Milton council to hold hearing on historic district expansion
Milton Town Council will hold a public hearing Monday, Sept. 12, on a measure that would expand the town’s historic district by 36 parcels.
Milton’s historic district is registered with the National Register of Historic Places, managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 2020, the National Park Service provided funding to possibly amend the historic district. That work was undertaken by the town’s historic preservation commission and the University of Delaware's Center for Historic Architecture.
The result is the inclusion of 233 parcels over a 76-acre section of town stretching from the intersection of Union Street and Bay Avenue to the wastewater treatment plant on Front Street and including a portion of Chestnut Street from the intersection of Chestnut and Front Street to Chestnut and Atlantic Street. While most of the district is along Union Street, parcels on Broad Street are also included.
Project Manager Tom Quass said the amended map will add 36 new parcels to the inventory, but not all parcels are considered contributing. Owning property within the historic district comes with certain tax advantages, but renovations to historic properties must get approval from the town’s historic preservation commission. For a home in the district to keep its historic status, it must be in its original location. Quass said a contributing parcel is a structure that is of historic value based on its original building or renovations that have not altered the structure too much. Non-contributing parcels are properties that are in the historic district but are either new construction, or have been extensively renovated or moved from the original location.
In the amended map, 199 properties are contributing, while 34 are non-contributing.
Because the town has to amend its comprehensive plan and because it is a change to zoning, council is required by code to hold a public hearing, even though the amended map was officially listed by the National Register July 21.
Mayor John Collier said all structures within the proposed expanded district were evaluated by the Center for Historic Architecture with brief historical detail and whether each is a contributing or non-contributing parcel.
“What this does is expand the boundaries of the historic district to more closely reflect the 1887 map that hangs in the lobby at town hall,” Collier said.
