|
In Milton, residents may be prevented from demolishing buildings for a six-month period after town council meets in April. Town officials say they need breathing room to shore up building ordinances for the town’s historic district. At the same time, officials seek to expand the historic district east of downtown Milton.
At a March 3 meeting, town council unanimously approved $15,000 to continue a University of Delaware survey of the town’s historic district, which will include many homes on Atlantic Street.
On Friday, March 7, Rebecca Sheppard and Stephanie Shaw, nationally known preservationists from the University of Delaware Center for Historic Architecture and Design, addressed the Milton Historic District Expansion Ad Hoc Committee. For Phase I of their research, the women showed photographs and details of 32 vernacular homes east of the downtown district.
Milton’s historic district contains 198 buildings along Union and Federal streets, but researchers also discussed about three dozen other homes in the Atlantic Street corridor, including those on Collins, Walnut and Coulter streets. Members may recommend to council to expand the district to include homes in those areas.
Sheppard said Milton’s historic homes contain a range of styles from early 19th century to the 20th century. On Federal and Union streets, many homes feature ornate woodwork and decorations, while east and south of the downtown district, architecture is more restrained and plain. For homes to be placed on the National Historic register, they must meet four of seven integrity areas, said Sheppard. Among those areas are a building’s design materials, workmanship and original footprint.
Irreversible changes disqualify homes from meeting district standards, such as fully enclosed porches, replaced windows and additions.
Brenda Burns, chairwoman of the historic expansion committee, said council is working on rewriting ordinances and suggested officials may include alternative building materials within new ordinances. “The more opportunity to get homeowners to come to the table and talk about it, the better,” said Sheppard.
The $15,000 appropriation will allow for researchers to continue surveying homes on Lake Avenue, Chestnut Street, Mulberry Street and northern Union Street and southern Federal Street.
Finalize moratorium?
Town council is expected to hear a second reading of a six-month demolition moratorium, Monday, April 7. A final vote may be taken to halt demolition in Milton in the wake of a controversial reconstruction of a Federal Street home. Council says it needs to make town ordinances more stringent by including percentages of allowable demolition and defining reconstruction versus demolition. In the meantime, officials are not accepting any demolition applications filed after March 3.
In 2004, a six-month moratorium on demolition allowed town officials to write original building ordinances. Now, they seek to strengthen those ordinances.
Contact Kevin Spence at k.spence@capegazette.com
|
