[MassHistPres] Certificates of Hardship

[Dennis De Witt]

Brookline just had a case of window replacement done without a permit  
involving the owner of three properties where there was no suggestion  
of hardship due to lack of assets but rather due to limited  
retirement income.

Applicant's atty. volunteered to show tax returns without prompting.

He also offered to have the front windows, but not the others,  
restored, without prompting.  (They had all been kept because the  
work had been discovered in process.)

The chair appointed a sub-comm of three, including the chair, who  
looked at the returns and reported back to the commission that there  
was hardship relating to income but not assets.

The vote was to find hardship subject to
a) the replacement of the two front windows
b) replacement of the rest of the windows whenever the property  
changed hands
c) forbidding like-kind replacement of the non-conforming windows  
should they need replacement before the property changed hands

all to be registered and enforceable by the town


On Oct 12, 2006, at 4:36 PM, Ellen Fitzpatrick wrote:

> I am interested to know how local historic district commissions  
> have handled definitions of "financial hardship" in evaluating  
> applications from residents for certificates of hardship. In the  
> case of financial hardship, have any commissions required  
> documentation?  If so, of what kind? Or have commissions tended to  
> take the word of applicants? Any experience/information available  
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Ellen Fitzpatrick
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