Loading...
Historic District Commission - 10 25 2017 - edited notesCITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES COMMITTEE /COMMISSION: Historic District Commission SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: October 25, 2017 LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street MEMBERS PRESENT: William Finch - Chair, Suzanne LaMont - Vice Chair, Martin Lian, Wendy Pearl, Jim Younger ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: Emily Hutchings, Caroline Mason RECORDER: Travis Lovett Finch calls the meeting to order at 7:OOpm. Discussion - Private Property Owners for Historic Properties Hutchings was most interested in Somerville's program for private property owners. Somerville's local preservation committee funds private projects in the local historic district between $5,000 and $15,000. Pearl said Somerville will designate a specific building as a historic district. Finch said Beverly had a preservation award program about 30 years ago and he would like to see the historic plaque program reinvigorated. He recommends contacting a plaque company in Providence. LaMont said that Swampscott offers preservation awards. Younger said there needs to be a public benefit for privately owned projects to be approved, but he would be in favor of funding private projects if that benefit is clear. Pearl said preservation of Livermore House is a public benefit, even if the public never goes into the house. Finch said he could see funding a historic storefront. Pearl said Somerville has a clear rationale for funding properties. Younger is thinking about properties that are visible, like a storefront or something you would see from the street. Finch said private properties need to be determined eligible and filed with the state historic commission in order to be eligible for funding. Pearl would want the property to be filed with Massachusetts Historical Commission. Somerville's program is a reimbursement program, Hutchings said. Pearl said a program like Somerville's with a strong recapture program with a local district and national district. Lian said houses have rehabilitation versus upkeep. The issue being presented at Livermore House is that the windows have expensive upkeep. Finch asked if there was a requirement to put a matching program in place. Younger said there were plenty of projects that did not get funded with CPA. Younger said they have enough to do without opening that door. Capital investments have to do with extending the life of the property, Pearl said. Pearl asked who would administer a small grant program. Pearl said there would need to be additional support Historic District Commission October 25, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 4 from the city to make that happen. Hutchings asked if this is something that Historic Beverly could assist with. Pearl said the Historic District Commission could potentially propose a framework to the Community Preservation Committee. LaMont said the Historic District Commission would have to have a special grant agreement with recapture clause and compliance with the Secretary of the Interior standards. Finch said in order for it to work to administer this program, someone will need to handle administrative issues, collect applications, and go out into the field to review applications. Younger said creating a more defined framework to limit the amount of money. Pearl doesn't want to require an easement. Finch asked what happens if the property owner sells the house. Pearl said this is program is essentially a loan. Pearl said that properties should be within the historic district or listed on the national register. Pearl asked Hutchings to see some draft language to recapture funds for a grant agreement. Finch said it would be great to find out if there is a matching fund criteria in other cities or towns. Younger said establishing criteria for private homeowners to apply for preservation funds would give the Community Preservation Committee a sense of how to move forward with private projects. Finch asked if the Community Preservation Committee could set aside funding as a rolling grant. Mason said a program like this would incentivize private homeowners. Finch said he would like to reinvigorate the historic plaque program. Private homeowners have to pay for the plaques and Finch said there is a professional in Providence who was responsible for making the historic plaques in Beverly. Hutchings said she will talk to Historic Salem. The homeowner would be responsible for providing information for the plaque and verifying it. Historic Beverly could provide research, Hutchings said. Awards were given out every year during Beverly Homecoming, Finch said, adding that the problem is finding enough projects that are worthy of consideration. Finch said awards don't need to be given every year. Pearl would propose giving Harborlight Community Partners an award for rehabilitating the property at One Monument Square. Finch said he sees a lot of bad work done in the name of adaptive reuse. Procedural notes Finch said for issuing a denial of Certificate of Appropriateness that a written reason for denial should be forwarded to the Building Department in