on the Historic Reuse by-law

As an Architect I am always aware how our physical surroundings affect how we live and how we think about ourselves. Framingham, once a very wealthy community, has a legacy of beautiful large older homes that were built by some the most influential and successful people in the Commonwealth. Many of these places have been torn down over the years by developers to maximize their profits by dividing the original parcels into smaller house lots or by the expansion of large state projects such as the Mass Turnpike, Route 9 and Framingham State College. Some beautiful houses like Wallace Nutting ‘s House (including Framingham’s original revolutionary war powderhouse) or the Simpson Mansion in Saxonville were knocked down for no good reason but because people just didn’t know what to do with them; they were deemed “white elephants”. As a response the town has developed, a “Demolition Delay By-law” and a Historic District Commission to address the most egregious demolition by developers (including the State). Our suburban style zoning laws however, prohibit mixed uses – such as bed and breakfasts or reasonable sized home offices so the upkeep of many of these properties are not sustainable by regular residents, there being few brave souls willing or able to take on a long and expensive project such as renovating a large historic house just for fun.

One group that has been given the ability to side step these zoning laws by the State Legislature are non-profit religious or educational corporations who use the “Dover Amendment” to operate “uses” such as a boarding house that would be an illegal option to anyone else. Some of these so called “white Elephants” have been turned into nursing homes or program houses at the very same time they are taken off the tax rolls.

Local residents, unable to use the whole property just for living space for their families and having to actually pay taxes on their properties are not be able to compete for these houses with a corporation, able to generate income from the State based on the number of beds they provide, while paying no taxes. To those of us who pay attention to such things this situation is terribly wrong. The Historic Reuse By-law that town meeting passed this spring is a well crafted law that attempts to balance this situation. This by-law does not deny non-profits the opportunity to bid on these properties but it gives ordinary residents a few tools to help them either keep their cherished older home or to compete on an equal footing for these houses.

Maintaining the character of our neighborhoods by preserving historic homes is important to the future of Framingham, its important to how we see our community in a larger context and Framingham deserves the opportunity to keep some of its very interesting heritage intact.

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