(a) Authority.--Except as set forth in subsection (b), the council may acquire, by purchase or by gift or by the right of eminent domain, land for the use of the Pennsylvania National Guard, to be conveyed to the Commonwealth in order to assist the State Armory Board in the erection of armories.
(b) Exception.--The power under subsection (a) may not be exercised to take any of the following:
(1) Church property.
(2) A graveyard or cemetery.
(3) A dwelling house or the curtilage of property:
(i) designated in paragraph (1) or (2); and
(ii) in the actual occupancy of the owner.