The Historic District Commission has seven members appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Commission for three-year, staggered terms. The primary responsibility of the Historic District Commission is to review applications and plans for the construction, alteration, repair, moving, or demolition affecting the exterior appearance of a historic or non-historic resource within any of the five Local Historic Districts.
They may also propose to create or modify existing historic districts, and can create a study committee to analyze requests for historic designation of specific properties within or outside of historic districts.
State law and local ordinance reflect some specific membership qualifications for the Historic District Commission, including that one member, if available, shall be a graduate of an accredited school of architecture, have at least two years of architectural experience, or be an architect registered in the state. One City Commissioner has typically served on the Historic District Commission as a liaison, but has no voting rights.