Solebury is facing a bit of a time warp at its Historic Districts.
The Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB) is seeing its first applications for solar panel installations in those districts — not a very historical concept.
“Obviously, this is an inherent conflict between designated Historic Districts and the appearance of solar panels that requires a balancing of these two interests,” Chair Mark Baum Baicker told the board of supervisors May 18.
He noted that some municipalities have enacted ordinances regulating solar in Historic Districts and suggested Solebury take that route.
The board then unanimously approved his suggestion to authorize the township staff and solicitor to research existing regulations in other HARB districts and organizations such as the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Park Service.
In other business, Solebury’s Human Relations Commission (HRC) has created a new detailed township complaint form with instructions for people who say they have been victimized by discrimination in the township.
On the recommendation of the HRC, the board of supervisors unanimously approved the measure May 18.
The HRC investigates complaints of discrimination involving employment, housing, public accommodation on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, familial status, age, veteran status, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, use of guide or support animals and/or mechanical aids because of blindness, deafness or other disabilities.
The form and instructions are available at the Human Relations Commission page on the township’s website www.soleburytwp.org.
Supervisor Chair Baum Baicker, the liaison to the commission, thanked HRC members for putting the form together and gave special thanks to “Chair Dr. Tom Lyon, Vice Chair Paul Barnes who did the heavy lifting and to our own Cathy Cataldi (administrative assistant), who worked closely with Paul and the others to get this done.”
Baum Baicker, a Carversville resident, also noted that the annual Carversville Day sponsored by the Historic Carversville Society (HCS) on May 13 raised about $4,300, the majority of which is used to fund scholarships for graduating New Hope-Solebury High School seniors.
The funds raised also are used for other HCS activities such as Films in the Fields during the summer, Halloween pumpkin carving, and Christmas Caroling in the Square near the Carversville Inn.
HCS board member Laura Viehweger is the chair of HCS’s Carversville Day Committee.
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