[MassHistPres] CPA historic projects

[Judy Markland]

Ralph,
Chris Skelly is probably a better person to opine on this than I am, but 
it's important to distinguish between what the restrictions in a LHD and 
a preservation restriction on an individual property are aimed at 
accomplishing.  The preservation restriction is in perpetuity and can 
apply to interior components of the structure as well as exterior ones 
and elements that aren't visible from a public way.  Depending on the 
work the CPA money is funding, that can be a very important distinction.

As for your question about using CPA funds for renovations to replace 
original features, you'll should get a ruling from your town counsel, 
but it might be a stretch.  CPA funds can be used for preservation and 
rehabilitation of historic resources.  Preservation is defined as 
"protection of personal or real property from injury, harm or 
destruction, but not including maintenance".  Rehabilitation is defined 
as "the remodeling, reconstruction and making of extraordinary repairs 
to historic resources, open spaces, lands for recreational use and 
community housing for the purpose of making such historic resources, 
open spaces, lands for recreational use and community housing functional 
for their intended use, including but not limited to improvements to 
comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal, state 
or local building or access codes. With respect to historic resources, 
rehabilitation shall have the additional meaning of work to comply with 
the Standards for Rehabilitation stated in the United States Secretary 
of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties 
codified in 36 C.F.R. Part 68.
3".   The answer would seem to hinge on the interpretation of 
"reconstruction" in the rehabilitation definition.

Good luck with this.
Judy Markland


On 7/8/2016 8:06 PM, Ralph Slate wrote:
> Springfield is considering adopting the CPA. I browsed the CPA 
> Coalition website, but could not find an exact answer to my question.
>
> From what I read there, providing funding for a privately-owned 
> historic resource seems to be possible, as long as a CPA restriction 
> is given in return (which advances a public purpose). An example given 
> was the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.
>
> My understanding is that the entire island of Nantucket is a Local 
> Historic District, and so granting the Nantucket Preservation Trust a 
> preservation restriction seems a bit redundant - so my question is, 
> can CPA monies be used on private properties which already have a 
> restriction on them (by virtue of being in a local historic district)?
>
> For example, if a property within a local historic district was 
> privately owned, and applied for money to undo some work that had been 
> inappropriately done (like adding back a porch that had been removed a 
> long time ago), could this potentially be a CPA project?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Ralph Slate
> Springfield, MA
> ******************************
> For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact 
> Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE 
> WHOLE LIST.
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
> ********************************
>