[MassHistPres] re Brookline selectmen's vote on S.2053

[Dennis De Witt]

The following is condensed from a story on "Brookline Patch" about the Brookline Selectmen's vote on S.2053.  A key consideration was its potential effect on MHC review of a 40B threatened for Hancock Village, an important post-WWII garden suburb that is on the MHC inventory but not the State Register.  Hancock Village is also scheduled to become Brookline's first Neighborhood Conservation District under a by-law passed by Town Meeting last November that is still in the AG's 90 day vetting process.  (Rather than being an LHD-lite, the bylaw was drafted to allow NCDs to have guidelines potentially stronger than LHDs in some respects.  More on that after the AG has opined.)

Dennis De Witt
Brookline


S.2053, currently being debated in the Mass. House of Representatives, could impact the town's Preservation Commission's work, including Hancock Village.

A dispute in Fall River spurs a debate in the Mass. House of Representatives, and Hancock Village--along with dozens of other sites across the Commonwealth--could feel the fallout. Last night, the Selectmen voted to write a letter detailing their concerns over the bill.

The debate is over S. 2053, a bill sponsored by Michael Rodrigues (D - Westport). A memo from Brookline's Preservation Commission office explains could strip the Mass. Historical Commission's (MHC) ability to review adverse impacts of properties which are listed on the Mass. Inventory of Historical and Archaeological Assets, but have not yet been placed on the State Register of Historic Places. 

Greer Hardwicke, Preservation Planner for the Town, explained that many sites that are eligible for the State Register are placed on the Inventory until they can be reviewed. They can stay on the list for two to five years, and--due to constrained resources--the MHC has a large backlog of sites on the Inventory. 

"The bill takes away the [the MHC's] ability to look at properties not on the Register." she noted that this includes properties in the Mass. inventory.

This could set a precedent, she went on to say, for the thousands of properties on the Inventory, but not yet on the Register. This includes, among other Brookline sites, the first Neighborhood Conservation District: Hancock Village. Hancock Village is on the Inventory and the final report from Brookline Preservation has been submitted, but the MHC has not yet completed its review. This is in part because Boston's Landmarks Commission has not yet submitted its report.

The dispute in Fall River is over an industrial development near a Native American site. A recent article in Commonwealth Magazine covered a hearing for the bill summarized the situation thus: 

Meditech wants to build a $65 million office complex at a property along the Taunton River that was once an active Wampanoag site. Mass. Historical believes there are unmarked Wampanoag graves on the site.

Selectman Dick Benka called the legislation a "blunderbuss," aimed at Galvin's authority across the Commonwealth. 

Brookline Preservation Commission Chair, James Batchelor added, "I have to say, it seems so strange--as Selectman Benka mentioned--to take an issue that is site-specific, and make it a law."

The Board voted unanimously to write the letter, and will discuss said letter at a future meeting.


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