Historic District Commission Minutes - 11 16 2016CITY OF BEVERLY
PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES
COMMITTEE /COMMISSION: Historic District Commission
SUBCOMMITTEE:
DATE: November 16, 2016
LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street
MEMBERS PRESENT: William Finch — Chair, Martin Lian, Wendy Pearl, Suzanne
LaMont, and James Younger
OTHERS PRESENT: Allison Crosbie — Associate Planner, Dan Finn, Trustee of
M.T.S Realty Trust, Jim Finn, and Karen Tompkins
RECORDER: Travis Lovett
Finch calls the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
Certificate of Appropriateness — 27 Front Street and 42 Water Street
Dan Finn, a trustee of M. T. S. Realty Trust gives the Historic District Commission members an
update on renovations to property he owns at 27 Front Street and 42 Water Street. He applied
His son, Jim Finn, is also present to answer questions. Karen Tompkins, who lives next to the
property, is also present to answer questions from commission members.
Finn said that Beverly residents know his property as the New England Divers building. It was
built in the 1950's and has been unoccupied the last couple of years. Undersea Divers, a
business that has been in operation at 42 Water Street for more than 15 years, will continue to
operate. Finn wants to install new windows and new doors. He also wants to add two decks, one
on the roof of an existing pool and one at the end of a pool building. One of the two decks will
be used by an apartment unit. Finn said they are not adding to the footprint of the building. The
pool on the property was installed in the early -to -mid 1970's and has not been in operation for
several years. The pool, which is approximately 10 feet deep, is completely covered by a deck.
Finn said the parking for the unit will be all along Front Street. He said that the parking situation
on Water Street is an issue and that he has no intent of creating more parking problems. Finn's
family also owns property at 8 Front Street and 10 Front Street. They are not adding to the
footprint of the building.
Finch asks Finn about parking spaces. Finn said there will be four parking spots to the left of the
property and four parking spots to the right of the property. Finch looked at the proposed
window changes to the property and said that the proposed changes looked to be positive in his
opinion. Finn said the window frames will be dark brown and made of aluminum clad. Younger
asked about whether or not the steel posts will be round beams or I -beams and Finn said the steel
posts will be I- beams, but he is not sure what color the beams will be.
Karen Tompkins, a neighbor who lives at 52 Water Street, said she initially had concerns about
water drainage onto her property, but she thinks that this will not be an issue after meeting with
Dan Finn. Tompkins said she thinks the property renovation will be a welcome addition to the
neighborhood.
Lian asked if the pool is still functioning and Finn said the pool is no longer functioning, but that
the pool can still be accessed. Finn said at one point there used to be scuba diving lessons in the
pool. The pool could potentially be used as storage and Finn said the deck is structurally sound
as the pool wall is made of concrete. LaMont said the first and only underwater Monopoly game
was played in the New England Divers pool.
LaMont asked who owned the dive shop building and what would happen with the facade of the
dive shop. Finn said he owned the Dive Shop building and the long -term plan is for the dive
shop to stay. Finn said the dive shop will be painted and that zoning currently allows for
residential use in a commercial building. Finch said he presumes that there are no plans to add
another story to the building and Finn said that was correct.
Finch asks how to treat the uncertainties of the detailing and said he assumes that everyone finds
the project to be appropriate. It's a modern building and doesn't have the issues of a historical
building, Finch said. Younger said the commission members could approve the concepts within
the plan and hold a final review. Pearl asks whether the submittal of materials would be
presented in a public hearing. Younger says that the meeting could be open to the public and not
be a "public hearing." Finn said he talked with a fair amount of people.
Lian suggested making a motion to approve the certificate of appropriateness with a condition
that siding details be addressed by a conditional certificate of appropriateness. Pearl raised a
concern about the precedent this might set with a project without details worked out. Pearl said
she worries about details needed to issue a certificate and suggests continuing the hearing. Pearl
said as a public process, every other project in a historic district has to bring complete plans to
issue a certificate. Finch said if the certificate was necessary for financing to go through or if
Finn needed it for construction activities for a permit, then the committee could move forward.
