~ D R A F T
~
Town of Winchester
Historic District Commission
Meeting Minutes
Monday, July 23, 2011
Attendance: Mike Haman (Chairman), Gene Park, Matt
Ambrogios, Sherman Tedford (Board of Selectman Ex Officio), Brian Moser
(acting Planning Board alternate), Julia Ferrari; Alternates - Dennis
Murphy III, Sheri Rowe. Absent: Kim N.
Gordon (Secretary & Planning Board); Public: Mr. & Mrs. Joe Ewers, and Michael
Willard.
Meeting opened at 7:00 pm.
First order of business: Review
of meeting minutes of 12-06-25. Chair read the minutes. M. Haman made the motion to accept the
minutes as complete, but to include an excused absense for Julia Ferrari. G. Park seconds. 3 Ayes, & 3 abstained. Discussion about a full board and
legally accepting the minutes.
Second order of business:
BBR Bicycle Repair Shop & Skateboard Shop, Map 26/Lot 28 (144
Main Street, Winchester) sign application.
Mr. Burban is not present and it is noted that this is the
second time. He was contacted by the
Land Use office regarding attend the meeting to discuss his signs. The board discussed the Code Enforcement
needs to enforce the signs violation. B.
Moser made a motion to have the Code Enforcement notify the owner that
Ben Burman is in violation. G.
Parks seconds. Discussion. The Chairman will write a letter to the
CEO. All in favor.
Third order of business: Ken Cole, Map 28/Lot 44
(Main Street, Winchester). The
property owner has completely the proper application & submitted
the fee. The application includes
drawings of siding and double hung vinyl windows. B. Moser made a motion to approve the
proposed changes. No
second. S. Tedford recommended accepting
the application as complete. B. Moser
withdrew his motion and amended his motion – to accept the application as
complete. Discussion – about the lack of specificity in the
application. It is noted that the
applicant is not in attendance at the meeting to answer questions. G. Park second. All in favor.
B. Moser made a motion to accept the windows and the
approval is contingent that the siding matches the original / matching
siding. S. Tedford seconded.
Discussion. M. Ambrogios said
that it is the standard of the HDC to keep the original for historic integrity.
J. Ferrari stated that this is correct and the board would like to see them
keep the integrity of the historic value and the board continuing with the
precedence of the board. M Haman noted
to the board that Mr. Cole has already started the replacement of the windows
before getting an approval. B. Moser
& S. Tedford removed their motion.
G. Parks made the motion to keep the double hung
windows as similar type & layout/size and the wood siding material as the
original. The information on the
application is too vague. The Chairman
confirms that he visited the site before coming to the meeting and that the
owner has begun replacing the original double hung windows with a new size and
design. J. Ferrari seconds the
motion. Discussion: S. Tedford feels
that the motion is too vague and needs more specificity. Questions about matching the existing
siding. G. Park amended his motion
to include match existing wood siding. J. Ferrari approved amendment. Discussion:
Mr. Cole should come before the board to discuss and give clarification
as to why he began construction on his home, before coming before the board for
approval. Energy efficiency in wood
windows. S. Tedford would like the owner
to come before the board if he has any questions. All in favor. The Chairman will draft a letter to
the owner for the board.
Fourth order of business:
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Ewers, Map 19 / Lot 16 (369 Back Ashuelot
Road, Ashuelot) The Chairman
read a letter to the board that he wrote to the Building Inspector on Monday,
July 16th berating the Inspector for issuing the permit before it
came before the board, enlight of the fact that it does not match the original
historic integrity. The Land Use office
issued the Ewers a building permit to renovate a barn within the historic district.
J. Ewers came before the board to explain the construction
project. The original was a free
standing structure (not attached to the house, but through the roof). He presented a power point presentation to
the board. The roofline is now above the
original roof line for water tightness.
The original roof line in not square / plumb nor the ability to join the
new construction to the old structure.
The original was slate on top of wood shakes on the front of the
building and asphalt on the back of the structure. M. Haman states that he is in disagreement
that the building cannot be built to match the existing roof line.
