HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-26-HDC447-minMinutes of the Historic Districts Commission
Ad Hoc Ch. 447 Revisions Study Committee
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Parker Room, Town Office Building
1625 Massachusetts Avenue
2:00 pm
Committee Members Present: Susan Bennett, Dan Fenn, Fred Johnson, and Marilyn Fenollosa.
Anne Eccles, Chair was absent so Ms. Fenollosa acted as chair for the meeting. The meeting was
called to order at 2:10 pm by Ms. Fenollosa.
1. Discussion of Proposed Change of HDC Nominating Body — Article 26 on Town
Warrant.
Ms. Fenollosa reviewed the text of the proposed Warrant Article as well as letters from the
Lexington Arts and Crafts Society agreeing to its removal and the Lexington Chamber of
Commerce agreeing to its appointment. The Committee had no questions concerning these
documents.
Mr. Fenn suggested that the article be placed on the Consent Agenda to expedite approval. Ms.
Fenollosa agreed to contact the Select Board (SB) to ask if this could be done.
Ms. Bennett asked if approval of the article would mean that the Ad Hoc Committee could be
disbanded. Ms. Fenollosa responded that there were still items in the Chapter 447 legislation that
needed to be changed, but that this Article was a test case to determine SB and Town Meeting's
willingness to make changes to the Act. Accordingly, it would be premature to disband.
Mr. Fenn suggested that the Act be amended to control interior changes to a building that could
be viewed from a public way, but all agreed that this would most likely not be possible.
Mr. Johnson suggested that the sign regulations could be improved to prevent inappropriate
signage inside buildings that was visible from the public way, and noted that Arlington had
implemented comprehensive regulations some years ago. Ms. Bennett will investigate.
Mr. Fenn suggested that the committee find out who would be writing the Article description for
the TMMA Information Booklet, to be sure it was correctly stated. Ms. Fenollosa agreed to look
into the matter.
2. Approval of September 25, 2019 meeting minutes
Because there was not a quorum of committee members who had been present at the
September 25, 2019, approval was deferred to a subsequent meeting.
3. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 3:20 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Fenollosa
The following documents were presented at the meeting:
1. Text of Town Meeting Warrant Article 26
2. Text of Special Act Chapter 447, Section 4 with proposed changes indicated
3. Lexington Arts and Crafts Society letter to Select Board dated January 30, 2020
4. Lexington Chamber of Commerce letter to Select Board (undated) received January 31, 2020
5. Draft minutes of Ad Hoc Committee meeting held on September 25, 2019