For purposes of the Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, the
following definitions shall apply:
ALTERATION
The act of putting an addition onto, repairing, renovating
or replacing materials on the exterior of an historic resource.
BUILDING
Any construction having a minimum of three enclosed walls
and a roof. Examples include, but are not limited to, house, garage,
barn, shed, school, train station, or privy.
CLASS I HISTORIC RESOURCE
An historic resource that is designated a national historic
landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, or a
contributing resource to a National Register Historic District.
CLASS II HISTORIC RESOURCE
An historic resource that is not a Class I historic resource,
but is considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places,
or a contributing resource to an eligible National Register Historic
District. National Register eligibility being determined by inclusion
on the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission List of National
Register Eligible Resources.
CLASS III HISTORIC RESOURCE
An historic resource that is not a Class I or Class II historic
resource but has been accepted for listing on the Upper Moreland Township
Historic Resources Inventory by the Upper Moreland Township Historical
Commission.
DEMOLITION
The complete dismantling, removal or destruction of an historic
resource.
DEMOLITION BY NEGLECT
The deliberate disregard of routine maintenance causing weakness,
decay and deterioration of an historic resource for purposes of avoiding
the provisions of this chapter. Also the intentional act of disregarding
the security of an historic resource resulting in degradation by criminal
activity for purposes of avoiding the provisions of this chapter.
FAMILY MEMBER
A person's spouse, former spouse, parent, stepparent, child,
stepchild, grandparent, great-grandparent, grandchild, great-grandchild,
brother, stepbrother, half brother, sister, half sister, stepsister,
first or second cousin, aunt, great-aunt, uncle, great-uncle, niece,
grandniece, nephew, or grandnephew.
HISTORIC DISTRICT
A significant concentration, linkage or continuity of buildings,
structures, sites or objects joined by plan or physical development.
Examples include but are not limited to business districts and industrial
areas, residential neighborhoods, college campuses, villages or transportation
systems.
HISTORIC RESOURCE
A building, structure, object, site or a contributing resource
to an historic district that is historically significant to the nation,
state or to Upper Moreland Township. Historic resources may be significant
for association with historically important events or people or significant
for architecture or building technique.
OBJECT
An item that is primarily artistic or decorative in nature.
Examples include but are not limited to monuments, sculptures, fountains
or statues.
PRESERVE
The act of altering an historic resource by maintaining and
repairing the existing materials and current form of an historic resource
for purposes of displaying it as it has evolved through time.
RECONSTRUCTION
The act of rebuilding an historic resource by recreating
vanished or nonsurviving elements of an historic resource.
REHABILITATE
The act of making alterations to an historic resource for
the purpose of changing its use while also preserving the historic
resource.
RESTORE
The act of altering an historic resource by returning it
to a particular time period by removing elements of other time periods.
SITE
A location that, with or without the existence of buildings,
structures or objects, has commemorative or cultural significance.
Examples include but are not limited to battlefields, cemeteries,
parks, ruins, scenic views, or natural features.
STRUCTURE
A construction that does not have enclosed walls. Examples
include but are not limited to bridges, gazebos, bandstands, carousels,
fences, walls or dams.
An historic preservation overlay zone is hereby created to overlay
all other zoning districts in Upper Moreland Township. The provisions
of the Historic Preservation Overlay Zone shall apply to all historic
resources listed in the Upper Moreland Township Historic Resources
Inventory. Historic resources on the Upper Moreland Township Historic
Resources Inventory shall constitute an overlay to the Upper Moreland
Township Zoning Map.
If an historic resource in the Historic Preservation Overlay
Zone is located within an underlying residential zoning district,
the following regulations shall also apply:
A. No use shall be permitted that creates excessive noise, odor, vibration
or smoke.
B. Large special events that generate excessive amounts of traffic and
cause parking problems are prohibited.
C. Signs shall be less than two feet by three feet in size, made of
wood, and lighted from an external source.
D. Lighting shall be used that reduces glare to adjacent properties.
E. Except where specifically stated, the hours of operation shall be
between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
The bulk, area and setback requirements of the underlying zoning district shall be relieved by up to 35% for projects involving historic resources within the Historic Preservation Overlay District, provided that the general and specific requirements for conditional use approval (§§
350-203 and
350-204) have been met.
