[MassHistPres] Finalizing Local Historic Districts

[Doherty, Jennifer (SEC)]

Hello all,
A friendly reminder about finalizing local historic districts adopted under Mass. General Laws Chapter 40C - your process does not end with your Town Meeting/City Council vote! These steps apply to both new districts and expansions of existing districts.


1.       If you are a town, your Town Clerk must submit the warrant article and supporting material to the Attorney General's office for review and approval.



2.       You must record a map of the district at the Registry of Deeds AND with your City/Town Clerk. Your district is not legal until you do this (per MGL 40C, Section 3<https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter40C/Section3>, last paragraph). Maps do not need to conform to Registry of Deeds plan recording requirements, but should be of decent quality and clarity so that they are still clear when scanned into black and white.



3.       You must provide the following information to the MHC to add the district to the State Register of Historic Places:

a.       A copy of the map recorded at the Registry of Deeds showing the Registry's recording information (date, book/page)

b.       A copy of the map recorded with your City/Town Clerk showing their date stamp

c.       A copy of the Town Meeting/City Council vote. Your City/Town Clerk can provide this; it is generally one or two pages with the meeting information, warrant article or ordinance text, and final vote.

d.       If you are a town, a copy of the Attorney General's approval letter

If you want to be sure that we have received information about your district(s), you can review your community on MACRIS Maps<https://maps.mhc-macris.net/> to see what the MHC has. Local historic districts are in green, with individual resources marked by triangles. If the district overlaps with a National Register of Historic Places district, look for a red district with resources marked by triangles. You should also confirm that the boundaries are correct.

If you have any questions about your community's local historic districts, or the process in general, please let me know.
Thank you,
Jenn


Jennifer B. Doherty
Local Government Programs Coordinator
Massachusetts Historical Commission
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3314
Office: (617) 727-8470
Remote: (617) 807-0685
Jennifer.Doherty at sec.state.ma.us

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