HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-09-19
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HISTORIC DISTRICTS COMMISSION
A meeting of the Historic Districts Commission was held at
8 P.M. on Wednesday, September 19, 1979 in the Selectmen's Room,
Town Office Building, Lexington. Present were Commissioners John
R. Packard, Chairman; Georgia H. Williams, Secretary, John L. Davies,
S. Lawrence Whipple; and Associate Commissioners Linda J. McAulay,
Richard S. Morehouse and Howard C. Nason.
Continuing its discussion of September 12, the Commission voted
to approve the selection of Benjamin Moore's "Putnam Ivory" for the
trim color of Amy and Nelson Gore's home at 822 Massachusetts Avenue.
This followed an on-site inspection by Commissioners Whipple and
Williams, ably assisted by Mrs. McAulay.
At 9:15 Michael Doran came in to discuss two possible designs
for a tool shed at Pine Grove Village. He was advised that a formal
hearing would be needed, and was requested to furnish a sketch show-
ing color selections for all buildings in Pine Grove Village, includ-
ing the tool shed, and the location of the tool shed.
The rest of the evening, before and after Mr. Doran's presenta-
tion, was devoted to'a frank discussion of the conduct of the Commis-
sion's business, an idea conceived by Mr. Whipple and approved by all
members.
Mr. Packard opened this discussion by reading from his draft
of suggested changes in the town sign. by-law, to see if the Commis-
sion as a whole wished to endorse this kind of participation in law-
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making beyond its immediate jurisdiction. It was agreed that we
are interested in promoting "Projecting" signs (those hanging out
over the sidewalk at right angles to a storefront) for the first
floor of such stores, particularly for a group of stores like those
in the Giroux Building, where the sidewalk is wide and the windows
narrow. We are also interested in seeking restrictions on space
devoted to signs affixed to the interior of store windows and doors.
Mr. Packard was authorized to submit a draft dealing with these
points to Mr. Friedman, Chairman of the Planning Board.
Mr. Whipple then took up the subject of communications {or
lack of same) with property owners in the historic districts and
with other town boards. A recent example of a breakdown in such i~
communications occurred when the Building Department approved vinyl
siding for a house at 4-6 Pleasant Street, within the East Village
District, a fact neither the Building Department nor the property
owner seemed to know until it was too late to matter. Mr. Packard
said the Building Department regretted their action and would take
steps to prevent a recurrence. It was agreed that he should advise
the property owner to request a formal hearing for the record. He
was also asked to write to Mr. DeMatteo, the building commisioner to
see if he has a list of persons owning property within the historic
districts, to whom a form letter might be sent reminding them of our
jurisdiction.
This discussion led to the related subject of what the Commission
should do about known violations of its statute, which usually take
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the form of work done or signs hung without approval, although
occasionally there are cases of work done not in accordance with a
certificate issued by the Commission. We agreed that there are
numerous violations, some, perhaps, out of ignorance of our juris-
diction, but more of a wilful nature. Mr. Packard pointed out that
we always have the option of taking violators to ~cscxrt,, but Mr.
Davies advised, quite rightly in the Chairman's opinion, that we
should resort to the courts only for serious violations. This is
an expensive procedure for the Town, and there were no suggestions
of cases now requiring such action. The members were reminded of
a form letter prepared some time ago for mailing to violators, and
the Chairman said he would be glad to sign and mail them if the mem-
bers would first complete them.
We also discussed the problem of "continuity." Many informal
hearings occur prior to the formal ones, and the members listening
to the first presentation are not always the same ones who vote on it
later. Given the volunteer nature of our work, and the many other
commitments of the members, this is not surprising.
It was suggested that it might help if we had guidelines -
written standards of what is "appropriate" and what is not. As one
example, we could take an official opinion on vinyl siding. After
discussion, however, there was a consensus in favor of examining each
case on its own merits, even at the risk of "inconsistency" or the
appearance of it. Some areas are more "historic" than others, and
the vinyl siding that would not be appropriate near the Common might
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bring a marked improvement to an old multi-family house in
East Lexington. This sort. of thing makes it difficult to codify
our work.
There was also discussion of the procedures, as distin-
guished from the substance, of our meetings, which discussion
might be summarized as follows:
1. At times too many members talk at once, either among
themselves, or with the applicants. There was little enthusiasm
for formalizing the proceedings, but we did all urge ourselves
to become more conscious of this problem and try to curb our
tongues a bit.
2. It was noted that most decisions are rendered at the
conclusion of the hearing, and suggested that some cases should
not be decided so quickly, but only after there had been time to
think about them and once in a while to make an on-site inspection
of the premises in question. This point was well taken, in the
chairman's opinion, and he will try to be more alert to the cases
calling for this kind of patient deliberation.
3. It was also noted that the chairman does not read his
certificates to the members for their comments or corrections.
I; This has been done (or not done, if you will) to save the time
of all concerned, and to expedite issuance of the certificates,
but after discussion it was plain to the chairman that decisions
of particular importance, or those inviting controversy, should
be reviewed by the Commission before being officially issued,
and this will be done in the future.
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4. We discussed the possibilities of gathering a library
of research material, and of finding space for our records in
the town offices. The former appears. to be too large an under-
taking, and the latter not feasible for a public body doing
most of its best work by night.
The meeting adjourned at 11 P. M.
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