Lincoln Historical Commission
Historic District Commission
Meeting Minutes
September 1, 2009
Board Members: Ruth Wales, HDC Chair, LHC/HDC; Lucretia Giese, LHC Chair, LHC/HDC; Kerry Glass, HDC/LHC; Ken Hurd, HDC
Alternates: Jack MacLean, HDC; Andrew Glass, HDC; Henry Hoover, LHC; Laurence Zuelke, LHC
Secretary: Elaine Carroll
NEXT ANTICIPATED MEETING: Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 7:30 p.m., Town Offices
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Ruth Wales made a motion to accept the minutes from the August 10, 2009 meeting as written. The motion was seconded by Andrew Glass and unanimously approved.
Lincoln Historical Commission Hearing:
Demolition Delay Review:
76 Old Sudbury Road – Arthur and Eunice Buckland came before the members to ask for permission to demolish the dwelling at 76 Old Sudbury Road. Mrs. Buckland said the dwelling was a prefab Kingsbury home built in 1971 by Hans Van Leer who put up a quick house and sold it for his son’s college education. The Bucklands bought the house and rented it to a farmer working for Roy MacDowell. After the renter left, the owners thought it would be habitable but the house was run down. The construction of the walls consisted of 4’ x 8’ sheets, which have peeled back allowing moisture between the walls. They had to remove many snakes from the basement due to the wet conditions. The foundation would need to be raised or moved to a dryer location. An area of
wetlands runs in the back of the lot. They would like to replace the house with a relatively modest home on the same footprint if possible and may put on a partial second story. Larry Zuelke, who lives on the same road, said the house never was in good condition. After a brief discussion, Kerry Glass made a motion that the house was not historically or architecturally significant. The motion was seconded by Ruth Wales and unanimously approved.
Historic District Commission Hearings:
Certificate of Appropriateness Hearing:
Pierce House, 17 Weston Road – Max Mason who was the person to present this application was unable to attend tonight. Ken Hurd made a motion to continue this hearing until October 6, 2009. The motion was seconded by Kerry Glass and unanimously approved.
Other Business:
Flint Homestead – Lucretia Giese requested the discussion on the Flint Homestead site visit be deferred until October 6 when Colin Smith will be present.
Historic Sign – The members discussed the fact that the sign showing the entrance to the Historic District on Lincoln Road was moved from its original location. The new location does not include the Nathan Brown house. The reason it was moved was because some members felt it was not visible in its original location. The two options would be to put it back in its original location or try to put it in the planter/sarcophagus-like structure at the beginning of the Historic District. After a brief discussion, Lucretia Giese made a motion to move the Historic District sign to the planter/sarcophagus structure at Lincoln Road and Tower Road at the same height it is now. The motion was seconded by Ken Hurd and unanimously approved.
Stone Walls – The members discussed whether to support legislation to increase penalties for the theft or destruction of historic stone walls. The current Mass. Law, from 1901, levies a $10 fine. The new legislation seeks to amend the existing general laws to not more than 6 months imprisonment or a fine of not more than $500 or not more than 3 times the value of the property removed, whichever is greater, for removal of stones without permission. It also requires payment for the replacement or reconstruction of such stone wall or fence. The act does not appear to apply to owners of stone walls. Ken Hurd mentioned that under the scenic road bylaw you cannot alter stone walls without permission of the Planning Board. The members felt the community values all stone walls not
just the ones by the street. Lucretia Giese was concerned because the description of the act does not mention the words historic stone walls although historic is mentioned in the heading. The Demolition Delay Bylaw lists stone walls as structures but does not have any teeth. Mass. Historical encourages protecting stone walls. Ruth Wales read from a copy of Lincoln’s Stone Walls by the Garden Club, which says, “Although walls were being built from the time of the first settlement to the end of the pioneering stage, most were built in the half century between the end of the American revolution and the construction of the first railroad” taken from the book Stone by Stone by Robert M. Thorson. Lucretia Giese made a motion to support the concept of the act with the addition of the word historic in the body of the text. The motion was seconded by Kerry Glass and unanimously approved. The members also discussed crafting a
general bylaw to protect stone walls but were not sure who would administer it. Lucretia Giese made a motion to ask the Planning Board to consider the protection of historic stone walls. The motion was seconded by Kerry Glass and unanimously approved.
Historic Inventory – Lucretia Giese said as a CPC representative she needs to prepare a statement for the September CPC meeting of the Commission’s intent on the inventory of historic homes. The report being prepared on a group of 35 homes built from 1900-1930 should be done some time in late November. Ken Hurd asked how much has been done and how much is left to do on inventorying the historic houses. Ruth Wales said Mass. Historical would like everything 50 years old or older that has some integrity inventoried. It was decided that at the October 6 meeting, the members would discuss an assessment of what has been done and what needs to be done.
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There being no further business, Lucretia Giese made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Kerry Glass and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elaine Carroll
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