[MassHistPres] Combined Historical and Historic District Commissions

[Skelly, Christopher (SEC)]

I have forwarded this information on to the city of Brockton.  For those interested in the subject of combined historical commissions and historic district commissions, see below.
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I believe the city of Northampton and the town of Falmouth were the most recent municipalities to combine commissions.  However, there are many others such as:
Alford
Belmont
Beverly
Boxford
Braintree
Brookline
Carlisle
Cambridge
Dedham
Falmouth
Edgartown
Hamilton
Harvard
Harwich
Lowell
Manchester by the Sea
New Bedford
Northampton
Petersham
Plymouth
Rockport
Rowley
Royalston
Quincy
Salem
Sharon
Shirley
Somerville
Springfield
Townsend
Wenham
Westport
Worcester
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In many places, combining commissions works just fine. My concern over combining has to do with the differing roles of the two commissions.  One primarily does regulatory design review, and the other primarily community-wide historic preservation planning. In some towns, with a combined commission, the sole focus is on design review in the local historic district and community-wide preservation planning is neglected.

However, it can work quite well so long as both roles are maintained. The advantages are less staff administration, less need for a larger pool of volunteers and less confusion to the public.

If you decide to pursue combining the commissions through town meeting or city council, the AIA, realtor and historical society nomination process found in MGL Chapter 40C must be followed.

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: massplanners-bounces at cs.umb.edu [massplanners-bounces at cs.umb.edu] on behalf of Rob May [rmay at cobma.us]
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2017 10:49 AM
To: massplanners at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [Massplanners] Combined Historical and Historic Commissions

We are looking for a community with a regulatory body established under both MGL 40 Section 8D (Historical Commission) and MGL 40C (Historic District Commission).

The City of Brockton is looking for an ordinance to use as a template for a combined Commission

Rob May, CEcD
Director of Planning and Economic Development
City of Brockton
45 School Street
Brockton, MA 02301
508-580-7113
rmay at cobma.us
<mailto:rmay at cobma.us>
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