As chairman of the Pottstown Planning Commission, Tom Hylton worked with his fellow citizens to rewrite Pottstown's land development, zoning, and historic preservation ordinances to preserve and enhance the town's unique character.
The illustrated, "user-friendly" ordinances were developed with the help of grants from the William Penn Foundation and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
They are designed to encourage property owners to renovate existing buildings; construct new ones compatible with the town's traditional architecture; provide ample landscaping; and create a pleasant environment for walking as well as driving.
The ordinances, below, can be downloaded as Adobe PDF files.
Pottstown Subdivision, Land Development, and Zoning Ordinances
Title page and table of contents
Preface and Community Development Objectives
Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance
Zoning Articles 1 - 3 (Purpose, Applications, Districts - pages 1-39)
Zoning Articles 4 - 6 (Conditional Uses, Accessory Uses, General Regulations, Parking - pages 40-63)
Zoning Article 7 (Signs - pages 64-83)
Definitions for Zoning, Subdivision, and Land Development Ordinances
Pottstown Historic Districts Ordinance and Renovation Guidelines
Pottstown has two certified local government historic districts to protect the integrity of its historic architecture. Pottstown's Historic Architectural Review Board has adopted illustrated renovation guidelines to help property owners preserve and maintain their buildings. Pottstown also employs a historic renovation consultant to provide free advice and guidance to property owners on their renovation projects.
Historic District Ordinance Appendix
Renovation Guidelines
Part 1 (pages 1-10) Part 2 (pages 11-17)
Pottstown Shade Tree Program
In the early 1980s, Tom Hylton conceived and helped organize Trees Inc., a non-profit corporation that raised nearly $500,000 to plant and maintain street trees in Pottstown.
At present, the Pottstown Shade Tree Commission protects and maintains about 3,200 street trees in Pottstown.
Pottstown Shade Tree Program
Part 1 (pages 1-5) Part 2 (pages 6-10)
Bike lanes, angle parking
Culminating a 17-year campaign, Pottstown was granted permission by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to install back-in angle parking on its main street, High Street, in May 2003.
The street was narrowed from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction. Back-in angle parking was installed on the north side of the street, adding 93 spaces. Parallel parking was retained on the south side of the street. Five-foot-wide bike lanes were added on both sides of the street.
The new scheme has helped revitalize the downtown by slowing traffic, providing more parking spaces adjacent to stores, encouraging bicycling, and making it easier for pedestrians to cross the street.
Pottstown's proposal to PennDOT (written by Tom Hylton) Part 1 (pages 1-12) Part 2 (pages 13-24)
Article in PE Reporter (written by John Nawn, P.E.)