addition to sending a denial to the property owner. He said that the chairman reviewing any property should make a determination within 10 business days of the Planning Department receiving the application. Finch said that city officials are sometimes handed documents that end up with the Planning Department. He encourages the Planning Department to date stamp all documents they receive. Historic District Commission October 25, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 4 LaMont said the language about demolition delay is awkward and the language should read "a property must be found historically significant and preferably preserved" in order for a demolition delay to be invoked. Finch said the issuance of the permit is triggered by the applicant filing a permit to demolish a building. Finch recommended that the Planning Department shall submit a letter to the Building Department. Pearl would say the letter should include "without any delay indicated." Finch said these ordinances have been carefully structured to address procedural matters in issuing a permit. Finch recommends looking at the wording in the ordinance to ensure that the delay is in the issuance of a permit, not the actual demolition. Finch said all other permits need to be in place for a demolition to take place on a site. Finch said if a building is determined to be preferably preserved, that is what triggers the demolition delay. The designation of "preferably preserved" automatically delays the issuance of the permit. Pearl motions to approve rules of procedure as amended. Younger seconds the motion. The motion carries 5 -0. Revised Application for Non - applicability and Hardship The new document does not say Fish Flake Hill Historic District. Finch said on the list of check boxes on the revised document that there should be a check box for repairs. Finch said an alteration could be construed as creating something new. A Certificate of Non - Applicability is meant for minor repairs, Finch said. Pearl recommended having a box for major repairs and minor repairs. Pearl said to also keep the "other" box and to strike painting from the boxes. Pearl said the Salem applications has information about who is applying and she would like to incorporate owner's information including email. Salem reviews a mammoth number of properties, Finch said. Finch said to reconcile the two lists to include photos, site plans, elevation plans, catalog cuts, drawings, and dimensions. Finch said that a category for mechanical equipment would cover solar panels, satellite dishes, transformers, heat pumps, and any other technical additions. Responsibilities of Alternate Committee Members There is nothing in the Beverly ordinance that expands on state law, but an alternate member may vote when additional members are needed for quorum. If all five members are present, the alternate member(s) may not vote, but the alternate member(s) may participate in discussion. Alternates are not required to come to meetings. Aaron Clausen proposed adding as an alternate member to the Historic District Commission. There are four design review board members with expiring terms, Hutchings said. Ongoing Projects The Historic Resources Survey has been put out to bid, Hutchings said. LaMont said the GAR Hall project is in Phase 1A (hiring a designer). Hutchings said a Preservation Restriction for the Beverly Powder House has been drafted and she will email it to the HDC. Historic District Commission October 25, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 4 Finch said the Beverly Powder House was built in the 18th century and that the house is in its original site. Hutchings said the Beverly Powder House doesn't invite public access. Finch said pictures in the late 19th century that show the Powder House in an undeveloped area. Pearl would be interested to know if the boundary survey is happening with respect to the Powder House property. Tentative Historic District Commission Meeting Dates for the Rest of the Year • November 15th, 7pm • December 20th, 7pm Hutchings said if there is no new business, she will contact everyone to cancel meetings. Other Business LaMont said Beverly Golf and Tennis and GAR Hall shouldn't be competing for the same grant funds. Hutchings said there was very little discussion of other funding sources for the Beverly Golf and Tennis, Carriage House, and GAR Hall projects. Hutchings said Staff at Beverly Golf and Tennis were worried that the Golf and Tennis building will need a complete renovation. Lian said Carriage House needs more work as it has no bathroom and no heat. Lian said Lynch Park is strictly public use and Pearl said she is curious about the strategy behind favoring Beverly Golf and Tennis for funding. Pearl said they shouldn't give money to repair operating systems. The Golf and Tennis building should have a plan for historic characteristics, Finch said. Adjournment Younger motions to adjourn the meeting at 9:15pm. LaMont seconds the motion. The motion carries 5 -0. The next Historic District Commission meeting will be held in Beverly City Hall at 7pm on November 15th. Historic District Commission October 25, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 4