Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee asks solicitor to draft legal language to merge historical and local historic district commissions
Summary
After presentations from both commissions about quorum and overlapping duties, the ordinance committee voted to refer the consolidation packet to the city solicitor and requested draft legal language to return by June 11.
The ordinance committee asked the city solicitor to prepare legal language to merge Holyoke's Historical Commission and the Local Historic District Commission into a single body that would assume both sets of responsibilities.
Chris Gothier, identified as chair of the Historical Commission, told the committee that low turnout and quorum problems have hampered both commissions and that many communities combine the functions to reduce duplication. Gothier said the consolidation would typically disband the statutorily-created historical commission and assign its responsibilities to the local district commission under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40C, then update the city's demolition-delay ordinance and nomination/appointment procedures.
Catherine Hopkinson, chair of the Local Historic District Commission, said volunteers serve on both bodies and that consolidating them would simplify review and improve quorum. Councillor Bacon, the order’s maker, noted the commissions had voted in favor of combining and moved to send the packet and sample ordinances to the law department for drafting. The committee agreed and set June 11 as a target date for the solicitor to return a legal form.
What happens next: The solicitor will prepare draft ordinance language and return it to the committee for review; the committee will then consider formal ordinance amendments and any accompanying changes (for example, to the demolition delay ordinance) before forwarding recommendations to the full council.
