[MassHistPres] New house lot straddles Historic District boundary

[Jane Guy]

I concur with Chris.  Salem has aproperty that is 95% outside the district (somehow it obtained a small slice of property from a lot within the district).  The property is slated for some new construction.  It was determined by the City Solicitor that the boundaries of the district do not change because lot lines change and that only the portion of the new building that falls within the district boundary and is visible from any public way is subject to approval by the HC.

Jane A. Guy
Assistant Community Development Director
City of Salem
Department of Planning & Community Development
120 Washington St., 3rd Floor
Salem, MA  01970
978-619-5685
(F) 978-740-0404
jguy at salem.com
www.salem.com


Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2016 12:57:18 +0000
From: "Skelly, Christopher (SEC)" <christopher.skelly at state.ma.us>
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] New house lot straddles Historic District
        boundary
To: "'masshistpres at cs.umb.edu'" <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Message-ID:
        <70643BC9E5AE5B48AAA488050BE8AD8E018F094FE5 at SEC-DAG-002.prod.sec.local>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

There are some examples of a local historic district boundary cutting across a property line or even directly through an existing building.   I am not aware of any reason or precedent that would suggest the portion of the lot (or building) outside the local historic district boundary has any review by the historic district commission under MGL Chapter 40C.   It is the local historic district map that determines what is in or out of the district.   Property lines, which can and do change, are irrelevant for determining the jurisdiction of the historic district commission.  Chris.

Christopher C. Skelly
Director of Local Government Programs
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us<mailto:Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us>

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of learmackay at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 3:28 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] New house lot straddles Historic District boundary

Hello All,

Wondering if any Historic District Commission has had the following circumstance?

We have a situation where a legally buildable size Lot, is partially in and partially out of the designated Historic District. Anyone know of a similar documented occurence and how it was handled? Anyone aware of any legal opinions known to pertain to this situation?

Cynthia Hamilton
Commissioner, Arlington

________________________________

Please note the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office has determined that most emails to and from municipal officials are public records. FMI please refer to: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/preidx.htm.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.