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Home My WebLink About2014-09-17-HC-min HISTORICAL COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES September 17, 2014 Call to Order: A public meeting of the Historical Commission was held in Learning Center at the Cary Memorial Library, 1874 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA on September 17, 2014. The meeting convened at 6:30 pm. Historical Commission Members in Attendance: Mr. David Kelland, Chair, Mr. Wendall Kaslow, Ms. Marilyn Fenollosa AGENDA ITEM #1 (6:30pm) Public hearing on roof line change application for 86 Gleason Road APPLICANT(S) PRESENT: Sarah Bloomer (Homeowner), Hannah Levy representing Colin Smith Architecture, Inc. ABUTTER(S) PRESENT: None DOCUMENT(S): Pictures of current interior and exterior of home Architectural plans- Colin Smith Architecture, Inc. 1666 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA 02420 781- 274-0955 SUMMARY: Hannah states Sarah lives in a small cape and was looking to get more living space with minor alterations including raising the roof and adding a shed dormer on rear of home. Sarah wanted to add a bedroom and a nd bathroom on 2 floor while keeping the original Gable of home. They noted they are not changing the footprint of the yard. Sarah states she still wants to keep the house small and modest. HC COMMENTS: Mr. David Kelland questioned where the addition was going and wanted to make sure they were not raising the roof in the front of them home. Mr. Wendall Kaslow states it falls under their review but he doesn’t have a problem with approving. Mr. Kelland discusses the roof demolition and if it includes all or just part of the roof. Mr. Wendall Kaslow thinks it’s a good idea to keep part of their jurisdiction because even extending a roof line by four feet will make a dramatic difference. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None MOTION: Moved by Wendall Kaslow and seconded, to accept modifications as being appropriate and not detrimental. VOTE: 3-0 in favor for plans submitted on 9/17/2014 and plans dated 7/9/2014. AGENDA ITEM: # 2 (6:41pm) Public hearing on partial building demolition and roof line change application for 25 Forest Street APPLICANT(S) PRESENT: Peter Daus-Haberle (Architect), Kevin McDonnell (owner) Nadi McDonnell (owner) ABUTTER(S) PRESENT: None DOCUMENT(S): Project specifications Architectural drawings by Peter Daus-Haberle, 63. N. Hancock St. Lexington, MA 781-862-5876 SUMMARY: Peter states he is adding an addition to the back of the house. Owners wanted to make sure any addition to the house didn’t overwhelm, the home and wanted to make sure it fit with the existing architecture of the house. Peter said the homeowners wanted to keep the same roofline and to keep the addition on the rear of home. They decided this was the best way to add square footage but still preserve the nature of the house. HC COMMENTS: David Kelland wants to make sure they were not building above the existing roofline. He also wants to know what is happening to the chimney. Mr. Wendall Kaslow states he is pleased. Ms. Marilyn Fenollosa explains this is precisely the kind of thing they want to see happen instead of a tear down. They are improving their needs but keeping the character of the house. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None MOTION: moved by Ms. Marilyn Fenollosa, and seconded, to approve the project that is proposed based on these plans submitted on this date. (9/17/2014) VOTE: 3-0 in favor. AGENDA ITEM # 3 (6:50 pm) Communications from the Public None AGENDA ITEM # 4 (6:50 pm) Demolition Delay Bylaw discussion: Mr. Wendall Kaslow wanted to discuss the demo delay by-law. He states as the economy is improving, the demo delay by-law is becoming less and less effective. He thinks there are a number of groups in Lexington that don’t like the by-law and it is affecting our historic resources. There is a group on one side that thinks the Historical Commission is controlling and one group that feels that they have been ineffective. Mr. David Kelland states the last time anything was done was when they originally implemented the by-law to one year but that there is no legal recourse to preventing someone from demolishing their home. One could increase effectiveness by asking Town Meeting to increase to 18 months. Ms. Marilyn Fenollosa feels like there will be difficulty in getting this passed. Mr. Kaslow goes on to state that the demo by-law is an ineffective tool and maybe a good place to start is to look at the planning and zoning regulations in the surrounding towns where demolishing homes is not as popular. Mr. Wendall Kaslow is expressing frustrations that the board members have been expressing for many years. He cites that there is no solution but smaller things can help: develop broad support and surveying surrounding towns’ by-laws. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None AGENDA ITEM # 5 (7:04 pm) Discussion of projects for CLG report: No additions to the CLG report. PUBLIC COMMENTS: AGENDA ITEM # 6 (7:05 pm) Updates on Meriam Hill Meriam Hill Association has asked the board to redraw the boundaries so that every property is in the purview of the area form. Marilyn Fenollosa states that there is disconnect for what each group considers historic. Each of the properties added will be triggering the demo by-law. Instead of adding each property to the area form, they will write their own district data sheet which will not include every property in Meriam Hill. Ms. Marilyn Fenollosa, Ann Grady, and Sally Zimmerman went through and deleted houses post 1950. Marilyn Fenollosa cites there needs to be a public hearing, potentially in November. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None AGENDA ITEM # 7 (7:25 pm) Discussion of RFP for survey of Priorities List properties Sally Zimmerman is working on the Priorities list using the Mass Historical model when giving grants to do surveys. They will review list and pick the ones that need to be documented. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None AGENDA ITEM # 8 (7:30 pm) Updates No updates discussed. AGENDA ITEM # 9 (7:30 pm) Approval of Historical Commission Minutes from July 16, 2014 and August 20, 2014 meetings. No approval of meeting minutes. Will readdress July, August and September meeting minutes during the September meeting. AGENDA ITEM: Adjourn MOTION: Moved by Mr. David Kelland, and seconded, to adjourn meeting. Meeting adjourned: 7:35 PM (EST)