[MassHistPres] Historic Districts & 40B Reform

Thu May 28 16:07:03 EDT 2009

Michael Rodrigues, representative for Westport, had let me know he  will 
support Bill no. 772.  

Betty Slade
Westport

In a message dated 5/28/2009 11:04:15 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
jworden at swwalaw.com writes:

The timing when it was before the Committee on Municipalities was the end  
of May, but now that the bill has been transferred to the Committee  on 
Housing, I am told that "within the next month" should be OK.

John Worden
Arlington HDC

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----- Original Message ----- 
From:  _Boston Affiliates_ (mailto:BostonAffiliates at verizon.net)  
To: _Anne Forbes_ (mailto:AnneForbes at verizon.net)  ; _John  Worden_ 
(mailto:jworden at swwalaw.com)  ; _masshistpres at cs.umb.edu_ 
(mailto:masshistpres at cs.umb.edu)  
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 3:26  PM
Subject: [SPAM] Re: [MassHistPres]  Historic Districts & 40B Reform

Can you tell us what the timing is on this bill?

Polly  Harrell

At 11:50 AM 5/27/2009, Anne Forbes wrote:

Many thanks to John for sending the message below.   

While we have  the subject of 40Bs and historic districts in mind, it might 
be timely to  ask the question of how HDCs are treating proposed changes to 
 established 40B developments within their districts.  As owners begin  to 
modify the buildings, are commissions reviewing the alterations and  
requiring Certificates of Appropriateness in the normal way?   

----- Original Message ----- 

From:

_John Worden_ (mailto:jworden at swwalaw.com)  

To: _masshistpres at cs.umb.edu_ (mailto:masshistpres at cs.umb.edu)  

Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 11:31 AM

Subject: [MassHistPres] Historic Districts & 40B  Reform

HISTORIC DISTRICTS & 40B REFORM

Historic District Commissions (HDCs) can protect their districts  against 
inappropriate change from everything except 40B  developers.  But, if a 
developer of “affordable housing” comes  along, he can go to the Zoning Board of 
Appeals (ZBA) and obtain a  “comprehensive permit” overriding historic 
district (HD)  protection.  In some cases, developers use the threat of 40B to  
force HDCs to approve not-very-good projects for the fear of getting  
something worse.  Legislation now pending in the State Senate (Bill  No. 772) 
would preserve HD protection while still allowing affordable  housing projects, 
but requiring HDC participation and conditions in the  permitting process 
and eliminating “uneconomic condition” as a basis for  appeal to the Housing 
Appeals Committee.

After all, residents in an “affordable” project are just as entitled  to 
live in an HD as anyone else – and to have a preserved historic  environment 
for their neighborhood.  If you agree that our HDs need  this protection, 
please write to the Joint Committee on Housing, Room  424, State House, 
Boston, Mass. 02133, and contact your local senators  and representatives, in both 
cases urging them to support Senate Bill  No. 772, the text of which is as 
follows:

"Section 21 of chapter 40B of the Massachusetts General Laws is  hereby 
amended by adding the following paragraph:  Applications to  built low and 
moderate income housing in an historic district as defined  in MGL Chapter 40C 
must obtain a certificate of appropriateness as  outlined in Section 6 of 
Chapter 40C.  The local historic  [district] commission shall hold its hearing 
concurrently with the local  zoning board and have its conditions included 
in the permit.  None  of the conditions may be appealed to the housing 
appeals committee as an  uneconomic condition.  An application may not be denied 
based upon  its location within an historic district."

Time is of the essence.

John Worden

Arlington Historic District Commissions

____________________________________

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strictly prohibited.  If you have received this communication  in 

error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all  

copies of this message and any attachments.  Thank you.

To ensure compliance with IRS requirements, we inform you that any  U.S. 
tax advice contained in this communication is not intended to be  used, and 
cannot be used by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding  U.S. tax  
penalties.

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