This chapter is adopted pursuant to authority
contained in the Act of June 13, 1961, Public Law 282, No. 167, as amended.
This chapter shall be known as and may be cited
as the "Borough of Columbia Historic District Ordinance."
Pursuant to Article
I, Section 27, of the Pennsylvania Constitution which states that "The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustees of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people," now, therefore, it is the purpose and intent of the Borough of Columbia to:
A. Promote, protect, enhance, perpetuate and preserve
the historic districts located within the Borough for the educational,
cultural, economic and general welfare of the public through the preservation,
protection and regulation of buildings, structures and areas of historic
interest or significance within the Borough;
B. Safeguard the heritage of the Borough by preserving
and regulating historic districts located herein which reflect elements
of the Borough's cultural, social, economic, political and architectural
history;
C. Preserve and enhance the environmental quality of
neighborhoods in the Borough;
D. Strengthen the Borough's economic base by the stimulation
of tourism;
E. Stabilize and improve property values within the Borough;
F. Foster economic development in the Borough;
G. Foster civic pride in the beauty and accomplishments
of the Borough's past; and
H. Preserve and protect the cultural, historical and
architectural assets of the Borough that the Borough has determined
to be of local, state or national historical and/or architectural
significance.
The adoption of this chapter is conditional
upon the occurrence of the following:
A. The Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission has
certified by resolution the historical significance of the Borough's
historic district;
B. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's
Bureau for Historic Preservation has reviewed the chapter and confirmed
that it complies with the Pennsylvania Historic District Act (Act
167, as amended); and
C. The Borough has complied with all other applicable
provisions of Pennsylvania law relating to the adoption of ordinances.