Commission allows Exceed clapboard for 29 Bass River Lane if shutters are restored

The South Dennis Historic District Commission voted to permit Exceed Siding (VersaTex) clapboard on the front elevation of 29 Bass River Lane, provided the property owner finds a method to restore shutters.

At the July 15 hearing the applicant described the product as a low-maintenance, color-fast resin clapboard resembling cedar. Board members raised technical and aesthetic concerns, noting the product’s high thermal expansion and a brochure that showed no shutter installations. Speaker 1 (Chair) summarized the board’s position: they would allow the siding but “a means has to be found to rehang the shutters.”

Several commissioners said shutters are critical to neighborhood character. One member pressed the applicant to ask contractors and the manufacturer for a mounting solution; the applicant said local representatives and contractors had no clear answer and that routing a slot for shutter dogs would risk water intrusion. Another commissioner suggested the owner could return asking for a de minimis amendment to use conventional clapboards (cedar or cement board) if the shutter solution proved infeasible.

The motion, offered during the meeting, accepted the application with the stipulation that shutter reinstallation is the owner’s obligation; the board approved the measure. The chair said the owner may proceed but must either implement a shutter solution or come back with an alternative material and that the board would treat modest product swaps as de minimis amendments.

The commission did not record a roll-call vote with names; the chair called the question and members replied “Aye.”

The commission’s action is limited to design review under the district bylaw; any work requiring building or electrical permits remains subject to town inspections and separate approvals.