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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