A. Declarations: It is found and declared by the village board as follows:
1. Prodigious new development in the areas immediately adjacent to the village, with its accompanying shifts of population and changes in residential, commercial and industrial land use, threaten with deterioration and disappearance the property and improvements of the village which are the sources of its tradition and stability;
2. It is required in the interest of the public health, safety and general welfare, and is necessary sound urban planning, that properties and improvements having special historic, architectural, community or aesthetic significance should be preserved, enhanced, continued or restored to use; and
3. The village's economic vitality and tax base cannot be maintained and enhanced without regard for Wayne's heritage and older neighborhoods.
B. Purposes: The purposes of this chapter are as follows:
1. To designate, preserve, enhance, perpetuate and protect the character of those properties and improvements in the village which have significant historic, architectural or aesthetic features, which reflect the historic, cultural, artistic, social, ethnic or other heritage of the nation, state or community, or which may be representative of an architectural or engineering type inherently valuable for the study of a style, period, craftsmanship, method of construction or use of indigenous materials;
2. To stabilize and improve the economic vitality and value of the designated properties and improvements in particular, and of the village in general;
3. To preserve the existing housing stock;
4. To foster civic pride in the beauty and accomplishments of the past and an awareness among the citizens of the village of the unique history of Wayne as embodied in its architecture and historic sites and areas;
5. To enhance the village's attraction to visitors;
6. To promote and encourage the continued private ownership and use of designated properties and improvements to the maximum extent consistent with the above objectives. (Ord. 01-18, 12-4-2001)