[MassHistPres] Historic District Commissions -- Review always before Inspectional Services

[Garrett Laws]

Stacy,

No, not all historic commissions function the same way. Newton, Cambridge
and Brookline (who I have the most experience with) are incredibly thorough
and on the ball. Newton and Brookline Historic commissions that are tied
directly to inspectional services, Charlie Sullivan can let us know if
Cambridge is the same as I haven't done a project in the city in a few
years. The permit process is a little involved but is appropriately
thorough. A very small repair in Brookline recently (resoldering a copper
joint on a mansard shelf) required a detailed description of the work to be
done and the location of said work, once approved we were able to apply for
a permit. A similar process was necessary to have the permit signed off on,
stated work approved by historics and then inspection services was able to
sign off on the permit.

I've worked in some towns that issued permits prior to even knowing that a
property was historic, and a number that have signed off on permits prior
to knowing whether historic work was done to the standards of the historic
commission. I hope this is changing rapidly as nearly all permitting is
done online and it seems to me that it wouldn't be all that hard to have a
system similar to the ones Newton and Brookline have that simply won't
allow a permit to be issued without historics being involved.

Many Thanks,
Garrett Laws

The Copper & Slate Company <https://copperandslate.net>

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On Fri, Aug 9, 2024 at 12:12 PM Daniel Byer via MassHistPres <
masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:

> Maybe check with counsel?  For larger projects that need planning board
> site plan review or conservation hearings, we were told that the town
> cannot require an applicant to get those approvals in a specific order.
> But we could continue hearings and wait to close them until other items
> addressed.
>
>
>
> In terms of building permits, in Mendon the HDC is part of the review
> process before a building permit is issued.  In our by-law it states “no
> building permit……shall be issued by the Town…until a certificate as
> required under this bylaw has been issued by the commission”  So our
> approval happens first.   Pretty sure we used the model language from the
> state to create our by-law so this may be standard language.
>
>
>
>
>
> ~Dan Byer
>
>
>
>
>
> Dan Byer
>
> (he/him/his)
>
> Historic Commission* - Chair*
>
> Historic District Commission* - Vice Chair*
>
>
>
> 20 Main St.
>
> Mendon, MA 01756
>
>
>
> Office: 508-458-6707
>
> Cell: 774-481-1321
>
> Fax: 508-478-8241
>
> mendonma.gov
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> *On Behalf Of *Stacy
> Spies via MassHistPres
> *Sent:* Thursday, August 8, 2024 1:35 PM
> *To:* masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
> *Subject:* [MassHistPres] Historic District Commissions -- Review always
> before Inspectional Services
>
>
>
> Are the order of operations for review by historic district commissions
> the same for all towns?  Does the HDC always come before
> permitting/inspectional services/planning board? Is this codified in state
> law?
>
> Here in Hopkinton, our HDC reviews the project before permitting, but I
> realized yesterday that I don't know if the process is standardized.
>
>
>
> Stacy Spies, Chair, Hopkinton HCHDC
>
>
>
> --
>
> *Stacy Spies,* Historic Preservation Consultant
>
> www.stacyspies.com <http://stacyspies.com>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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