Finn said he wants to cut windows for the property while it's not freezing cold. Finn said they
would need a permit for that. Finn said the windows match up with the bedrooms and meet the
state code. Finn is seeking approval to cut doors and windows. Younger says they can issue a
conditional approval for the windows as drawn as phase one of the project. Since siding and
treatment of metal structural posts have not been decided yet, that would be phase two of the
proj ect.
Younger motions conditional approval of the project with phase one being the
reconfiguration of the windows and the doors using dark bronze anodized aluminum with
other details being finalized in a future vote. Lian seconds the motion. The motion carries
5 -0.
Historic Resource Survey Update
Crosbie said the historic survey is almost done. There are four outstanding surveys. She said the
plan is to publicize new surveys and take them to the library. LaMont said she would be willing
to start a Facebook page to publicize the survey results. Pearl said the CPC asked city officials
about the social media policy and said there were several restrictions. Crosbie said she would
investigate the matter further. Crosbie said they were hoping to get the surveys done in early
December and to provide a map. Pearl said they did a great job and it was a lot to manage.
Approval of Minutes from April 13, 2016
LaMont said to amend the vice chair listing. Pearl makes a motion to approve the minutes as
amended and LaMont seconds the amendment. The motion carries 5 -0.
New /Other Business
LaMont asked for an update on the Edenic Development application. Pearl said CPC did not
recommend it for funding and said the application was for a feasibility study. Pearl said the
Town of Acton was being sued to not use CPA funds to support religious projects, so the Beverly
CPC members kept that in mind when considering the Edenic Development project.
Pearl asked a question about the Powder House project and wonders if there's a preservation
restriction that needs to be placed on that building. Finch asked who could hold the restriction
and said it would cost money to create a record documenting the restriction. Pearl said the CPC
could assign administrative funds to monitor properties. Younger said it would be better to ask
Historic New England or another mission to monitor properties. Younger said he would be
worried about putting a preservation restriction on the property. Finch said the Historic District
Commission has a restriction on a property on the Hardy Building which houses Montserrat
College. Finch said authority to monitor properties can be assigned to outside agencies, such as
Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) or the Historic District Commission. A
preservation restriction would be appropriate to protect paint to its original use, Finch said.
Finch said that neglect by the city could be a concern.
Pearl said the holding and monitoring would have to be by someone else. Finch said an
institution or individual will have the power to enforce a restriction if they become the
responsible entity. Younger said MHC is probably good for an assessment.
Endicott College has proposed building a 100 bed graduate student residence on property at 310,
320, and 322 Hale Street, Crosbie said. She said it is a tough site to build on. Crosbie 310 Hale
Street was built in 1925 while 320 Hale Street was built in 1800 and 322 Hale Street was built in
1955. Finch said the question is whether to hold a hearing to discuss plans for the property.
Pearl said for three properties, they will need to hold a hearing. Crosbie said there are three
separate applications. LaMont said the 1800 building must have been a barn at one point. Lian
said the property did not look like a house. Finch said whatever structural building exists from
1800 is completely covered up. Finch said there may concerns about this project from the
neighbors near Endicott. Lian asked if the landscape was a basis for concern. Finch said it's not
a concern. Pearl said stone wall demolition or alteration could be a concern. Pearl said the
property is adjacent to a scenic highway. Finch said the property at 310 Hale Street isn't
extraordinary. Crosbie said the distinct part of the house is away from the road. Pearl said she
wanted to know more about the house. Finch said the other house (320 Hale Street) is much
rarer than 310 Hale Street. Pearl said Historic District Commission members are responsible for
protecting the public interest. Pearl and Younger said they would like to know more about 320
Hale Street. Younger said the property at 322 Hale Street poses no concern. Finch said in a 10
day period, it is possible to make a request to go into the building and determine whether or not
the homes are historically significant. LaMont asked about protecting the streetscape. Building
a dormitory there could pose a concern, LaMont said. Finch asked whether the committee has
the authority to be concerned with the historic streetscape. Pearl said "we probably don't."
Younger said to have a hearing so that there could be other people to come forward. He said they
may be concerns. Younger suggests to keep all three properties in the hearing.
Adjournment and Next Meeting
Younger motions to adjourn, Pearl second motion to adjourn. The motion carries 5 -0 and
the meeting adjourns at 8:15pm. The Beverly Historic District Commission is scheduled to
meet at 7:00pm on December 14, 2016 in Beverly City Hall.