Board of Selectmen Conversation April 11, 2016

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1 Board of Selectmen Conversation April 11, 2016 Thank you so much for inviting us in to discuss our warrants. We have done a tremendous campaign for public outreach in the last 6 months, which includes personal invites to our meetings, articles in the Globe, stories about our meeting in the Star, meetings on WinCam, & the largest presence on the internet through Facebook. Thank you Richard for allowing us to be the first Commission to take that risk. The Winchester Historical Commission has been receiving a range of feedback in response and numerous positive responses both in robust Facebook conversations and in s and phone calls. We hope that after this evening you will feel the same and will vote to support our warrants before Town Meeting. As a side note, the Planning Board has voted unanimously to support the warrants and also took an active part in its creation. As part of the Master Plan, Historical regulations were noted that they needed to be better addressed and this helps them fulfill their mission as well as help the town in long term planning for stability and success. As you know, the Winchester Historical Commission is charged under MA General Law, Chapter 40, Section 8, which was accepted by Town Meeting as Chapter 14 of the Code of By-Laws. It is important to note that we are also supported through Congress s Act of 1966, Chapter 301, Section 13. Our mission is the preservation, protection, and development of our town s historical or archaeological assets and the establishment of protective measures of these assets for future generations. We are here because many members of the community have noted that we do not have appropriate protective measures or tools in place to support our history from demolition. I am Heather von Mering, the Chair of Winchester Historical Commission and alongside me are Jack LeMenager, Janet Boswell, Michelle McCarthy, John Clemson, Jenny Adams, and Bruce Hickey.

2 Currently, the measure to encourage preservation the Demolition of Historic Buildings By-Law (commonly referred to as the Demolition Delay By-Law) was originally created at the spring 1995 Town Meeting, 21 years ago. The proposed changes we are discussing today comply with our charge from the Commonwealth. All of these images are properties in Town that are not currently subject to review prior to Demolition and can be torn down without any notice to the Commission, the community or abutting neighbors. 6 of the 7 Commission members before you are property owners that are affected by the demolition delay. This by-law does not address additions, maintenance, paint colors, window replacements. only the complete destruction of a building. Chapter 14 defines it as any act of pulling down, tearing down, destroying, removing, or razing a building, moving a building from its site/foundation, or changing its footprint from its current location. Here are some more.. The Historical Demolition Delay By-Law, even with its current weaknesses, works. It offers an opportunity for a review of up to one year for a discussion toward a positive solution for the community. If a historical building is demolished after the expiration of the one-year period, there is a mistaken belief that the process failed. In fact, the bylaw did what it was intended to do, providing the opportunity for discussion and open communication between members of the community of Winchester: the neighbors, the applicant, the residents, and the Historical Commission. Demolition delay bylaws are not intended to prevent or guarantee that a building will be saved. It is important to note that we have reviewed exhaustive data and have not found any statistics that illustrates that a property decreases in value when demolition delay by-laws are placed on it. As the Supreme Court has illustrated, having a review process does not hinder a property owners from selling the property as is, restoring it themselves, continuing to live in it, or complete additions or modification. There are a plethora of opportunities for property owners and there are opportunities beyond only demolition. Exhibits of court decisions illustrate that a reasonable rate of return on property owner s investments are still available, which is also supported by the National Association of Realtors and also

3 Professors of Economics. As the By-Law currently stands there is a list of properties that should be reviewed prior to demolitions that were at one time designated as Historically Significant. Today the list is an inadequate representation of the Town of Winchester s Historical Built Environment. For instance, homes on Yale Street, Wedgemere, Washington Street, Salisbury, Rangeley, Main, Highland, Lawson, Foxcroft, Church Street, Bacon, and Cabot, to name just a few, have properties that are extremely significant but are not included in the list. There is not just one neighborhood that is underrepresented. It is an epidemic across town. Historical neighborhoods are not acknowledged and are woefully underrepresented. For instance, The Flats, Winter/Summer Pond, Symmes Corner, Main Street, and the Highlands. All of which the Historical Commission is starting to see as target areas for developers. To go back and update our records to electronic files, add the additional knowledge that computers have made available, add current photographs, and to have documents created to meet today s standards for the State s Cultural Resource List would cost the town $952,500 not a wise expenditure of limited town funds. Any date certain adds clarity to the By-Law and the process. To truly capture the historical neighborhoods, we looked at maps completed over the years and by the Town Engineers Department showing what remains by year is the date that captures the majority of all of our historical neighborhoods. As we have explained in our FAQ, dates thereafter typically do not include historical neighborhoods, but, to be blunt; the new construction is designed to be a vernacular of the entire United States. Housing is being built in Winchester that was innovative in the Midwest in the 1980 s. The houses being built today can be found anywhere in the

