[Ord. 423, 3/15/2005]
1. 
Design Guidelines.
A. 
In determining the recommendations to be made to Borough Council concerning the issuance of a certificate of appropriateness, HARB shall consider only those matters that are pertinent to the preservation of the historical and/or architectural aspect and nature of the building, site, area or district. In so doing HARB shall consider the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with guidelines for preserving, rehabilitating, restoring and reconstructing historic buildings.
B. 
In addition, the HARB shall when applicable consider the following:
(1) 
Broad historical values representing the cultural, political, economic or social history of the (City, Borough, Township, etc.).
(2) 
The relationship of the building or structure to historic personages or events.
(3) 
Significant architectural types representative of a certain historical period and a style of method of construction.
(4) 
The effect of the proposed change upon the general historical and architectural nature of the district.
(5) 
The appropriateness of the exterior architectural features that can be seen from a public street or way.
(6) 
The general design, arrangement, texture and material of a building or structure and the relation of such factors to similar features of buildings or structures in the district. Consideration shall be given but not limited to the following:
(a) 
Proportion of Buildings Front Facades–preserving the relationship between the width of the front of the building and the height of the front of the building.
(b) 
Proportion of Openings within the Building–preserving the relationship of width to height of windows and doors.
(c) 
Rhythms of Solids to Voids in the Front Facade–preserving the relationship between a recurrent alteration of strong and weak architectural elements thereby maintaining a rhythm of solids to voids.
(d) 
Rhythm of Spacing of Buildings on Streets–preserving the existing rhythm of recurrent or repeated building masses to spaces between each building.
(e) 
Rhythm of Entrance and/or Porch Projections–preserving the existing rhythm of entrances or porch projections to maintain a pedestrian scale.
(f) 
Relationship of Materials–preserving the predominant materials of the district such as brick, stone, stucco, wood siding or other materials.
(g) 
Relationship of Textures–preserving the predominant textures of the district which may be smooth, such as stucco, rough such as brick with tooled joints or horizontal wood siding or other textures.
(h) 
Relationship of Architectural Details–preserving character defining features of buildings, such as architectural details including but not limited to, cornices, lintels, arches, quoins, balustrades and iron work, chimneys, etc.
(i) 
Relationship of Roof Shapes–preserving compatible roof shapes such as gable, mansard, hip, flat, gambrel and/or kinds of roof shapes.
(j) 
Walls of Continuity–preserving physical elements which comprise streetscapes such as brick walls, wrought iron fences, building facades or combinations of these which form visual continuity and cohesiveness along the street.
(k) 
Directional Expression of Front Elevation–preserving the orientation of structural shapes, plan of openings and architectural detail that reflects a predominantly vertical, or horizontal character to the building’s facade.
(l) 
Scale–preserving the scale of the built environment created by the size of units construction and architectural building mass its relation to open space.
(m) 
Variations–the HARB shall grant variations in a manner that will be in harmony with the character of the other buildings or structures on the street and for districts.
(n) 
The height of any new building or structure shall not exceed the height of the tallest adjacent building or structure by 10%. This requirement shall also apply to any proposed modifications to existing buildings and structures.
HARB shall publish from time to time materials to illustrate and interpret Paragraphs A and B as referred to above.
2. 
Signs.
A. 
Signs in the Historic District, except public and temporary signs, shall be reviewed for their conformity in exterior material composition, external appearance and size with similar advertising or information media used in this architectural period of the district or building. Signs shall be reviewed in their relationship to the structure to which they are attached. HARB shall adopt, revise and publish “Historic Yardley Sign Design Guidelines” for sign design guidelines to facilitate reviews and establish design standards for signs in the Historic District.
B. 
Historical markers may be authorized by HARB subject to the provisions stipulated and such markers shall not be considered as signs but are to be erected in accordance with the requirements established for historic markers by HARB.
3. 
Unreasonable Economic Hardship. When a claim of unreasonable economic hardship is made due to the effect of this Chapter, the owner of record must present evidence sufficient to prove that as a result of the review board’s action, the applicant is unable to obtain a reasonable return or a reasonable beneficial use from a resource. The review board may require that an applicant furnish additional information relevant to its determination of unreasonable economic hardship.