Township of Westtown, PA Article XXIV Historic Preservation

[Added 3-4-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-1]

§ 170-2400 Westtown Township Historical Commission.

The Westtown Township Historical Commission shall be established and operated in accordance with the following provisions:

A. Statement of purpose. The mission and purpose of the Historical Commission is to foster a community appreciation of the rich and varied history of the Township. The mission includes educating residents about lands, buildings, and sites of historic, architectural, archaeological, or cultural significance and the people who worked, farmed, and lived here.

B. Establishment and membership. There is hereby established a Historical Commission to be known as the "Westtown Township Historical Commission," which shall consist of seven members who shall all be residents of the Township and who shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The membership of the Commission shall include individuals who have an interest or expertise in history, archaeology or historic preservation. Members shall serve without pay, but shall be reimbursed for any personal expenditure in the conduct of Commission business when pre-authorized by the Board of Supervisors.

[Amended 1-5-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-2]

C. Membership terms. Each Commission member shall serve for a term of three years which shall be so fixed that no more than two terms shall expire each year. The Commission shall notify the Board of Supervisors of any vacancies in the Commission. Appointments to fill vacancies for the unexpired terms shall be only for the unexpired portion of the term. Members shall serve at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors and may be removed by the Board at any time without cause.

D. Organization. The Commission shall annually elect from its own membership a Chair, who shall direct the activities of the Commission, and such other officers as may be required for the conduct of its business. A quorum shall be not less than a majority of the current membership. The Commission may make, alter, and rescind rules and forms for its procedures consistent with the ordinances of the Township and laws and regulations of the Commonwealth. The Commission shall keep full public records of its business and shall submit a report of its activities to the Board of Supervisors annually or as otherwise determined necessary by the Board.

E. Expenditures for services. Within the limits of funds appropriated by the Board of Supervisors, the Commission may make recommendations on contracting services necessary for its operations.

F. Functions and duties. In accordance with the foregoing statement of purpose, the Commission's primary purpose shall be to advise the Board of Supervisors, the Planning Commission and the Zoning Hearing Board of the Township on matters pertaining to the historic resources of the Township, including the following responsibilities, subject to the prior approval of the Board of Supervisors:

(1) Gather documentary evidence, illustrations, photographs, and other appropriate materials to establish historic sites worthy of listing in an Historic Resources Map of the Township, and to maintain a system for the continued survey and inventory of historic buildings, sites, structures, and objects in the Township.

(2) Conduct research on and nominate significant resources to the State and National Registers of Historic Places and any other appropriate lists or programs.

(3) Advise the Township Manager and Building Code Officer on the issuance of any permits which would affect historic resources. If a permit application is submitted for the demolition and/or exterior alteration of any historic resource identified on the Historic Resources Map, the permit shall be held for a period not to exceed 30 days to afford the Historical Commission the opportunity to work with the property owner to document the property prior to work commencing. If the property owner declines to allow for documentation within the 30 days, it shall not serve as a means to deny the permit application.

[Amended 3-7-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-2]

(4) Review and comment on subdivision or land development applications which contain historic resources, or are within 300 feet of an historic resource, in accordance with the requirements and procedures of the Township.

(5) Make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors concerning revisions, updates, or corrections to the Historic Resources Map as outlined in § 170-2400G.

[Amended 3-7-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-2]

(6) Maintain an updated inventory which clearly identifies buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts and their respective classifications on the Historic Resources Map as outlined in § 170-2400G.

[Amended 3-7-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-2]

(7) Develop programs to inform and educate residents about the history of the Township, its historic sites and historic personages.

(8) Consider, promote and apply for grants, financial assistance, and technical help from other agencies and organizations for the preservation of historical sites; and report all related actions to the Board of Supervisors.

(9) Prepare and submit a yearly budget by August 31 to the Board of Supervisors for sums deemed necessary to carry out the objectives of the Commission.

(10) Assist individual property owners with voluntary decisions pertaining to historic resources in terms of their use, maintenance, or enjoyment by other Township residents.

(11) Identify resources suffering from neglect and confer and advise with property owners to voluntarily alleviate and correct neglect situations.

(12) Advise appropriate Township officials on all requests for special exceptions, conditional uses or variances affecting historic resources.

(13) Perform any other activities relating to its mission as might be requested by the Board of Supervisors.

(14) Work with other municipalities in the promotion of historic resources having an extra municipal dimension.

(15) Present to the Board of Supervisors recommendations for ordinances and proposed steps to preserve, protect, and restore all historic areas, historic buildings, historic landmarks, or other historic resources within the Township.

G. Historic Resources Map. The Historical Commission shall maintain the Township Historic Resources Map, including the respective classifications of the historic resources. The Commission shall specify the resources located upon each property to which the regulation herein applies. Such regulation applicable to structures shall not apply to those structures designated to be noncontributing resources. Where not otherwise specified on the Historic Resources Map, the entire property shall be regulated as a historic resource.

[Added 3-7-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-2]

(1) Identified historic resources. Historic resources are considered to be any building, site, structure, object or district that has been:

(a) Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of the Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;

(b) Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;

(c) Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places under a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania historic preservation program which has been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or

(d) Individually listed on a Township inventory of historic places under a historic preservation program that has been certified either:

[1] By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; or

[2] Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.

(2) Revisions, updates, or corrections to the Historic Resources Map.

(a) Any building, structure, site or object ("resource") may be proposed for addition to or removal from the Historic Resources Map by:

[1] The owner of such resource;

[2] The Historical Commission;

[3] The Board of Supervisors; or

[4] Notice from the designating organization (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission or National Register) that the historic resource has been added to its Historical Resources Inventory or no longer meets the criteria upon which its classification has been based.

(b) All proposals for addition to or removal from the Historic Resources Map shall be referred to the Historical Commission. The Historical Commission shall hold a public meeting for which advanced written notice must be provided to the owner(s) of the resource affected. The Historical Commission shall consider public comment and/or documentary evidence regarding the proposal at the public meeting.

(c) The Historical Commission shall present a written report to the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of the close of public comment at the final public meeting on the proposed revision, update, or correction, stating its recommendation and grounds therefor.

(d) After receiving and considering the recommendations of the Historical Commission, the Board of Supervisors may adopt a resolution to add or delete resources to or from the Historic Resources Map or otherwise correct an entry thereupon. Written notice of the proposed action of the Board of Supervisors shall be given to the resource owner.