Lincoln Historical Commission
Historic District Commission
Meeting Minutes
May 6, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Board Members: Ruth Wales, HDC Chair, LHC/HDC; James Craig, HDC; Kerry Glass, LHC/HDC, Ken Hurd, HDC, Andrew Ory, LHC/HDC
Historian: Jack MacLean
Secretary: Elaine Carroll
Selectman: Sara Mattes
NEXT ANTICIPATED MEETINGS: June 3, 2008, 7:30 p.m., Town Offices
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. A motion was made by Kerry Glass and seconded by Andy Ory to accept the minutes of the April 1 meeting as written. A motion was made by Kerry Glass and seconded by Ruth Wales to accept the minutes of the April 12 site visit minutes and vote as written. Both motions passed unanimously. The members welcomed new Planning Board member James Craig to the HDC.
Informal Discussion:
18 Twin Pond Lane - Angela Seaborg met with the Commission on behalf of the Board of Selectmen with regard to the Hollingsworth project. Angela said that the Selectmen are looking to get a memo from the Commission regarding the Commission's thoughts about the restrictions being placed on this property. Angela said that this property was donated to the Town by Mrs. Hollingsworth to be used for affordable housing with certain stipulations in the will. The Selectmen thought it would be more appropriate to sell the house and use the money for more affordable housing. The restrictions will say that the lot cannot be subdivided. Regarding the historical and architectural aspects of the house, the Town wants to get full value for the house but is concerned about reduced value due to restrictions. The house needs a lot
of work and many would see it as a teardown. Angela said that the Selectmen put some changes in the restriction at their meeting on May 5. This is a 5 acre parcel and the Conservation Restriction would preserve the buffer zone. She feels that people will want to preserve the view and says that the Conservation Restriction is all set. There is less than an acre for a building envelope. The septic system needs to be replaced. The Selectmen hired Architect Gary Wolf who said that the house has architectural significance but could be torn down and rebuilt to maintain the architectural design. The Selectmen felt that they won't be able to maintain value in the property if they did not allow a teardown and said that the new structure should be built with a butterfly roof as the original dwelling. Jack MacLean does not feel that the butterfly roof will be feasible for new construction if allowed to be torn down. Sara Mattes said that
the original intent was to house a Town employee but because of the condition of the house this could create a problem. They could sell the desirable property to the highest bidder. Sara said that Angela has been extremely patient with all the details and felt that the house would sell for only a modest amount if it is to be preserved because there is a lot of work to be done. Ruth Wales said that there were several people in Town taking on the job of refurbishing modern houses. Because of the Gary Wolf report, there will be evidence of the significance of the house in the case of a teardown request. Angela said that the Land Trust will monitor the Conservation Restriction because they have the staff to do the monitoring on a regular basis. There could be a Con. Restriction and a Preservation Restriction, which could affect the sale price. Ken Hurd felt that this issue could be something for the Master Plan Committee to look at. Angela
said that they needed specific feedback on this document. One version includes reconstruction but doesn't say teardown specifically but replacement. The other says teardown in the language. Andy Ory said that he does not want to feel that we are changing the original intent of the document. Ruth Wales said that the HDC wants to support architectural preservation because it will be a model for the future. Andy said that this could be a model for others who may want to leave a house to the Town.
Demolition Delay Review:
70 Todd Pond Road - Dr. Risser came before the LHC to request the demolition of the central part of this house, leaving the garage area on one side and an accessory apartment on the other side. Dr. Risser said that he has lived in the house since 1985 and that the central part of the house is a 1960s Deck House. The house has served them well but is really a cold and dark concrete house with no insulation. The bedrooms are downstairs with the living space upstairs. Dr. Risser said that the neighbors have no objections and that there are different styles of houses in the neighborhood and not all modernist houses. Dr. Risser said that the topography needs to be taken into account and may go into a second level. He will be consulting an architect. Ken Hurd asked if darkness was the problem, can more
light be brought in. Does the house have to be torn down to get your objectives? Edie Mackie said that it would be almost double in price to renovate. They have already spent $20,000 to see if they could renovate but it is hard with the concrete walls and heating. Ruth Wales said that this Commission struggles every time someone comes in for a teardown but knows the challenge in renovations. The Commission felt that the scale and context should be appropriate for the neighborhood. Andy Ory said that the sustainability of the housing stock is forever changed with teardowns and the Town will forever be changed. Kerry Glass said that the Commission is trying to save the fabric of the community. Kerry Glass made a motion that this structure is not historically or architecturally significant. The motion was seconded by Andy Ory and unanimously approved.
