Residents Pack Forum On Mystic Historic District Commission

Nearly 100 neighbors packed a community forum to voice their concerns about the Thursday, and Groton Town Mayor Heather Bond Somers confirmed after the meeting that the chairman of the commission resigned this week.

Somers said she did not know what led to the resignation of chairman Charles Nado. by local architects and neighbors who have publicly criticized it for making costly and unreasonable demands on homeowners. The Groton Town Council recently voted not to reappoint longtime member Nancy Mitchell to the commission.

The commission has jurisdiction over about 450 homes in the historic district, and issues “certificates of appropriateness” to homeowners who want to put additions on or change their houses.

into a board that functions as a "taste police", sometimes making the same homeowner return repeatedly.

Mark Somers, a newly-appointed alternate member of the commission, said he believes the commission must understand that people have financial limits, and get away from the concept that “we have to protect the homes from their owners.”

Phill Rowe, who lives in a bungalow on Noank Road, said he put $250,000 into his house and wanted to add a dormer window because his shower ceiling slopes and he can’t stand upright in it. He said the commission denied the request.

“Back in the 1800s we had a 5-foot-2 guy living in my house," he said. "I’m 6 foot 2 now, and I love my house, but I do want an 8-foot ceiling.”

State Sen. Andrew Maynard served as moderator of Thursday's meeting. State Rep. Elissa Wright also attended.

Robert O’Neill, Jr., a member of the Groton Zoning Commission, said his board has professional staff to advise it on what it may do and why, while the historic commission does not.

“So they just sit up there and proclaim stuff,” he said. “Because that’s what they’ve been allowed to do. And there’s no one checking on them.”

, an architect who said he has attended 300 commission hearings over the years, said he’s seen an erosion of what’s permitted as the group has becomes more preservationist.

He said clients ask him what they can do with their houses. He said he tells them, “I really don’t know what you can do. You’re going to have to suffer with me.”

Rusty Sargent, who served on the commission in the 1990s, said the commission needs consistency in the standards it applies.

“Not only consistency in the decision about what actually gets built … but consistency in the way the board treats people,” he said.

Michael Sarasin, vice chairman of the commission, said builders and residents have brought important issues to the board's attention in the last eight weeks. He said the commission is changing.

“Tonight is really democracy in action,” he said.