§ 156.061 ADAPTIVE RE-USE OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS.
   (A)   This section shall apply only to former public buildings (including, but not limited to, schools, churches, former commercial buildings).
   (B)   Structures which meet the criteria outlined in this section may be reused for the following purposes by conditional use:
      (1)   Day care facilities of all types;
      (2)   Personal care homes;
      (3)   Professional office;
      (4)   Hospitals and medical clinics for humans;
      (5)   Civic or cultural building;
      (6)   Studio of an artist or musician;
      (7)   Personal service business limited to an exercise facility or gymnasium; and
      (8)   Barber or beauty salon.
   (C)   Any expansion of a structure being approved as an adaptive re-use shall meet all applicable yard and coverage standards.
   (D)   All parking standards of this chapter shall be met.
   (E)   To protect the scale of neighborhoods and integrity of historic structures, no building expansions shall result in a total gross floor area of greater than 7,000 square feet.
   (F)   Design standards for alteration or expansion.
      (1)   The applicant may choose to employ the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation in undertaking any alteration, in which case, evidence of compliance shall be furnished.
      (2)   Otherwise, the following design standard shall apply to any expansion, replacement or exterior alteration.
         (a)   The original building footprint or a smaller area is adhered to for all yard lines. The principal entrance shall be located on the same street frontage as the original building.
         (b)   Buildings shall generally relate in scale and design features to the surrounding buildings and the previous building on site.
         (c)   Long monotonous uninterrupted walls or roof planes shall be avoided.
         (d)   Window arrangement shall be architecturally compatible with the style, materials, colors and details of the building. Windows shall be vertically proportioned whenever possible. Upper-story windows shall be vertically aligned with the location of windows and doors on the ground level.
         (e)   Blank, windowless walls are discouraged. Where the construction of a blank wall is necessitated by local building codes, the wall should be articulated by the provision of blank window openings trimmed with frames, sills and lintels, or, if the building is occupied by a commercial use, by using recessed or projecting display window cases. Intensive landscaping may also be appropriate in certain cases.
         (f)   All entrances to a building shall be defined and articulated by architectural elements such as lintels, pediments, pilasters, columns, porticoes, porches, overhangs, railings, balustrades and others, where appropriate. Any such element utilized shall be architecturally compatible with the style, materials, colors and details of the building as a whole, as shall the doors.
         (g)   Any design manual adopted by the borough shall be adhered to.
(1980 Code, Ch. 28, Part 4, § 28-407) (Ord. 1419, passed 9-16-2013, § 407) Penalty, see § 156.999