The powers and duties of the Heritage Resource Commission are to:
a. Establish criteria and conduct an ongoing comprehensive survey of properties within the boundaries of the Town in order to identify historically and architecturally significant improvements and sites that exemplify the cultural, social, educational, economic, political or architectural history of the nation, State or Town;
b. Establish and maintain an inventory of improvements, sites and areas deemed deserving of official recognition and to investigate and recommend to the Town Council the designation of those improvements, sites or areas having special historic, community or architectural value;
c. Draft and implement a Heritage Resource Ordinance to protect and preserve those resources to be designated by the Commission;
d. Keep a register of officially designated heritage resources in the Town, including all information required for each designation;
e. Recommend to the Town Council a list of incentives and promote its use in encouraging property owners to participate in the heritage resource preservation program;
f. Advise and assist property owners on the physical and financial aspects of preservation, renovation, rehabilitation, landscaping or maintenance of any heritage resource;
g. Develop and adopt standards and specific design guidelines for the alteration, construction, rehabilitation or removal of designated improvements;
h. Review and decide upon applications referred by the Planning Department for construction, alteration, removal or demolition affecting improvements, as well as applications for grading, tree removal, or other work to be performed upon sites of historical significance;
i. Inform and educate the citizens of Danville as to the heritage of the Town and to encourage their participation in achieving historical and architectural preservation;
j. Investigate and report to the Town Council on the use of various Federal, State, local or private funding sources and mechanisms available to promote historic resource preservation in the Town;
k. Cooperate with local, County, State and Federal governments in the pursuit of the objectives of historic preservation; and
l. Perform such other duties and functions as prescribed by the Town Council.
(Ord. #131, §3-512)