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Cambridge HPC grants reconsideration for 102 Glenburn Ave., approves three CoAs and schedules design-guidelines workshop
Summary
At its March 18 meeting the Cambridge Historic Preservation Commission granted a reconsideration for 102 Glenburn Avenue, approved Certificates of Appropriateness for work at 327 Choptank, 1105 Locust and 114 West End with conditions, approved a consent-schedule shed at 303 Mill Street, and asked staff to prepare a workshop on possible revisions to the 2018 Design Guidelines.
The City of Cambridge Historic Preservation Commission on March 18 granted a reconsideration of the Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA) for 102 Glenburn Avenue, approved three separate exterior CoAs with specific conditions, and instructed staff to prepare a workshop to consider amendments to the 2018 Cambridge Historic District Design Guidelines. The hearing began at 6 p.m. at Cambridge Town Hall.
Commissioner Janice Olshesky moved to grant the reconsideration for 102 Glenburn Avenue "per staff’s recommendations," a motion seconded by Commissioner Joel Leifer; the motion passed 5–1. The commission recorded that the reconsideration was granted because the prior scope of the CoA lacked support from a robust set of Design Guidelines. Staff presented the reconsideration and the applicant stood for questions; no members of the public spoke on that item.
The commission approved several new-business CoAs with conditions. For HPC-26-7 (327 Choptank Avenue), the commission approved replacement porch columns and the addition of a porch railing, with three conditions: the new columns must be wood and match the “Choptank Column” size and proportions found at 331 and 333 Choptank; the new wood balustrade must be 24 to 32 inches high and match the detail shown in Figure 10 of the staff report; and the existing satellite dish on the front-porch roof must be relocated to a part of the site not visible to the general public. That motion passed unanimously, 6–0.
For HPC-26-8 (1105 Locust Street), the commission approved exterior refurbishment and reroofing with multiple conditions intended to restore historic window openings and trim. Conditions include restoring any windows whose openings were previously modified to their original historic sizes, preserving and restoring exterior casing trim rather than covering it with coil stock or vinyl trim, not eliminating existing window locations, restoring casement trim dimensions to their pre-demolition condition, pitching replacement front-porch gutters to the rear of the residence with downspouts toward the rear, replacing a demolished chimney to match the original’s location, size, color, corbeling and texture, and matching the existing 5" clapboard profile for any new vinyl siding unless original wood clapboard is restored. The motion passed 6–0.
For HPC-26-9 (114 West End Avenue), the commission approved porch restoration, exterior refurbishment and reroofing with conditions that the expanded front porch decking be 1x3 tongue-and-groove SPF decking oriented perpendicular to the façade; that the existing beadboard porch ceiling be preserved and carefully repaired; that the historic boxed-eave detail be restored where a CMU chimney is removed or if a two-story addition is constructed; that first-floor southern-addition window heads be elevated to match other windows; and that siding and gable-end repairs be done in-kind. That motion passed 6–0.
On the consent agenda, the commission approved HPC-26-10 (303 Mill Street), a 3'x6' shed adjacent to a house; the consent agenda was adopted 6–0. The meeting record notes that Alternate Member Scott Hawk attended and voted on all motions.
The commission supported staff’s recommendation to hold a focused workshop to consider possible amendments to the portion of the 2018 Cambridge Historic District Design Guidelines that address existing additions to contributing buildings. Staff was instructed to prepare the workshop in advance of the commission’s next hearing, scheduled for April 15, 2026, at 5 p.m.
The meeting record lists the applicable sections of the Cambridge Historic District Design Guidelines that staff cited in support of approvals and conditions for each item. No formal public hearings with testimony occurred for the reconsideration item or for two of the three new-business items; one neighborhood comment asked that the Locust Street site be kept clean during construction. The record shows all motions except the reconsideration were unanimous; the reconsideration vote was 5–1.
The commission did not present minutes of the prior meeting. The commission adjourned after completing the listed agenda items; the next regular hearing is scheduled for April 15, 2026, at 5 p.m.