4 country. Winchester s historical buildings add value and define what makes Winchester, Winchester. They are our historical art pieces that no one else has. It gives us an edge. It gives us something special. It gives all of us value Is Winchester s Historical Date. Yes, it is 76 years ago and, no, we did not choose the rolling date approach. 76 years old can be historic. In 2006, a resident won the Noble Prize in chemistry, was that not historic? In 2013, a Winchester native, who served his country and was a police office for the MBTA, was shot protecting citizens of this state from the Marathon Bombers. His grandfather has a memorial in his honor outside of this building, was that not historic? A resident in Winchester helped invent the first lenses of the Polaroid camera and U-2 spy plane lenses in the 1950 s alongside President Eisenhower. Was that not historic? History does not start and end at one date, but we reviewed the most critical areas in town and set a date that encompassed the history we are aiming to support. Over 122 communities in the Commonwealth use the demolition delay process to preserve their local history. According to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the majority use a fixed or rolling date. Some towns review all demolition permit applications. Here is a sampling. Please note that every community with higher median house values than Winchester in 2015 had more appropriate demolition delay bylaws on the books. Beacon Hill - reviews all Back Bay - reviews all South End - reviews all Brookline - reviews all Weston - date of 1945 Cambridge - 50 years rolling Wellesley - date of 1945 Lexington - reviews all Newton - 50 year rolling Lincoln- All Acton reviews all Arlington - reviews any as noted by AHC Woburn - 75 years rolling...

5 For properties to be determined by the Commission during a hearing as preferably preserved, they need to be architecturally, geographically, and/or historically important, based on the Department of Interior s High Standards, these are federal standards set by Congress in 1966 and embedded in section 3.6 of our Chapter 14. Some people have stated their opinion that there is not a due process or proper notification. Yes, a property owner has the right to fair notice of a proposed action, such as the designation of his or her property as a historic resource, as well as the factors under consideration. This warrant does not designate the property as a historic resource. The due process contained in Chapter 14 of the Town s by-laws begins when a hearing is scheduled after the demolition permit is pulled. We follow strict protocol and have an impartial proceeding; this is the due process according to the Supreme Court. This is not opinion-based, nor arbitrary nor based on our personal aesthetic sensibilities. We research the archives, the Library records, birth and death records, assessors records, DPW, and the building department records to document each property. It is a higher threshold than many realize. Here is a sample of 2 of the 4 pages of research we did for the Town regarding 416 Cambridge Street. This is the proposed location for the 40B complex where the applicant is proposing to demolish the historic barn. We do the same level of research for all properties we review. To further illustrate how difficult it is to meet this threshold, since January 1, 2012 the Historical Commission has reviewed 26 properties. After reviewing the 26 properties (that I remind you were once documented as preferably preserved), only 4 properties met the criteria, through the public hearing process, to be preferably preserved historically significant. They were delayed the granting of their demolition permit for a maximum of 1 year. 22 were granted their permit outright within the maximum 21-day time frame. Of the four properties that met the criteria and were delayed, not one was an applicant occupied property. Of the four properties, 2 of the applicants noted that they never set foot into the property prior to purchase.

6 However, there were actually 155 demolition permits pulled since January 1, Only 26 were on the current list and 4 of the 155 were delayed. In 2015, 29 properties were issued a demolition permit without a review of historical importance. These are the Properties of All of which would have benefited the Town by having an opportunity for a better dialogue. Extensive and precious as they are, our property rights have never been - and are not now absolute. Property rights are tempered by responsibilities. The US Constitution does not give property owners the right to abuse their land or use their property in a way to hurt others. It is important to remember that the value of a parcel of land stems as much from the nearby public improvements paid for by the community as a whole and from the labor and investments of neighboring property owners. Private property values are enhanced through taxpayer-funded projects as roads, water service, sewer lines, libraries, and schools. Laws must advance a public purpose, be fair and reasonably applied, and leave a property owner with economically viable use of their land. This warrant achieves all of the above as illustrated in case law and supported by the Supreme Court. Without more opportunities or review processes to encourage preservation, we are also seeing developers shift their business into Winchester. The Commission tracks who is pulling the permits. Those who are flocking to us use to be solely operating in other towns that had similar lax by-laws. For instance, Woburn now has a rolling demolition of 75 years and we are seeing an increase in irresponsible developers who used to be working in Woburn now coming to Winchester. We are the northern-most community with an increase in our home market, yet we have the LEAST amount of review measures

7 to provide support to our historical resources. Developers from north of here are flooding in to build new construction at the expense of what defines us. Choosing to define and accept homes as historically significant adds tremendous value and power to the Town. In 2016, the Town has seen the impact that defining and owning Historical Resources can have. For example, one of Eversource s defining criteria in choosing a route is the impact on the historical resources. In addition, we now have the ability to work with the MBTA and an architectural preservationist on specific details that will enhance our train station and offer us the opportunity for details beyond the standard MBTA cookie cutter station design. There is also funding and grants available. In conclusion, we hope the Selectmen will see fit to support the Historical Commission s proposed bylaw amendment. We d be grateful to entertain any questions you may have. Thank you.