[Amended 7-6-2009 by Ord. No. 1575]
A. An applicant seeking to make alterations to Class I, Class II or
Class III historic resources on the Upper Moreland Township Inventory
of Historic Resources shall complete the necessary permits or applications
or submit plans as required to Upper Moreland Township. The applicant
shall forward copies of the application and/or permit to the Historical
Commission along with the following information:
(1)
Name and address of the resource owner.
(2)
Recent photographs of the historic resource.
(3)
A detailed narrative description of the physical changes to
be made to the historic resource, including a list of materials to
be used to make the alterations.
(4)
A site plan and architectural drawings of the proposed alterations
prepared by a registered architect or engineer.
B. The Historical Commission shall meet and review the material based on the criteria for review of alterations to historic resources (§
350-207). The Historical Commission shall draft a list of recommendations concerning the alterations.
C. If the alterations involve a Class I historic resource, the list
of recommendations shall be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners,
Code Enforcement Officer, and Advisory Planning Agency, who shall
not approve the alterations until the list of recommendations have
been received or until 105 days have passed from the meeting of the
Historical Commission when the alterations were initially reviewed.
D. If the alterations involve a Class II or III historic resource, the
list of recommendations shall be forwarded to the Code Enforcement
Officer and the property owner by the Historical Commission within
14 calendar days of the meeting at which the alterations were initially
reviewed. If the property owner and the Code Enforcement Officer agree
with the recommendations of the Historical Commission, the appropriate
permits shall be issued to the property owner. If the property owner
disagrees with the recommendation(s) of the Historical Commission,
he or she may appeal to the Board of Commissioners.
E. If an owner of a Class II or III historic resource elects to appeal
the recommendation(s) of the Historical Commission, the matter will
be placed on the agenda of the Advisory Planning Agency or the Community
Development Committee by the Board of Commissioners. The Historical
Commission will participate in any project reviews by the Advisory
Planning Agency, Community Development Committee and the Board of
Commissioners relative to proposed alterations of historic properties.
F. If an application for a building permit submitted by a Class II or
Class III inventory property owner requires a variance or interpretation
by the Upper Moreland Zoning Hearing Board, the review and approval
process specified by this chapter for such matters shall apply.
Review of alterations to historic resources by the Historical
Commission shall be based only on the following criteria:
A. The proposed alterations replace, repair or reuse materials that
are the same as those that currently exist or historically existed
on the historic resource. Substitutions of materials can be made for
materials that are expensive, dangerous, unhealthy or rare and can
be replaced or repaired with less expensive, safer and more readily
available alternatives that are similar in appearance to the original
material. Paint shall not be considered a material, and paint colors
shall not be subject to review by the Historical Commission.
B. The alterations do not involve the removal of architectural features
currently on the historic resource, including, but not limited to,
brackets, balusters, dormers, cupolas, roofs, door and window trim,
projections, or bays that give the historic resource its distinctive
characteristics.
C. Deteriorating architectural features shall be repaired rather than
removing them. If an architectural feature must be removed because
of extremely deteriorated condition, it shall be reconstructed in
the same fashion as it originally existed.
D. The alterations do not involve adding an architectural feature that
is out of character for the architectural style or time period when
the building was constructed.
E. Chemical or physical cleaning, such as sandblasting, power washing,
or use of harsh chemicals, shall not be used.
F. The spacing and size of windows, doors, and other openings will not
be changed, except if changes to the spacing and size of window, door,
and other openings is part of a process to preserve or restore the
historic resource.
G. The alterations to the historic resource cannot be seen from the
public street or streets that border the historic resource.
All historic resources listed on the Upper Moreland Township
Historic Resources Inventory shall not be subjected to demolition
by neglect in order to avoid any provisions of this chapter. If demolition
by neglect is suspected by the Historical Commission, it shall provide
to the Code Enforcement Officer the owner's name and address, the
location of the historic resource, a statement of the condition of
the building, and reasons for the suspected demolition by neglect.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall investigate or shall request that
other law enforcement officials investigate the possible demolition
by neglect. If demolition by neglect is proven by the investigation,
the enforcement provision of this article shall be applied.
Violation of this chapter by altering, demolishing, demolishing by neglect, or changing the use of a building on the Upper Moreland Township Historic Resources Inventory without having first followed the procedures described in this chapter shall result in enforcement remedies as described in Article
XXX of this chapter.