Bensalem, PA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Bensalem created the Historic Resources Overlay in 2015 as a voluntary companion to its ordinary zoning map rather than a designation the Township imposes on an owner. Section 232-347 states the purpose plainly: to keep historically significant buildings and landscapes standing, improved and maintained by offering owners additional land-use options as an incentive, in exchange for review standards the Township applies to protect the resource. Section 232-348 makes clear the overlay does no more and no less than that: it operates on top of, and does not repeal, the requirements of a property's underlying zoning district, and it doesn't disturb existing easements, covenants or deed restrictions already on the land.

An owner opts in by filing a written request with the Director of Building and Planning under subsection (c), and once accepted the property is bound by an irrevocable deed restriction recorded against it under subsection (d) that runs to the owner's heirs and assigns, so the protection survives a sale. In return, section 232-349 opens a menu of adaptive reuses not normally available in the underlying district: alongside a library or museum under subsection (6), an owner can operate an art studio, art gallery, winery or vineyard tasting room, rural inn of up to 20 rooms, restaurant, banquet hall, or a residential conversion of a building at least 50 years old into multiple dwellings, each carrying its own parking ratio tied to floor area.

Section 232-350 layers a separate dimensional table onto these uses, and section 232-351 requires a landscape plan with a tract-perimeter buffer and tree-replacement standards keyed to the diameter of any tree removed. If state or Township legislative or judicial action revises the overlay, section 232-348(e) reverts the property to its underlying zoning district requirements alone.