[MassHistPres] LHDs and Neighborhood Groups

[Dennis De Witt]

Jennifer

That is the way all multi-property districts have been created in Brookline — not to mention the process in one or two neighborhoods where involvement of a neighborhood association was not sufficient to create the district because the neighborhood proved too deeply divided as the process evolved.  

Part of the process in Brookline is that the neighborhood group must canvas the area and get signatures on a petition to the Commission representing ±80% of the property owners (each owner(s) being counted once, not per the number of properties they might own.)  The 80% “rule” is an informal expectation of Town Meeting and the relevant boards and commissions.  At some point a colored map is also created showing distribution of support and opposition (there are usually also some neutrals — e.g. a couple who may disagree — and a few genuine non-responses.

Perhaps the examples with the strongest involvement of preexisting Neighborhood associations include the 

— Pill Hill LHD and the High Street Hill Neighborhood Association

— Chestnut Hill North LHD and the Chestnut Hill N.A.

— Crowninshield LHD and the Crowninshield NA — triggered by a 40B


— Greater Toxteth NCD and the Toxteth N.A. 
 in that case, because in a Brookline NCD the design review guidelines are specific to each NCD, the Toxteth N.A. came to the Neighborhood Conservation District Commission with the guidelines that it wanted essentially pre-drafted and semi-vetted by the NCD’s core Toxteth area.  During the process folks from several adjacent streets came to the N.A. (not to the NCD Commission “NCDC”) and asked to be included, thus approximately tripling the original proposed NCD area.  The entire NCD boundary constitutes most of an area that had not gained the degree of local support needed to be included in the abutting Lawrence LHD that had been created a few years earlier with a much smaller boundary than originally proposed.  

I should note that this is Brookline’s only successfully created multi-property NCD.  There have been a number of attempts all of which failed in part due to failure to agree upon guidelines.  That is an important advantage of LHDs — the design review criteria are largely a given.

Most other Brookline Districts have been created by more ad hoc — but sufficiently organized — N.A.s that are a response to some specific neighborhood crisis — often these N.A.s continue after the creation of the district, which gives them a greater sense of identity. These would include
— Cottage Farm NCD — Brookline’s first — triggered by B.U. encroachment
— Graffham Mckay LHD — triggered by several actual or threatened demolitions
— Lawrence LHD — triggered by a proposed demolition in the core area that became the LHD
— Harvard Ave. LHD — triggered by a pair of proposed demolitions

There is also one LHD created from a single property at the request of the owner

Town Meeting also once directed the the Preservation Commission to initiate a study to create an LHD of the St Aiden’s Church but instead it became a “Friendly” 40B in cooperation with the town.

And, Town Meeting also created the Hancock Village NCD, with stronger than LHD guidelines, over the objection of the single owner who has two proposed 40Bs for the property.

Hope this is not more than you bargained for, but I thought the range of experiences might be helpful.  

Dennis De Witt



On Feb 16, 2017, at 11:37 AM, Jennifer B. Doherty <jbd at framinghamma.gov> wrote:

> Hello all,
> I’m looking for information on any communities where an existing neighborhood group has worked with the Historic District Commission or municipality to establish a local historic district. I’m particularly interested in what role the neighborhood group played – outreach, support, etc.
> Thanks in advance,
> Jenn
>  
> Jennifer B. Doherty
> Historic Preservation Planner
> Framingham Historical Commission and Historic District Commission
>  
> One Framingham - Focused on the Future
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