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Narberth planning commission reviews draft justification to treat four civic buildings as contributing resources
Summary
The Narberth Planning Commission reviewed a draft letter to Borough Council arguing four post–World War II civic buildings should be designated contributing resources; commissioners requested edits and will collect comments before forwarding the letter to the borough commission.
The Narberth Planning Commission reviewed a draft justification letter intended to explain why four civic properties in the downtown historic district should be treated as contributing resources and sent to Borough Council for consideration. Commissioners agreed to collect edits and return comments by the stated Friday 5 p.m. deadline before staff incorporates changes and forwards the letter to the borough commission.
The items listed for address insertion in the minutes and discussed for the letter included the post office at 144 North Narberth Avenue, 2011 Seabine, St. Margaret’s at 227 North Narberth Avenue, and B Hall at 100 Conway. Commissioners debated treating certain civic properties as a class on the basis that several public buildings were constructed in the same post–World War II period and therefore share historic and development-era characteristics. Members agreed to exclude residential properties from that class after prior council and public feedback indicated limited support for expanding the designation to residences.
Commissioners and staff noted a need to reconcile internal lists and the borough’s official documents: an internally circulated Excel sheet flagged different parcels as "contributing" than the adopted historic map and chapter 315 ordinance. Staff said the ordinance and the adopted map are the legally authoritative sources and recommended reconciling the list and map before final determinations are made.
Procedurally, the commission approved the April minutes "as revised" after inserting the address corrections. The draft justification letter will be revised with commissioner comments and returned to staff for submission to Borough Council and the borough commission; the item was held for further review at the next meeting.
The commission did not take a final, formal vote on designating the four civic buildings as contributing resources at this meeting; the item will return after staff integrates written comments and the commission confirms the reconciled resource list.
