HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-25-HDC447-minMinutes of the Historic Districts Commission
Ad Hoc Ch. 447 Revisions Study Committee
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Hudson Room, Cary Memorial Hall
1605 Massachusetts Avenue
10:00 am
Committee Members Present: Anne Eccles, Chair; Susan Bennett, Norm Cohen, Dan Fenn,
and Lester Savage. Marilyn Fenollosa attended remotely by phone. Fred Johnson was absent.
The meeting was called to order at 10:3 lam by Ms. Eccles.
1. Opening. Ms. Eccles welcomed the committee members present and opened the meeting
with a summation of their 2018-2019 public meetings.
2. Discussion of Proposed Change of HDC Nominating Body.
Ms. Eccles began the discussion with an explanation of several meetings she has attended
with Doug Lucente, Chair, and Suzie Barry from the Select Board and Jim Malloy, Town
Manager, regarding changes to the Historic Districts Commission's enabling legislation,
Chapter 447. Foremost for the Select Board is replacing the Lexington Arts & Crafts
Society nominating role with Lexington's Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Eccles explained
she has had several conversations with Arts & Crafts and they do not see their role in
nominating candidates as a natural fit for them any longer. Les Savage has contacted the
Chamber to affirm their strong interest in taking on this role now. Ms. Eccles explained
that following this single change through the entire process, including through the State
Legislature, would be a worthwhile project, supported by the Select Board and the larger
community. Mr. Fenn asked if opening up the Chapter 447 to changes would
inadvertently allow modifications not desired by either this Ad Hoc body or the HDC
itself. Ms. Eccles assured him that she felt confident that this single change would be a
strong, protected process. Mr. Savage pointed out that in his research regarding 40C and
other individual enabling legislations, many were modified more frequently than
Lexington's and that this change might clarify that Chapter 447 is, indeed, a living
document. Ms. Bennett affirmed that as a goal of the updating process. Following the
discussion a roll call vote was held and six affirmative votes were recorded to create an
article changing from Arts & Crafts as an HDC nominating body to the Chamber, for
Town Meeting Spring 2020. Ms. Eccles agreed she would bring up this change with the
HDC at the November meeting.
3. Guidelines.
A general discussion followed on the new HDC draft guidelines, with particular emphasis
on the proposed Certificate of Hardship. Ms. Eccles expressed that many communities
offered this certification, as a way of noting an exception from the HDC's normal
approvals, and that hardship was listed as a consideration in Chapter 447. Mr. Fenn felt
that it was a risky thing to suggest a general concept of hardship and Ms. Bennett felt that
it wasn't clear what it referred to. Ms. Fenollosa then explained that a definition would
come from 40A, Zoning exceptions, and said she would forward that exact wording. But
in essence hardship refers to unique qualities of the structure or site, not to personal
hardship of the applicant. Ms. Bennett suggested that clarifying this definition in the
final HDC Guidelines would be important to do. The Ad Hoc Committee agreed to study
this issue further to be able to guide the final Guidelines.
4. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 11.24am.
Respectfully submitted,
Anne Laurin Eccles
No documents were presented at the meeting.
Draft 9/25/19