Skip to Main Menu

 Andrew Carlton: Photograph of a man wearing a black blazer, light blue shirt, and wristwatch standing in an office setting. Background includes framed certificates on a wall, a wooden desk with papers, and architectural models or blueprints.

Andrew Carlton, Director 
336-838-3951 ext. 1005
336-838-7616 
email 

Dylan Powell, Town Planner
336-838-3951 ext. 1011 
email 

Matt Grogan, Town Planner
336-838-3951 ext. 1016  
email 

Office Located at 
Wilkesboro Town Hall
2nd Floor
203 West Main Street
Wilkesboro, NC 28697 

Mailing Address:
Town of Wilkesboro 
Attn: Planning
PO Box 1056 
Wilkesboro, NC 28697  

"MAIN STREET AMERICA" logo with cursive gray text "2025 Affiliate" below. The design represents affiliation with Main Street America for the year 2025, emphasizing community and urban revitalization themes.

Main Street America™ has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Today it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

  Logo design featuring overlapping colorful squares with geometric patterns in blue, green, orange, and red, centered around concentric circles. Text below reads "North Carolina Small Town Main Street Community," indicating a community-focused initiative for small towns in North Carolina.

Wilkesboro is a North Carolina Small Town Main Street community, designated by the N.C. Department of Commerce Main Street & Rural Planning Center. Historic Downtown Wilkesboro is charged with administering the program at the local level and building public-private partnerships to spur economic development that achieves measurable results such as investment, business growth, and job creation. 

 

  

    

home > departments > planning & community development > department forms > application for certificate of appropriateness 

HISTORIC PRESERVATION CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS

Historic Finley Law Office

   

The Wilkesboro Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) was established by the Town Board in 2004. Its mission is to identify, study, and protect Wilkesboro's historic resources. These resources may range from significant architectural features to archaeological resources. The HPC consists of citizen volunteers that are assisted in their duties by Town planning staff. Historic preservation efforts like Wilkesboro's are not established to prevent change, but rather to ensure that future changes to properties are consistent with the historic character of the site or district.

A Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) is a document issued by the HPC indicating the Commission's approval of proposed exterior alterations, new construction, or demolition of any building which is located in a historic district or which is a locally designated individual historic property.  Structures include buildings, masonry walls, fences, light fixtures, steps and pavement, and other appurtenant features.  Above ground utilities and outdoor advertising signs require a COA as well.  Exterior features are defined to include, among other things, architectural style, size and scale of buildings, and types and styles of doors and windows. The HPC may define exterior features also to include historic signs, color, and landscape, archaeological, and natural features of the area. Property owners should consult HPC staff before any exterior work is begun to determine if a Certificate of Appropriateness is needed.

It is important to plan projects well in advance because: the review process requires a certain amount of lead time.

  • Applications should be complete and submitted to the Planning Department staff no later than fifteen working days prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Commission (3rd Tuesday of each month).

  • Property owners are urged to submit their applications as early as possible so that the staff can determine if the application is complete; that is, all illustrative material necessary to describe the project has been submitted.

  • The applicant is encouraged to be present during the Commission meeting when the application is being considered. If the applicant cannot attend, a representative who can speak for and legally bind the applicant should be present.

  • The applicant and any adjacent property owners will be given the opportunity at the meeting to make comments or to ask questions.

Other Resources: 

pdf-icon

 Secretary of Interior Federal Standards Guidelines

pdf-icon

  Historic Downtown Wilkesboro Nomination Report 

link icon black   Local Historic District Map

link icon black   Wilkesboro Architecture Walking Tour