Winchester's planning board endorses article to weaken Historic District Commission

Sharra's flunk's strike again..

Posted: Tuesday, January 10, 2017

By Ethan DeWitt Sentinel Staff

 

WINCHESTER — The Winchester Planning Board has given the town’s Historic District Commission a nudge out the door. In a unanimous vote Monday night, the board approved two warrant articles brought by petition: one to strip the Historic District Commission of its regulatory power over properties within the town’s historic district and another to establish a Heritage Commission in its place that would serve in an advisory-only capacity.

The vote, made after little debate, does not seal the fate of the Historic District Commission; Winchester residents must still approve the article at Town Meeting in March.

But it does indicate widespread frustrations in town with the commission, which critics say has been overzealous in imposing restrictions on buildings in the district.

Created in 1997, the commission was given authority by an ordinance to have a say in what owners can do to their properties in the historic district, which covers many streets in the central areas of Winchester and its village of Ashuelot.

According to the ordinance, the five-member commission has the responsibility to review all construction, alteration or destruction plans made by property owners. The commission then approves or denies those changes based on whether they fit within the district’s character.

But some say the commission has been too aggressive in years past, wading into disputes against the interest of homeowners and the majority of the town.

Even current members of the commission find fault with its past practices.

Dennis V. Murphy 2nd, the chairman of commission, said previous committees have used their regulatory powers to extremes.

Recently, plans by the local Mr. Mike’s mini-mart to demolish an aging building were shot down by the commission, and the commission denied an attempt by the owner of a depot along the Ashuelot River to install a tin roof, rather than a more expensive slate one.

Conflict between residents and the commission came to a head last year, when the commission held up the demolition of a debilitated Main Street house, which Murphy said was against the will of the townspeople. The panel ultimately approved razing the building after months of debate.

Even when the commission doesn’t have a problem with renovations, it gets in the way, Murphy said.

In December, he said, the owner of Win Win Express, a Chinese restaurant on Main Street, attempted to carry out renovations including roofing, insulation and room rearrangement.

The owner had forgotten to apply for a permit, Murphy said, but after submitting the correct paperwork his case was still referred to the Historic District Commission, creating what he called another regulatory roadblock.

“We approved it unanimously anyway, but it was unnecessary,” Murphy said.

The warrant articles approved Monday would not abolish the Historic District Commission outright. Rather, one of the articles would revoke the ordinance that gives the commission its regulatory power.

Without that ordinance, the commission “just would have nothing to do,” as Planning Board Chairman Dean E. Beaman put it during the hearing.

Members of the planning board said they were unsure what would happen to the presently-appointed members of the commission if the warrant article passes at town meeting, though some said the members would have to remain in place — even if in name only — until another warrant article is passed to abolish the commission entirely.

No one at Monday’s meeting objected to the moves to weaken the Historic District Commission.

The second approved warrant article — to establish a Heritage Commission — provides what critics of the present commission say is a satisfactory replacement.

The proposed Heritage Commission would have the power to receive funding from the town to acquire properties of historical relevance and preserve them.

The Historic District Commission does not have such authority; Murphy and others have said that giving the power buy properties to a Heritage Commission would allow that committee to preserve important buildings in town while giving homeowners more freedom.

Though the new commission is being presented as a replacement in Winchester, some Monadnock Region communities have both commissions; Keene, for example has both a Heritage Commission and Historic District Commission.

The vote to approve the warrant articles was made after two, 27-signature petitions were submitted in December.

Voting in favor of the warrant articles was Beaman, Vice Chairman Gus Ruth, Herbert Stephens, Michael Doherty and Chris Rurka.

Ethan DeWitt can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or edewitt@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EDeWittKS