[MassHistPres] zoning tools

[Dennis De Witt]

Brookline's Fall Town Meeting (TM) has just passed two zoning  
amendments that might be of interest.

"Design review of all demolitions in an overlay district"
There was established a large Coolidge Corner overlay district  
subsuming much of North Brookline, including about the middle 1/3 of  
Brookline's Beacon St. National Register District and taking in much  
of Brookline's Comm. Ave border (which abuts BU).

Inside that CC overlay all demolitions of all principal structures  
are now subject to Planning Board (PB) design review.

By way of background, Brookline has long had PB design review --  
either directly or though an appointed Design Advisory Team (DAT) --  
for the five major streets (Beacon, Comm. Ave, Washington, Harvard,  
Rte. 9) and for any project determined to be a major impact project  
-- in effect most multiple-DU projects and commercial projects of any  
size.  (The results have usually been acceptable, altho there have  
been a few turkeys.)

All such PB design reviews are, of course advisory to the Zoning  
Board of Appeals, which has the final say on all zoning matters and  
can ignore the PB on any issue.

Design review "of demolition"
In addition, last year's TM passed a bylaw which in effect recognized  
that design review of a proposed demolition could include a  
stipulation that the existing facade must be retained and  
incorporated into the new project.  Something that had been done once  
in the '80s to save an 1847 Gothick house. So this new design review  
"of demolition" includes that possibility.

Design review after demolition in NRDs
An additional feature of this new overlay district is that in NR  
districts the Preservation Commission (PC) will now do a design  
review (advisory to the ZBA) in the event of a demolition in the NRD  
to try to keep new construction compatible with the existing historic  
fabric.

Re Preservation Bonus
Brookline's zoning  has provisions -- often referred to here as the  
"carriage house" provisions because that is where they have been most  
commonly used -- which give incentives and/or relief to encourage the  
preservation of historic structure -- for instance allowing an  
otherwise extra dwelling on a lot or relief from setback  
requirements.  Heretofore there was no definition of what constituted  
"historic" in this context nor any requirement for design review by  
the Preservation Commission when those provisions were invoked --  
altho the Commission often had been asked for its advice and in some  
cases design review by the PC has been mandated by the ZBA.  In  
conjunction with an amendment of the amount of FAR relief allowable  
as an inducement for preservation of an Historic structure, that  
portion of the zoning bylaw was modified to require advisory design  
review by the PC, as well as an advisory opinion by the PC as to  
whether the benefitted building is, in fact, historic.

Dennis De Witt