Neighbors Organize Forum Over Historic District Commission

A property owner in the Mystic historic district has circulated a letter signed by 19 neighbors calling for a forum to discuss and whether there’s an alternative to having a commission.

William Middleton, who owns an investment advisory firm, applied in February to serve on the commission and will be interviewed by a town council committee Tuesday. Middleton said he spent a year compiling a database of  property owners in the historic district, then mailed 460 letters last week asking neighbors to attend the forum.

He said he wants to gauge public opinion on the commission's operations and whether residents want an alternative.

“Maybe 95 percent of the people think they’re doing the greatest thing ever and it’s a very vocal 5 percent who feel otherwise. But how do we know?” he said.

The forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in the Mystic Arts Center. State Sen. Andrew Maynard will serve as moderator.

The commission has been the focus of scrutiny since December, saying the group had become an elitist board that was treating the historic area like a “museum” and making unreasonable and costly demands on homeowners.

The letter sought the immediate resignation of the commissioners.

who served on the commission for 15 years.

The commission has eight seats, including three for non-voting alternate members, and issues "certificates of appropriateness" to homeowners who want to change or renovate their houses. The town council recently appointed Mark Somers, a cardiologist and former board member of New London Main Street, to one of those seats.

Middleton said one issue is Mystic has changed since the commission was created.

He said property owners in the 1970s agreed to give up a small portion of their rights in exchange for protection from grossly inappropriate homes, but the group has evolved into what some critics call the “taste police".

The letter signed by neighbors said: “As you may know, there has been an increased amount of concern and discussion lately over the role of the Historic District Commission (HDC) by residents of the district as well architectural and building professionals and members of the Groton Town Council.

“What you may not know is that it is the work of the Historic District Commission to build a strong and positive relationship with private property owners and, to that end, render decisions that are compatible with a sense of the community’s own image of the character of the Historic District.”