Historic District Commission: Change The Board By Joining It

The Historic District Commission chairman issued a challenge Tuesday to those who don’t like the way it operates: If you don’t like the commission, change it.

“Get on the board,” Chairman Charles Nado said. “You want to change it? Get on the board.”

Nado made the comment during a meeting with the Groton Town Council's committee of the whole. Councilors asked to speak to the commission that the board has become unreasonable.

Last month, that treats the neighborhood like a museum and makes costly demands on homeowners. The architects said the commissioners should be asked to resign immediately or the historic district itself should be decertified.

Councilors Tuesday said they don’t have jurisdiction over commissions, but they believe the group should reach out more to the public.

Mayor Heather Bond Somers suggested a series of informational meetings to help people understand how the commission works, what the review process entails and what to expect.

She also urged commissioners to consider how they talk to people. Some have commented that “it’s not what’s said, it’s how it’s said,” she said.

The commission has eight seats including three seats for alternate, non-voting members that are vacant. In the absence of five voting members, the three alternates could be asked to vote.  The commission oversees an area of about 450 homes.

Nado said commissioners look at each request to change a home individually, hold preliminary meetings to discuss changes, then schedule a public hearing and vote.

If the historic district and commission didn’t exist, he said the character of the neighborhood would not be protected.

Commission Vice Chairwoman Kristin Vaughn said she sees her role as protecting the houses. She said there are variables; what's appropriate for a house 150 feet from the road may not be appropriate for one 10 feet from the road.

The commission also considers building materials. Vaughn said the group does approve non-traditional materials like siding, but the commission wants to make sure that “if something is generally made out of porcelain” someone does not try to make it "out of Play-Doh, that kind of thing."

Nado said the commission has issued more than 1,829 certificates of appropriateness” since 1975 and denied 50 applications, an approval rate of greater than 97 percent.

Town Councilor Bruce Flax questioned whether the group considers cost or hardship on homeowners and whether it is iron-clad or forgiving with its rules.

He cited an instance in which a homeowner got approval for a pitched roof, then built it differently but demonstrated the same was done elsewhere.

Flax asked whether the commission would let it go, or if it would be indignant about its decision and insist on a change.

“Sometimes you have to suck it up, even though they didn’t listen,” Flax said.

Vaughn replied, “Oh, we suck it up a lot.”

Councilor Rita Schmidt, who lives in the historic district, said inconsistency by past boards has been an issue. On her street, three people wanted vinyl siding on their homes; two were approved and one was not, she said.

“It's something that leaves a very bad feeling of the neighborhood,” she said.

Councilor Deborah Peruzzotti said her concern is that people have become so frustrated they won't work with the commission.

“Right now there is a wall and people do not want to break through that wall,” she said, adding, “I hope that after tonight that we can start heading in a positive direction again and know that you’re making the right decisions for the right reasons.”