Lewisburg Neighborhoods Corporation Public Meeting: HISTORIC PRESERVATION www.lewisburgneighborhoods.org
Agenda • Welcome • Introduction – Samantha Pearson, Lewisburg Elm Street Manager • Background – Phoebe Faden, Ward II Borough Council Member, HARB Chair, Realtor • Action – Ted Strosser, Ward I Borough Council Member, HARB Member, Architect • Insights – panel • Question and Answer Session • Open House
Introduction Samantha Pearson, Elm Street Manager • Reason for meeting • Role of the LNC • Importance of Historic Preservation to Elm Street and Main Street Programs • Resources available online (lewisburgborough.org and lewisburgneighborhoods.org) and document request sheet • Solicit suggestions for additional resources needed
Historic Preservation Reading Freight Station – Now Borough Building
What’s at Stake? Pennsylvania RR Station Formerly on St John St
What’s at Stake? Reading RR Station -- Formerly on Market St
What’s at Stake? Reading RR Station -- Formerly on Market St
Preservation Benefits Local Designated Historic Districts… • Protect the investments of owners and residents • Encourage better design • Help the environment • Provide educational benefits • Can result in a positive economic impact from tourism • Can enhance business recruitment potential • Provide social and psychological benefits
Background Phoebe Faden, HARB Chair • What is the HARB? • Why is there a HARB? • What does HARB do? • What does it NOT do? • What area does the HARB cover?
Secretary of the Interior Standards Rehabilitation acknowledges the need to alter or add to a historic property to meet continuing or changing uses while retaining the property's historic character. The Standards apply to historic buildings of all periods, styles, types, materials, and sizes. The Standards also encompass related landscape features and the building’s site and environment as well as attached, adjacent, or related new construction. • A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment. • The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided. • Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken. • Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved. • Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a historic property shall be preserved. (continued…)
Secretary of the Interior Standards (continued) • Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence. • Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. • Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken. • New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment. • New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
Design Guidelines… • Should: – Improve the quality of physical changes – Protect existing architectural character – Prevent incompatible new construction – Increase public awareness of architectural quality and historic preservation – Serve as a basis for objective decision-making – Protect the value of existing investments
Design Guidelines… • Cannot: – Regulate growth – Guarantee good design – Control non-exterior changes to buildings – Control paint color selection – Control landscape elements (other than fences)
Local Ordinance Map -- 1985
Federal Map Overlay -- 2003
Action Ted Strosser • Interested in historic preservation? Get involved. • Planning a building project? The process. • Anatomy of a building -- what is a façade? • Energy efficiency and historic windows – repair and maintenance instead of replacement
Interested in Preservation? But not planning a building project? Contact the Union County Historical Society, 570.524.8666, unioncountyhistoricalsociety.org, or the Lewisburg Neighborhoods Corporation, 570.523.0114, lewisburgneighborhoods.org. Ways to be involved: • Work on Design Guidelines • Develop informational brochure • Format historical neighborhood walking tours • Sort historic photographs
Planning Your Project • If you are planning a building project, are you in the historic district? If not, pursue zoning and building permits as required. • If so, consider calling a HARB member or attending a meeting for a courtesy review/questions. • Then complete both HARB and zoning permit applications, available on Borough website at lewisburgborough.org/permits.htm; due by the end of the month to Keystone-COG. Attend HARB meeting, 2 nd Tuesday, 5pm, Borough • Building.
Planning Your Project • Bring samples and material options to meeting. HARB will be glad to review and discuss the options in detail. They are often able to make suggestions which are more economical than the original proposals. • If approved, post Certificate of Appropriateness. • If unhappy with the results of the HARB review, attend Borough Council meeting to appeal decision.
HARB Application
Zoning Application
Zoning Application
Insights Whole Panel • Cost effectiveness of repair over replacement • Various suitable materials are available locally • Finding the right contractor • Possible interplay with flood insurance rate changes; will historic designation offer a point of leverage in seeking accommodation?
Q&A
Keep It Scenic
Wrap Up • HARB is good for neighborhoods and businesses • HARB covers the parts of a building visible from the street for buildings within the historic district • HARB approval is not needed for paint colors or replacement/repair in kind (with the same materials) • Information sheet • Resources – online and document request • Map update hearing prior to Borough Council Meeting on Tuesday, July 15, 7pm, Borough Building To find documents on hand, visit lewisburgneighborhoods.org, call 570.523.0114 or email elmstreet@dejazzd.com.
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