[MassHistPres] Local Building Codes & Historic Structures: MVCMA on Martha's Vineyard

[Stowell, Stephen]

The exact section is escaping me at the moment but the Massachusetts Building Code exempts certain features of historic buildings from strict code compliance.  I seem to recall historic railings are one such item that are exempt for those properties that are NR/NHL listed and not otherwise in a local review district such as seems the case here.  I've used this exemption in the past several years ago when a property owner in one of our neighborhood National Register districts was being told the same thing in Martha's Vineyard regarding railings and we were able to get the historic railings retained.

Perhaps someone who is more in tune with the code can provide some additional specifics.  Thanks!

--------
Stephen Stowell
Administrator
Lowell Historic Board
Lowell City Hall
375 Merrimack Street
Lowell, MA  01852
(978) 674-1443
(978) 446-7103 fax
Sstowell at lowellma.gov
www.historiclowell.net
Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/LowellHistoricBoard>
Twitter<https://twitter.com/lowellhistbd>


From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Ferriell, Jeffrey
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 12:07 PM
To: 'masshistpres at cs.umb.edu'
Subject: [MassHistPres] Local Building Codes & Historic Structures: MVCMA on Martha's Vineyard

Good afternoon

I'm the President of the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, in Oak Bluffs. There are over 300 historic Victorian cottages on the grounds of the MVCMA, and we are a National Historic Landmark.

A new building inspector has decided that we can't replace our historic porch and balcony railings with railings shorter than what the code requires (36" I think).  There are bound to be other similar issues (e.g., egress windows), in the future.

The MVCMA is not part of the Oak Bluffs, "Cottage City" historic district and thus is not governed by a municipal "historic preservation" ordinance. But, we have our own, private historic preservation rule and follow the Dept. of Interior Guidelines, partially to maintain our Landmark status and partially just to maintain the historic architectural features of the buildings on our land, because we believe that it is the right thing to do and preserves features of our buildings that help make it a distinct community.

Can anyone provide me with some guidance about how to approach this. I'll be happy to hear from you on the list of off, either at jferriell at law.capital.edu<mailto:jferriell at law.capital.edu> or at president at mvcma.org<mailto:president at mvcma.org>

We're planning to meet with the building inspector, but would like to gather as much information about how this problem may have been handled in other areas as possible.

Thanks for any assistance you can supply.

Jeff Ferriell
President, MVCMA
8 Cottage Park

--
Jeffrey T. Ferriell
Professor of Law
Capital University Law School
303 E. Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215

614.236.6683 (office)
614.444.3994 (home)
508.6969.1984 (Martha's Vineyard)

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