[MassHistPres] Local Historic District Filing Fees

[Stowell, Stephen]

Lowell Historic Board (MA) is allowed to set and collect application fees and to disburse all monies collected to further the purposes of its state legislation (Chapter 566, Acts of 1983; Lowell Historic District Act). As set by the Board in 1984, the fees were:

1. Signage - $25
2. Minor Development (painting, in-kind repairs, masonry cleaning, lighting, and other items of a minor nature delegated to staff for approval by the Board) - $25
3. Major Development (everything else like demolition, complete rehabilitation, new construction, etc. requiring a Public Hearing) was based on a graduated scale depending upon project cost - under $2,500 - $25; $2,500-$4,999 - $50; $5,000-$9,999 - $75; $10,000-$99,999 - $100; $100,000-$249,00 - $125; over $250,000 - $150
4. Non-profits received a 50% reduction in fee.

In 2002, the Board undertook the first review of its fee structure since it was created in 1984. What was found were inequities between those with higher cost projects paying a lower percentage of fee with less expensive projects paying a higher percentage of fee. After this analysis and comparison with other similar agencies, in early 2003 the Board voted to adopt the current fee schedule that addressed the inequities and established fees that were based upon a percentage of a project's cost. The current fee schedule is -

1. Signage - $25
2. Minor Development - 1/4 of 1% of total project cost (never less than $25 with a cap of $1,000)
3. Major Development - 1/2 of 1% of total project cost (never less than $50 with a cap of $2,000)
4. Non-profits receive a 50% discount on the fee but the total fee is never less than the minimums noted.

Hope this helps!
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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/>
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From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Jane Loos
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2016 1:41 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Local Historic District Filing Fees

The Westport Historical Commission/Local Historic District Commission is an all volunteer organization, with no paid staff.  WHC is the only commission/board in Westport with independent regulatory authority that does not have paid administrative help.  During our annual budget consultation with the FinCom where we requested additional funding to hire administrative support, we were advised that we should increase our filing fees in order to raise money for the Town that could possibly (no guarantee) subsequently be used to fund an increase to our meager budget.

WHC currently charges a $50 filing fee for applications for Certificates of Appropriateness for work in the Westport Point Local Historic District (about 150 houses), but no fee for Certificates of Non-Applicability or  Hardship.  We do not charge a filing fee to handle a demolition request forwarded to us from the Building Department about a property on Westport's 1,000 plus listings on the Town's Historic Inventory.

We would be interested to know what is the practice for filing fees in other Historical Commissions and Local Historic Districts.

Many thanks,  Jane Loos
WHC Secretary (since 2004) and Secretary/Clerk (since 2010).
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