Roswell's Historic District Runs on Two Maps. Which One Is Your House On?

Suppose you buy a 1920s cottage off Mimosa Boulevard, close in January, and have a contractor replacing rotted siding by February. Have you just spent your tax credit before you applied for it?

Since January 1, 2026, the answer can be yes for many more Roswell homes than before. That's the date Georgia's Historic Home income tax credit opened to owner-occupied primary residences that are locally designated or that contribute to a local historic district. The program is set up to review a project before work begins, so whether you claim it depends on the order you do things in.

Two approvals, two agencies, and the order matters

Inside Roswell's local historic district, any exterior material change needs approval from the city's Historic Preservation Commission. That includes new buildings, changes to how an existing building looks, demolition or moving a structure, and changes to external environmental features. The state credit runs through a different office, the Historic Preservation Division at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, which has its own review. For a buyer who plans to renovate, the two tracks run side by side:

1. City orientation. The city won't accept a Certificate of Appropriateness application until the applicant has completed an orientation with staff. Checklists and the meeting calendar are available online or from Community Development at 38 Hill Street, Suite G-30.
2. City review. Under Roswell's design guidelines, the Zoning Director reviews Minor COAs and the full commission reviews Major COAs, which cover major alterations, new construction and additions. The commission also hears appeals of staff decisions.
3. City sign-off for the credit. For a home that qualifies through local designation, the homeowner and an authorized local government representative complete a confirmation form. The city confirms the designation or the district location and certifies it with a signature and seal. That form goes in with Part A.
4. State Part A, ideally before work starts. The Historic Preservation Division generally takes 30 days to review once the application is complete and the fee is paid. According to the DCA fact sheet, any work done before that review "is done at owner's own risk." Work that doesn't meet the state's Standards for Rehabilitation may need to be redone, or may lead to denial.
5. State Part B, after completion. Part B comes after the work is finished and gets another review of about 30 days. The certified form is then filed with the owner's state tax return. The rehabilitation has to be completed within two years.

A COA from the city does not stand in for state certification, and the reverse is also true. Someone closing on a historic Roswell home with renovation plans is effectively working to two calendars at once.

The two maps were drawn 14 years apart

The city's first historic zoning came in 1971. That H-R district covered Bulloch Avenue, Barrington Hall and most of Mimosa Boulevard. In May 1974, the National Park Service listed a slightly larger Roswell Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places that also took in Roswell Mill Village and Town Square. NPS lists that district under reference number 74000682 with a date of May 2, 1974.

The local district then grew. Mayor and Council adopted a redesigned historic district map on May 16, 1988. According to the city's Historic Preservation Commission StoryMap, the federally listed district now sits entirely inside the locally designated one. Roswell also has four individually listed National Register properties: the Archibald Smith House, Barrington Hall, Bulloch Hall and the Methodist Cemetery.

That leaves three kinds of address in and around the historic core: homes inside both boundaries, homes inside the 1988 local boundary only, and homes outside both. The city publishes both maps, the Historic Properties Map for the local district and the National Register District Map. Checking a parcel against both before writing an offer takes a few minutes.

What the 2026 change opened, and for which houses

Before the expansion, the state income tax credit depended on the National or Georgia Register. A property had to be listed or eligible, either on its own or as part of a Register district. Senate Bill 496, signed on April 18, 2024, added a second route for owner-occupied homes. DCA began accepting applications on October 1, 2025, and locally designated projects could not start work before January 1, 2026.

Because Roswell's federal district sits inside its local one, the new route makes the biggest difference for homes in the area the 1988 map added. Those homes already went through commission review. Now that review district can also be the basis for a state credit.

The property tax row matters. DCA's preferential assessment program freezes the county assessment for about 8.5 years, but it depends on Register eligibility and a 50 to 100% increase in the building's fair market value, depending on use. DCA states that a property qualifying only through local designation is eligible for the Historic Home credit alone. Two houses a block apart, with the same commission review, can still have different incentives available.

The threshold is lower than most renovation budgets

According to DCA's program page, the credit equals 25% of qualifying rehabilitation expenses and is capped at $100,000 for a principal residence. DCA's fact sheet adds that a home in a target area, as state law defines it, may get 30%, with the same $100,000 cap. To qualify, a project has to pass a "substantial rehabilitation" test. For a historic home used as a principal residence, qualified expenses must exceed the lesser of $25,000 or 50% of the building's adjusted basis. At least 5% of qualified spending has to go to exterior work. Acquisition costs and new construction don't count.

Here is the arithmetic. A homeowner who spends $80,000 on qualifying work would be looking at a credit of $20,000 at the standard 25% rate. Under that structure, the $25,000 ceiling on the threshold means a mid-size kitchen-and-systems renovation on an older house can clear the test. The exterior requirement means at least $4,000 of that $80,000 would have to go to the outside of the house.

There is also a rule for resale. Under the Georgia statute as published by Justia, an owner who claims the credit and sells within three years faces recapture. The amount is capped at the profit from the sale and steps down from up to the full credit in the first year to two-thirds in the second and one-third in the third. Sales caused by the owner's death are exempt. For anyone timing a move, the date the credit was claimed now affects net proceeds along with the purchase price.

This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Questions about eligibility should go to DCA at [email protected] and to your own tax professional.

The commission's rulebook is being rewritten this month

The design guidelines the city links today are dated May 12, 2014. They name the downtown character areas: Upper and Lower Canton Street, Town Square, Mill Village, Mimosa Boulevard, Alpharetta and Atlanta Street, and Groveway.

On October 27, city staff presented a proposed Historic District Style Guide. Citizen Portal reported that it is meant as a public visual library of materials, fixtures and neighborhood character, intended to make design reviews faster and more consistent. It would supplement the existing Unified Development Code guidelines. The same night, council initiated three UDC text amendments to reference the guide, including in Sections 13.6 and 13.7 on design plans and historic review. According to Citizen Portal's account, Planning and Zoning Director Jenny Peyton explained that the guide would take the place of a missing "pre-approved list," giving staff and applicants consistent administrative criteria.

For homeowners, that change is mostly about the staff-level Minor COA path, where a written list of acceptable materials helps most. The draft goes to the HPC on November 12 and to the Planning Commission for code updates on November 17. Staff then plans to publish a designed PDF and run a three-month evaluation period. Until those steps are finished, it remains a proposal.

Residential cases keep moving through the commission in the meantime. The October 14, 2026 HPC agenda included a request for a Certificate of Appropriateness for a rear addition and exterior renovation on Alpharetta Street. That kind of project is what a buyer of an older house near the core is likely to bring before the commission.

Quick answers

Does a house inside the National Register district escape city review? No. The federal district sits entirely inside the local district, and the commission reviews exterior changes throughout the local district.

Can a project started in 2025 use the local-district route? DCA's notice says rehabilitation work on locally designated projects could not begin before January 1, 2026.

Does the purchase price count toward the threshold? No. DCA excludes acquisition costs from qualified rehabilitation expenses.

Is the new style guide in effect? Not yet. It was presented on October 27 and is scheduled for HPC review on November 12 and Planning Commission review on November 17.

If you're thinking about buying or selling a home near Canton Street, Mimosa Boulevard or Mill Village, the right time to check which map a house is on, and what that means for the renovation and resale timeline, is before you sign the contract. The Lindsay Levin team can work through that timeline with you and connect you with the preservation and tax professionals who confirm the details.