[MassHistPres] Local Historic Districts-Design Review Examples

[Alisa Struthers]

 I agree with Ralph on the subject of certificate of hardship. One of our most challenging situations here in Townsend is work permits issued by a previous building inspector without it being referred to the HDC first, resulting in significant exterior changes to  homes within the district that are not period correct and seemingly irreversible.  Wording on a work permit must be must be very detailed or things slide through the cracks. A good and thorough working relationship with the enforcing / permitting entity is critical. Also  we have many residents who are unaware they reside in a Historic District. The relators are not telling the buyers. A project in the works here in Townsend is to send a friendly correspondence to the owners of the homes and buildings in our Districts outlining the procedure for executing exterior work and provide a better understanding of what the HDC oversees and build a good relationship with the home owners. We have already had these properties designated as Historic District on the house cards in the assessors office.Our key success has been providing a data base and visual maps of each address within a district to the building commissioner so that now any application coming to the building dept is first cross referenced to the Historic Districts ensuring we the HDC can protect the character of our Historic Districts.Respectfully,Alisa StruthersChairmanTownsend Historic Districts Commission

    On Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 08:26:48 AM EDT, Ralph Slate via MassHistPres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:  
 
  Hi Chris --
 
 I think the topic of hardship within the context of MGL 40C is not well understood.
 
 
 If the construction or alteration for which an application for a certificate of appropriateness has been filed shall be determined to be inappropriate, or in the event of an application for a certificate of hardship, the commission shall determine whether, owing to conditions especially affecting the building or structure involved, but not affecting the historic district generally, failure to approve an application will involve a substantial hardship, financial or otherwise, to the applicant and whether such application may be approved without substantial detriment to the public welfare and without substantial derogation from the intent and purposes of this chapter. If the commission determines that owing to such conditions failure to approve an application will involve substantial hardship to the applicant and approval thereof may be made without such substantial detriment or derogation, or in the event of failure to make a determination on an application within the time specified in section eleven, the commission shall cause a certificate of hardship to be issued to the applicant. 
 
 Especially this part:
 
 > owing to conditions especially affecting the building or structure involved, but not affecting the historic district generally
 
 ... which explains that something which affects the historic district generally (such as energy efficiency) is not a qualification to find hardship. Also, Massachusetts case law has established that 40C hardship cannot be self-imposed (i.e. arguing that it would be a hardship to undo unpermitted work, or even perhaps someone who purchases a house with a known problem, such as a deteriorated porch, and then immediately applies for demolition on the basis that their current financial situation is a hardship to repair).
 
 
 Ralph Slate
 Springfield, MA
 
 On 4/26/2023 4:35 PM, Chris Skelly via MassHistPres wrote:
  
 
 
Hello, this question is for those commissions reviewing projects within a local historic district.  I am preparing an interactive design review training exercise for a local historic district commission. 
 
 
The goal is to provide challenging examples to the commission and generate discussion, so they will be better positioned to review similar challenging applications in the future.  
 
So far, sample projects within the exercise include window replacement, solar panels, public art, a stand-alone accessory dwelling unit, a replacement fence and a historic sign alteration.  
 
What other types of projects do you think should be included within a 90-minute design review exercise?
 
What recent projects have come before your commission that you didn’t expect, struggled with as a commission or found very complicated to review.  If you have any ideas, I would very much like to hear more about them.  All of the examples in the exercise become fictionalized.  So, nothing is tied to a certain community.  
 
Chris
 -- 
   Chris Skelly Skelly Preservation Services Community Planning and Preservation www.skellypreservationservices.com ccskelly12 at gmail.com    
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