[MassHistPres] Brookline's Neighborhood Conservation District bylaw

[Dennis De Witt]

Brookline's town meeting has passed a Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD) enabling bylaw and an amendment creating the Hancock Village NCD.   Hancock Village is an important ±500 unit, single owner, post-WWII garden-apartment project built for returning-vet's that reflects garden city principals comparable to those embodied in the new town of Radburn.  It was laid out by Olmsted Bros. on a site with large puddingstone outcrops.  The Brookline Preservation Commission in its role as a CLC has also voted a determination of NR eligibility which it has forwarded to MHC. 

It straddles the Brookline Boston line -- only the Brookline portion is included.

The by law has been passed under general home rule powers -- the same as are used for demo delay laws -- not under 40C or 40A (zoning).  

The first NCD created is not the usual LHD lite -- altho it does allow replacement widows as long as they look like the windows being replaced (presumably no vinyl replacing wood) and allows aluminum gutters in place of like-kind wood.

In addition to what would be applicable in a typical LHD, the enabling bylaw and the HV-NCD include review of the following:
-- any external change, not just those visible from a public way
-- changes in grade and removal of ledge
-- removal of inventoried trees of a certain size  
-- changes to inventoried significant landscape
-- changes to any paved area

Each NCD will have its own guidelines.  Guidelines for NCDs in more typical neighborhoods might opt out of some of the above and other items.

NCDs cannot include non-residentially zoned areas.

Altho it allows for 5- or 7-member separate commissions (with possible alternate members) for each district, it seems more likely that there will be one town-wide commission.  It will have at least one member from the preservation Commission.  No other board or commission has a mandated seat.  

As passed, there is no by law language relating to a % of owners in a multi-owner NCD who must opt-in but Brookline normally requires approximately 80% of the owners in a boundary to petition for an LHD and something similar would probably be true with comparable multi-owner NCDs.  In the present case, the single owner objects and has indicated that he will challenge aspects of the NCD bylaw in court and/or file for a 40B. 

The bylaw also must be approved by the AG's office which did comment on an earlier version. 

Enactment of the first NCD followed owner proposals to approximately double the buildout unit density and surface parking area.  It was supported by both the Board of Selectmen and the Advisory Committee.  It passed Town Meeting overwhelmingly although only a majority vote requirement is allowed for home rule bylaws.

Attached are what I believe are correct drafts of the NCD bylaw and the amendment enabling the first NCD.

Dennis De Witt

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