent in property ownership.
(3) The historic preservation easement is a right or limitation, set forth in a legal instrument or deed, that allows the donor to retain ownership and possession of a historic property while granting a government agency or qualified nonprofit organization the authority to protect the historic, cultural, architectural, or archeological characteristics of the property.
(b)
(1) The agreement may be called a “preservation”, “conservation”, “scenic”, “interior”, “open space”, “exterior”, or “facade” easement.
(2) The name has less to do with the way the agreement works than with the kind of resource it protects.
(c)
(1) In each instance, the “easement”, as it is legally termed, must contain binding and enforceable covenants that run with the land and structure.
(2) These covenants obligate the owner to refrain from actions that are incompatible with the preservation of and/or historic integrity of the property.
(3) The deed of conservation easement document must be executed in accordance with Arkansas Historic Preservation Program conservation easement program procedures.
(d) In the rare case of a grant that funds restoration of a structure not attached to any real property (a National Register of Historic Places-listed boat, for example), the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program may seek an alternative historic preservation agreement to extend protections to the structure equal to those of the deed of conservation easement.
(e) At the grant administration workshop, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program Conservation Easement Coordinator will provide detailed instructions, templates, and materials for the applicant to use to complete and file the easement document.