J. Ewers stated that M. Willard received the permit from
L. Austin. The original building permits
are vague. The application is not the
same as the building permit. The owners
did not know that they were in the historic district, but the Land Use office
did not inform them. Mr. Nigh checked
off that it was in the HDC and Mr. Austin wrote a note stating that it was a
renovation. June 4th was the
date when the building permit was issued.
Mr. Nigh was told that they were good to go on the start of their
construction.
After a lengthy discussion with the owners, B. Moser notes
that the board has a problem. It is
obvious from the documentation that the original permit issued to the
homeowners/contractor is not the same as the document that was submitted to the
HDC. There are several notes that were
not part of the original permit. Clearly
it was added after it was issued. The
problem appears that after the fact - the Land Use office doctored the
permit. The owner also pointed out that
the LUO noted that there was to be one site inspection. It was noted on the permit that he inspected
the pouring of the foundation on June 5th. No work had been completed at that time.
B. Moser has several issues that he is concerned
about. The owners should have known that
they were in the historic district. The
bigger issue is the original building permit that was issued to the owners is
clearly not the same as the permit being presented by town hall. Several things were filled out at town hall
that are highly questionable. J. Ewers
stated that Mr. Nigh was told that the Building Inspector was going to touch
base with M. Haman with the HDC and was not given a letter of permission from
the HDC.
S. Tedford would like for the HDC to bring forth this
issue to the Board of Selectman to deal with.
B. Moser made a motion that the HDC should defer to the BOS about
the doctored documents. S.
Tedford seconds. Discussion. Does Mr. Austin know that this home is within
the historic district commission?
Clearly. Mr. Nigh was instruction
about filling out the form, and informed that Mr. Austin would contact the
Chairman of the HDC and was then given permission to begin construction. M. Haman reiterates that Mr. Austin informed
him that he had issued a building permit to the Ewers and that they planned to
retain the historical integrity.
The Chairman reminds the board that the LUO has issued a
“cease and desist” order on the construction.
B. Moser would like to resolve the issue immediately. S. Tedford reminds the board that the BOS can
lift the order, but this is also an employee issue. The board recommended that the Ewers put a
tarp over the project until the Board of Selectman have had an opportunity to
go before the board. All in
favor. The Ewers were advised to attend the BOS
meeting on Wednesday, June 25th.
L. Ewers asked if they should be proactive and have elevations drawn for
the next HDC meeting. The Chair advised
that it was not necessary at this time.
The Chair will contact the Ewers if the BOS schedules their issue at the
next meeting.
Fifth order of business: Old or new business. J. Ferrari updated on the signs – the signs
are now made and ready to install. The
board discussed the locations to install the signs. G. Park will confirm that the property owners
will allow the installation of the signs.
J. Ferrari & G. Park will request the Town Hall will issue a
standard letter to the D.O.T. that they will be responsible for the
maintainence of the signs. There are two
signs for Ashuelot & two for Winchester.
There was a discussion about locations.
B. Moser made a motion to adjourn. S. Tedford seconded. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:22 pm. The next board
meeting will be held on Monday, August 27, 2012 at 7 pm.
Minutes approved on:
Minutes respectfully submitted by:
Kim N. Gordon, HDC Secretary
Michael Haman, HDC Chairman
4 comments:
This board is giving home owner/taxpaying people a hard time again? What gives? The HDC should be paying these people property tax if they want to control their property's.
I was assured someone was submitting a petitioned warrant article to disband this board, What happened?
We will have to make sure someone doesnt drop the ball this March.
What are you some kind of n idiot? This board follows rules established BEFORE they took office you moron, that's their job. Why don't you go play in traffic?
When March comes we need to disband this committee so that we may rebuild a correct one. These people have no experience and don't understand that there must be a balance between old and new. Most towns that have a HDC it is only a advisory panel to the zoning board this is what we need to make ours more fair and reasonable.
You mean another BOS appointed/backed hand picked unit like the ZBA and Budget Committee to do whatever the talking heads in town tell them to do. Sure, just what we need to complete the frigging mess this town is. It's people like you who back these underhanded self centered leaches that are contributing to the problems we have here in Winchester, not honest folks who follow the rules and base their decisions on written and approved regulations. It's evident by your constant whining about the HDC that you have a personal stake in the outcome.
Post a Comment