WINCHESTER — On the heels of a battle to put a standalone store
in one of the town’s historic districts, a new movement is afoot to get
rid of the districts altogether.
A petition warrant article seeking to abolish the ordinance that established the districts will go to the Winchester Historic District Commission Monday night for review.
Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.A petition warrant article seeking to abolish the ordinance that established the districts will go to the Winchester Historic District Commission Monday night for review.
Voters approved the
ordinance at town meeting in March 1997. It applies to the Winchester
and the Ashuelot districts, and seeks to protect buildings and areas
that have “cultural, social, economic, political and architectural
history.”
It also aims to
“encourage and regulate” new construction that fits in with existing
historic architecture; foster appreciation of the town’s beauty and its
past accomplishments; strengthen the town’s economy “by protecting and
enhancing the attractiveness of the community;” and promote the public
and private use of areas in the historic districts “for the education,
pleasure, prosperity, and general welfare of the community.”
The Winchester district
includes a section of Main Street from Chapel Street southwest to the
Route 10 bridge, and portions of Michigan and High streets and Richmond
Road. The Ashuelot district covers a section of Ashuelot Main Street,
and Old Hinsdale and Back Ashuelot roads.
The petition to abolish
the district comes roughly a year and a half after the climax of a
controversial proposal by Dollar General to build a store on Main Street
within the boundaries of the Winchester district. The issue divided
residents, some of whom felt having a store there was better than having
a decrepit building; others who said a standalone store is out of
character for the area.
The property at 71 Main
St. is home to a roughly 200-year-old house, which the project’s
developer, Zaremba Group of Lakewood, Ohio, wanted to demolish. The
house is owned by Margaret A. Sharra, land use administrator and code
enforcement officer for the town, and her brothers, James S. and Michael
P. Shannon.
The historic district
commission must approve any requests to raze a building in either of the
districts, and it denied the Zaremba proposal in July 2011. Zaremba
appealed the ruling to the Winchester Zoning Board of Adjustment in
August of that year.
In October 2011, the
zoning board ruled the house could be demolished as long as the historic
district commission approved plans for the Dollar General first.
Five property owners then
filed a motion requesting the zoning board reconsidered its decision.
The board denied the request in November 2011.
A month later, the group
of residents and Kulick’s Inc., which operates a market on Warwick Road
(Route 78), took the matter to Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene.
The lawsuit, which named
the town’s board of selectmen and zoning board as defendants, asked the
court to invalidate the zoning board’s decision and have the case sent
back to the zoning board for further review.
In April 2012, Judge Kathleen McGuire ruled against the residents and Kulick’s.
Gene Park, vice chairman
of the historic district commission, said Thursday the petition to
abolish the districts came as a surprise.
“The commission was blindsided by it,” he said. “I have no idea where it came from.”
He is interested to hear the arguments for and against abolishing the ordinance, he said.
James Shannon and some of
Sharra’s family members signed the petition. The petition also includes
the signature of Denis V. Murphy 2nd, chairman of the Winchester
Historic District Commission.
Murphy said this morning he signed the petition because someone asked him to.
“I’m not going to deny someone the democratic process,” he said.
Sharra, who didn’t sign
the petition, said Thursday her brother, James, would be a good person
to ask about the reasoning behind the petition.
Shannon was unavailable for comment and efforts to reach Sharra this morning for further comment were unsuccessful.
The petition was received by the town Dec. 11.
The historic district
commission has scheduled public hearings for residents to weigh in on
the petition warrant article for Monday, Dec. 30 and Jan. 14. The
hearings will begin at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
So who's the registered town voter who started the petition and why? Is this the next step towards Sharra getting her way? If people in this town want to continue having a say in what goes on in your town, then you'd better get yourself to these meetings and Deliberative or otherwise pay the consequences of your non-actions. Seems the few who think Winchester is their plum plan on abolishing anything that stands in their way.
