This chapter has the following purposes:
A.
Pursuant to Article I, Section 27, of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which states that "[t]he 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 Council and Mayor to promote, protect, enhance, perpetuate, and preserve historic districts 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 importance within the Borough; to safeguard the heritage of the Borough by preserving and regulating historic districts which reflect elements of its cultural, social, economic, political, and architectural history; to preserve and enhance the environmental quality of neighborhoods; to strengthen the Borough's economic base by the stimulation of the tourist industry; to establish and improve property values; to foster economic development; to foster civic pride in the beauty and accomplishments of the Borough's past; and to preserve and protect the cultural, historical and architectural assets of the Borough for which the Borough has been determined to be of local, state or national, historical and/or architectural significance.
