[MassHistPres] Sidewalk News Paper and Magazine Dispensers

[Chris Skelly]

Here is an article from the MHC newsletter circa 1996.  

 

Local Preservation Update Spring 1996 Newsletter

 

Regulation of Newsracks in Beacon Hill Upheld by Supreme Judicial Court

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently upheld the ability of the
Beacon Hill Architectural Commission to regulate newspaper racks within
Boston's Historic Beacon Hill District.  The case stems from Beacon Hill
Architectural Commission's adoption of a "Street Furniture Guideline" that
banned all but certain classes of street furniture (including Newsracks) as
defined in the guidelines.  The new guideline was challenged in US District
Court by several newspapers including the Boston Globe and the New York
Times, arguing that the new guidelines violated the First Amendment to the
US Constitution and that the Beacon Hill commission lacked the authority to
issue the guidelines.  After an initial ruling that the "Street Furniture
Guideline" violated the First Amendment and that the commission did not have
the authority to issue the guideline, the Beacon Hill commission appealed to
the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.  The Court of Appeals
subsequently asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to decide
whether the Beacon Hill Architectural Commission had the authority under the
special act establishing the district and commission to adopt the "Street
Furniture Guideline."

 

In the case of Globe Newspaper Company and Others vs. Beacon Hill
Architectural Commission, the SJC found that the Beacon Hill Architectural
Commission did have the authority to adopt the street furniture guideline.
In deciding this question, the court examined three issues:  1) whether the
commission had the authority to regulate street furniture 2) whether the
commission may make substantive rules to exercise its authority, and 3)
whether a ban on an entire class of street furniture is inconsistent with
the commission's enabling statute.

 

In its decision, the court found newsracks to be within the meaning of a
"structure" and "exterior architectural feature" as found within the statute
governing the Beacon Hill district and therefore within the authority of the
Beacon Hill Architectural Commission.  It also found that the commission had
jurisdiction to establish substantive regulations, in this case street
furniture guidelines, governing the Historic Beacon Hill District.  Finally,
the court found that such guidelines may contain prohibitions on certain
classes of structures, such as newsracks, whose exterior architectural
features, by their nature are inappropriate to an historic district.  

 

The case is significant for its examination of the question of historic
district regulation of newspaper boxes however perhaps more importantly it
addresses the issue of historic district commission's ability to promulgate
substantive regulations for the conduct of their business.  This case
provides a strong foundation for the authority of historic district
commissions to develop rules and regulations or guidelines to govern private
actions within historic districts and underscores the importance of such
guidelines in the decision-making process.  Although the case in question
involved the special act which created the Historic Beacon Hill District,
the case references the state Historic Districts Act, MGL c. 40C and has
relevance to all local historic districts created pursuant to the statute.

Christopher C. Skelly 
Director of Local Government Programs 
Massachusetts Historical Commission  
220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125 
Ph: (617) 727-8470 / Fax: (617) 727-5128  
Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us 
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcidx.htm 
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-----Original Message-----
From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of james howard
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 8:44 AM
To: MHC Mailing List
Subject: [MassHistPres] Sidewalk News Paper and Magazine Dispensers

 

Here in Wenham a sidewalk magazine dispenser has beeb put in place within
the Historic District to provide free copies of the magazine "Improper
Bostonian".  The Historic District Commission was not asked for a
Certificate of Appropriateness for this dispenser.  Complaints about it are
now being directed at the Commission.  We have no standing policy dealing
with this type of dispenser and I was wondering if any Historic District
Commission does have a policy or how they deal with these things.

 

Thanks for your help

 

Jim Howard 

Chair 

Wenham Historic District Commission

 

James M. Howard
149 Main Street
Wenham, MA 01984
Tel:  978-468-1709
Cell:  978-317-4862

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