The Town of Lincoln, MA - Minutes

Nancy Soulette, 1 Woods End Road This is a continuation of the May 2 public hearing. Some of the members made a site visit to 1 Woods End Road to view a brown tarp put up to get a sense of what the fence will look like from a public way. The Commission received a letter from Nancy Soulette detailing some of the personal reasons for the fence and the compromises she has made with regard to the erecting of this fence. The members also received a letter from Ted and Barbara Leggat of 81 Baker Bridge Road expressing their support for the project. Lucretia Giese stated that although she was sympathetic with Ms. Soulettes desire for privacy, the Commission should not confuse neighbor disputes with historic significance of an area. She showed the members a 1939 map of the area and a 1940 photo showing its complete openness. She wants to be careful that a precedent isnt set for future fences in the Woods End Road area. Ken Hurd felt that the impact of this fence would be less than the addition to the Breuer house. He felt that the fence was a sensitive solution. A suggestion to lower the fence to 5 feet instead of 6 feet was made. Ken Hurd stated that he felt Ms. Soulette gains more by keeping the fence at 6 feet than the Commission gains by dropping it 1 foot. Angela Seaborg said that the first panel closest to Woods End Road would be lowered to 5 feet as agreed to at the site visit. Walter Bogner of 9 Woods End Road said that he was responsible for the 1940 photo and voiced no opposition to the Soulette fence stating that the people across from him had horses and quite a solid fence at one time. After a brief discussion, a motion was made to approve the installation of a fence as show on the plan dated May 9, 2006 and as seen at the site visit on May 6. The motion was seconded and approved 5-1. Colin Smith, Ken Hurd, Andrew Ory, Ruth Wales and Kerry Glass approved the fence and Lucretia Giese opposed. Colin Smith will issue the Certificate of Appropriateness with specific wording to apply to this fence.