Lincoln Historical Commission
Historic District Commission
Meeting Minutes
October 7, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Board Members: Ruth Wales, HDC Chair, LHC/HDC; Lucretia Giese, LHC Chair, LHC/HDC; Kerry Glass, LHC/HDC; Ken Hurd, HDC; Andrew Ory, LHC/HDC; Colin Smith, LHC/HDC
Alternate: Jack MacLean
Secretary: Elaine Carroll
NEXT ANTICIPATED MEETING: November 18, 2008, 7:30 p.m., Town Offices
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. A motion was made by Ruth Wales and seconded by Kerry Glass to accept the minutes of the September 9, 2008 meeting as written. The motion passed unanimously.
Demolition Delay Review:
173 Tower Road – Ken Eisner of Countryside Building & Development came before the members to request the demolition of the house and garage at 173 Tower Road. Mr. Eisner purchased this parcel of land along with 300 South Great Road. He is currently building a new house at that address and would like to demolish and rebuild this house as well. He said that the house has 1 bedroom and 1 bath and is completely in the buffer zone for wetlands. The house was built too low and the basement is always wet. The house has never been remodeled or updated and had been on the market for 2 years and the price was down to land value when he bought it. His architect is Vladimir Janovsky, who does all of his house designs. The Commission felt that this house was representative of the
type and scale of house that is disappearing from the Town’s inventory and although it was not historical felt saddened by the loss of another small house. Mr. Eisner said that the proposed house would only be 2,800 sq. ft. and because of the non-conformity of the lot, he would need to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals as well as the Planning Board. Andrew Ory made a motion that the house and garage were not historically significant and could be demolished. The motion was seconded by Colin Smith and passed unanimously.
Certificate of Appropriateness Hearings:
Lincoln Library, 3 Bedford Road – Barbara Myles, Director for the Library, and Karle Packard, the architect from Red Hawk Studio, came before the members to request a Certificate of Appropriateness for the installation of louvers in 2 basement windows and the removal of a HVAC condenser and the installation of 2 HVAC condensers at the same location. The project is on the ground level of the old wing and is necessary for the updating of the archives vault. The color of the louvers will be sandstone, which would match the stones. The condensers will be at the rear of the building and will be put on a concrete slab and will be partly hidden by a large pine tree. Ruth Wales made a motion to issue a Certificate of Appropriateness for the 2 louvers and 2 new condensers. The motion was
seconded by Kerry Glass and passed unanimously. At that time, Craig and Jennifer Donaldson of 1 Old Lexington Road were concerned about the noise of the large condenser that supplies air conditioning to the entire Library. Nancy and Jonathan Donaldson of 7 Old Lexington Road also said that it is noisy even at 2:00 a.m. and all weekend. They were concerned that the addition of 2 new condensers could add to the noise problem. The architect said that the condensers are smaller and new and should not be that noisy. Ken Hurd said that any noise issues do not come under the jurisdiction of the HDC and should be brought up to the Library Trustees. Barbara Myles said that this was the first time that she heard of any problems with noise.
29 Lincoln Road – Cayley Torgeson came before the members to request a Certificate of Appropriateness for the removal of a 22’ x 20’ 1920 era garage which needs a lot of work and cannot fit any cars. He would like to build a moderate sized garage that would be 12 feet longer than the existing one. He will be going before the Zoning Board of Appeals in a couple of weeks. The garage is sandwiched in between the lot line and wetlands with a septic in the same vicinity. After looking over the plans, Ken Hurd said that he is uncomfortable with the fact that the proposed garage is a lot taller. Ruth Wales said that this is in a sensitive area of the Historic District and the garage will be a rather large addition. Since the house is in the Federal style and a Greek Revival
next door, it is not harmonious with the surroundings. Lucretia Giese would like to see the garage lower with a more compatibly pitched roof. The sense of the Commission was to keep the garage lower and unobtrusive. Mr. Torgeson will go back to his architect and adhere more to the Federal style and take off the half story with some pitch to the roof. Ruth said that he could come back to the Commission for an informal meeting if needed. Mr. Torgeson will go to the other necessary boards before coming back to the HDC.
Neighborhood Conservation District – John Robinson of 30 Laurel Drive and Joel Freedman of 38 Laurel Drive came before the members with a petition to request that the Historical Commission appoint a study committee to consider establishing the Brown’s Wood area as a Neighborhood Conservation District, which would include Laurel Drive and Moccasin Hill. The petition was signed by 12 of the 23 homeowners, which is the minimum necessary for this request. The study committee will work with residents to create guidelines for landscaping issues, character of the neighborhood and changes to structures with the goal of presenting the proposed NCD to the Town Meeting in March. After the study committee completes its work, if one third of the residents object in writing to establishing the
NCD or the LHC does not support the proposal, it would not be presented to the Town Meeting. They will put in a place holder for the Town Warrant, which needs to be done in January. Ken Hurd made a motion to establish a committee of 3 Brown’s Wood members and 2 Commission members to set up a study committee to establish guidelines for a Neighborhood Conservation District. The motion was seconded by Colin Smith and approved unanimously. Lucretia asked if they had 3 names from the neighborhood to be on the study committee. The three are Joel Freedman, John Robinson and Dilla Tingley. They also need 2 members from the Commission. Lucretia will be one of the members and Andrew Ory has agreed to be the other.
Other Business:
Historic District Map – Ruth Wales is still trying to get the Historic District map recorded at the Registry. Town Counsel said that the Attorney General needs to reauthorized the map. Susan Brooks submitted the map to the Attorney General on Oct. 2. Jack MacLean said that he thought that the property list to accompany the map should include the deed book and page numbers. Ruth said that she would contact Ellen Meadors and ask her to include that information, which can be accessed from Assessor’s records.
First Parish Church –Ruth Wales said that the First Parish Church will be meeting with the Planning Board on November 5 for an informal discussion to find out the legal issues of how much they can do to change the building. She said that it would be important if some of the HDC members could be at the meeting to put in their opinions as to site lines and massing,
18 Twin Pond Lane – Lucretia Giese and Ruth Wales will be at the Oct. 27 Selectmen’s meeting regarding the Hollingsworth document. On Sept. 15 she met with the Selectmen. She felt that the Selectmen were not opposed to the policy recommendations the LHC made regarding being the determinant on architectural matters from the beginning. The Selectmen did feel the Commission’s statement of July 2 had been too broad and sought specifics to help guide Town boards and buyers in the future. They asked for general characteristics of modernism with some sources for reference and a check list of significant modern features of the Hollingsworth house, more than the three the Commission had originally specified. They would like 10 significant features. Lucretia gave them some
source material and will come up with an additional 7 exterior features. Lucretia will send the members the list and how it fits into the context of the document.
Traffic Study – The members reviewed the study from the Ad Hoc Traffic and Roadside Committee regarding the road rehabilitation project. The Commission needs to review the roads that fall under the Historic District and wants signs that mark the beginning of the Lincoln Center Historic District. Ken Hurd said that the Planning Board oversees signs. A motion was made that someone will contact the Selectmen and Ad Hoc Committee that the Commission is interested in having the signs at the 4 roads they are redoing and that the members want to be involved in the planning of these signs. The motion passed unanimously.
Ruth Wales will find out who she has to talk with and get back to the members.
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There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elaine Carroll
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