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Select Board debates HDC appeals and whether to route disputes to court
Summary
Following a contentious HDC demolition appeal, the Select Board discussed asking the Historic District Commission and town counsel whether appeals should go directly to Superior Court rather than to the Select Board, and several public commenters urged clearer, publicized HDC procedures.
Public comment at the start of the meeting focused on the African Meeting House investigation and procedural concerns about Historic District Commission appeals.
Multiple residents said they felt excluded from the working group and raised questions about whether the HDC’s demolition procedures are sufficiently formalized and publicized. Campbell Sutton urged the board to ask the HDC to adopt a clear, public format for demolition appeals and suggested bringing in outside expertise early in the process to determine historic significance before demolition review.
Select Board members discussed a possible amendment to the HDC enabling legislation that would reroute appeals directly to Superior Court rather than to the Select Board. One member suggested the change should be considered together with other HDC reforms rather than as a standalone home‑rule petition; another asked that town council prepare an overview of the legal standard for ‘‘arbitrary and capricious’’ decisions to guide the board’s deliberations.
The board agreed to request the HDC and the Historical Commission provide input on whether the proposed change makes sense, to re‑send an earlier consultant report on HDC procedures to members, and to ask town counsel for a briefing on applicable legal standards before pursuing any legislative action.
Public commenters who said they were not invited to investigator meetings asked for a work group meeting with investigators and for the town to provide updated RFP materials; town staff said an email addendum was sent and that a work‑group meeting would be scheduled.
The board did not vote on changing the appeals route at this meeting but directed staff to obtain the HDC’s views, re‑circulate the consultant report and request town counsel provide an explanatory briefing at a future meeting.