Certificate of Appropriateness Hearing:
11 Trapelo Road - Lorraine Fiore, owner, came before the members seeking approval to build a stone retaining wall and install a trellis-like section of fencing at the front corners of the garage and house. This is a continuation of the April 1, 2008 meeting. Mrs. Fiore came in with a more detailed plan showing what they are proposing to do. They have decided not to do the flashing on the roof at this time. They wanted to bring some unity to both the house and the garage by installing the trellis sections and they would hide a bulkhead and electrical meter on the house and give some privacy to an herb garden by the garage. The trellis sections will be painted dark green and will be made of wood with vegetation around it. The retaining wall is needed to build up the front yard to help with drainage. She said that you won't be able to see the cement in the stones and there will be cascading ground cover over the wall. Ken Hurd asked if she had considered putting the electric
wires underground while they are doing the work. Kerry Glass made a motion to approve the retaining wall, steps with lighting for the steps, and the trellis sections on the garage and house as shown on a plan dated May 1, 2008. The motion was seconded by James Craig and unanimously approved.
Other Business:
Ruth Wales said that there was a problem with the Historic District map adopted in 2001. No one took a map in to the Registry of Deeds when 5 Sandy Pond Road and 8 Bedford Road were added to the Historic District. This was discovered this year as the 2007 additions on Conant Road have never been recorded either. The HDC needs a Mylar map to take to the Registry of Deeds with the Town vote. Angela Seaborg will make up a new map to be recorded in the Registry and have it ready for the next meeting for approval.
Kerry Glass reported that she attended a meeting in Springfield held by Mass. Historical Commission for filling out inventory forms. She said that the types of maps and photograph paper used have changed and, therefore, there has been improvement in the quality of the maps and pictures. Kerry said that she is willing to fill in some of the forms necessary for the inventory of historically significant houses in Lincoln. Ruth Wales said that she went through the street listing and recorded all of the houses before 1930. Many of these houses need to be inventoried. Jack MacLean still feels that when you work on an area you should include all houses in that area, including updating any already inventoried. His approach would be to recommend dealing with the whole group as a cluster. After doing the
inventory, a recommendation can be made as to whether something could be on the National Register as a whole area or an individual property. The National Register takes a number of years. If Mass. Historical considers something worthy of the National Register, then if a homeowner comes in for a teardown, the LHC has more authority to say no. The by-law says that a house on the inventory is by definition historic. Ruth said that the Commission applied in 2003 for Codman Trust money and CPA money and has only spent money in the last few years and cannot apply for more until that money is spent to add to the inventory. Jack's recommendations for most urgently needed properties or areas to be inventoried are: South Lincoln Village including 20 Lewis Street (Pickle Factory), Peirce Hill area including 3 starred properties on original list, including the Austin-Hodge House (83 Lincoln Road), William Pierce House (27 Tower Road) and the Nathan Brown
House (30 Tower Road), which needs updating. He said that the oldest house in an area is the house that would trigger the National Register designation. All houses up to 1825 have been inventoried. 1850 is the oldest house not inventoried. Ruth still feels that they should be moving ahead on what is new even though some of what has been inventoried is out of date. Ken Hurd felt that the members should look at the list and add new properties to the inventory and then do some of the updates and look at whatever help needs to be provided. Kerry Glass said that there are professionals who do inventories for towns and the cost is about $200 to $240 per house. Lucretia and Ruth have looked around for some additional help and will talk to an individual to try to move it along. The members agreed that Lucretia, Ruth and Kerry will approach this individual about inventorying new properties and Jack will work on the priority areas he has
identified.
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There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elaine Carroll
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