Loading...
Historic District Commission - 9 27 2017 - edited notesCITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES COMMITTEE /COMMISSION: Historic District Commission SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: September 27, 2017 LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street MEMBERS PRESENT: William Finch - Chair, Suzanne LaMont - Vice Chair, and Wendy Pearl ABSENT: Martin Lian, James Younger OTHERS PRESENT: Emily Hutchings, Dan Lohnes RECORDER: Travis Lovett Finch calls the meeting to order at 7:10pm. Lohnes said he is happy with the Hale House Preservation Restriction. Hutchings said nothing substantial changed legally. The legal department tweaked one sentence in reference to Hale House. The preservation restriction now protects the "historic structure" instead of the premises. Finch said the Historic District Commission holds the preservation restriction. Pearl said the chimney work was funded by the Community Preservation Act. Lohnes said the chimney work is covered under the new restriction, but the grant did not sufficiently trigger a separate preservation restriction for it. Lohnes said the preservation restriction is in perpetuity. Pearl motions that based on further review of the preservation restriction to approve the restriction, LaMont seconds the motion. The motion carries 3 -0. Preservation Easement Program for Private Properties Page two of the guidance should say "preservation easement program," LaMont said. Pearl said that the Livermore House was one example where private properties are seeking city funding to preserve their properties in exchange for some kind of restriction or agreement. Pearl attended a forum called CPA in the city. Pearl said Cambridge officials do not place restrictions upon private properties. Pearl said they suggested to create a memorandum of understanding with some financial stipulations that would allow for the city to recapture funding if the property is not maintained. Pearl said Cambridge has a much greater capacity to support such programs. Pearl said the funds would come from CPA. Finch said he administered the 312 loan program in Lawrence and homeowners will do all sorts of things to be eligible for funds. This can be a real nightmare to administer, Finch said. Is this something like the demo /delay process, Hutchings asked? There are administrative funds in CPA to provide logistical support, Pearl said. The Community Preservation Historic District Commission September 27, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 3 Committee makes all decisions on funding and staff provide logistical support. Funding recommendations are made to the city council. Disbursements are made as proposed in the final agreement. Pearl is interested in determining whether or not the Livermore House is an outlier. Finch said the core question is "where do you make the cut ?" Finch said most CPA funds don't open up their processes to private individuals. Finch said Brookline or Newton might have programs. Finch said Historic New England has about 100 preservation restrictions in the whole state. There's an endowment fee for yearly visits for Historic New England. Pearl asked if they need to know more about options. Finch is concerned about the pitfalls, but thinks it is worth investigating further. Newburyport doesn't give CPA funds for private properties, Pearl said. Pearl said the city could distribute money to the Beverly Main Streets program. Finch said the grant wouldn't be worth it for Beverly Main Streets. Pearl said the Livermore House application was confusing. The Community Preservation Committee members reviewed the cost for a regular roof versus rehabbing the house with a historic roof. Pearl said there is a preservation premium, but it was not clear in the application what the cost difference was between rehabbing the historic roof and installing a regular roof. Pearl asked if the Historic District Commission would hold a restriction on private projects. Finch said the CPA requires the commission to find a holder. Finch said the Beverly Historical Society could hold the restriction, but Pearl said they would not hold the restriction. Rehabilitation projects do not require a preservation restriction, Pearl said. Property purchase requires a restriction, Pearl said. Finch said a 10 year recapture clause would provide some protection to the investment if homeowners do not abide by project approval guidelines. LaMont said that seems reasonable. Pearl said they could have a maximum award amount for private projects. Pearl said North Andover has a conservation district. Hutchings said she would look into guidelines from Andover or North Andover. Pearl said Gloucester is a nice example. Pearl said the Beverly housing plan says there is a housing shortage. LaMont said she would like to see an adaptive reuse plan in place for properties such as the Briscoe School. Commission Rules and Procedures LaMont said committee rules and procedures should match the City of Beverly ordinance. Finch said the ordinance calls for a quorum of four members, based on city officials appointing seven members to the Historic District Commission. Pearl said there is no need to define the quorum as it is already defined in open meeting law. Finch said some of the guidelines are fairly amorphous. Hutchings said there are some inconsistencies between the functions of a historic district commission and the functions of a historical commission. Finch said meeting minutes should reflect language of approval or denial when reviewing potential projects. Finch said issues with respect to certificates of non - applicability should Historic District Commission September 27, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 be dealt with administratively. Pearl said she would like electronic versions of applications to be shared with the general public with the burden of creating electronic files being placed on the applicant. She said demolition delay applications could be dealt with in this manner as a pilot procedure. Meeting Minutes Approval from August 23, 2017 Pearl motions to approve the meeting minutes as amended. LaMont seconds the motion. The motion carries 3 -0. New Business Pearl said the City Council approved five project recommendations from the Community Preservation Committee. The projects include updating the GAR Hall Facade, replacing the heating system at Beverly Golf and Tennis, restoring historical records through the city clerk's office, repairing the tennis courts at Cahill Park, and making renovations to Colgate Park playground. There will be a public hearing on October 12th at the Beverly Senior Center for potential applicants and the general public to learn more about the Round Five CPA application process. Adjournment LaMont motions to adjourn the meeting at 9:15pm. Pearl seconds the motion. The motion carries 3 -0. Historic District Commission September 27, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3