Federated Church v. Historic District Commission

4 Mass. L. Rptr. 212
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedJune 22, 1995
DocketNo. CA 940096
StatusPublished

This text of 4 Mass. L. Rptr. 212 (Federated Church v. Historic District Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federated Church v. Historic District Commission, 4 Mass. L. Rptr. 212 (Mass. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

McHugh, J.

I. Background

This is an action brought by the Federated Church (“the Church”), a charitable corporation located in the Town of Edgartown, Massachusetts, seeking judicial review of a decision of the Edgartown Historic District Commission (“the Commission”) and a judgment declaring that a cease and desist order the Commission issued is invalid. For its part, the Commission seeks enforcement of the cease and desist order. At bottom, the controversy centers on whether the Church may use vinyl siding to cover three exterior sides the Parish House adjacent to the Church in lieu of the wooden siding that theretofore existed.

Based on the stipulations made by the parties, the view I took, the evidence presented during the course of the trial and the reasonable inferences I have drawn from all of those sources, I make the following

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

As stated, plaintiff is the Federated Church, a charitable corporation located within the Town of Edgartown. The Church is the beneficial owner of a church building and Parish House located at the intersection of South Summer and Cooke Streets in Edgartown. The intersection, and thus the Church and Parish House, lie at the western edge of the Edgartown Historic District, a district that covers most of downtown Edgartown.

The defendant Historic District Commission was created by the Town of Edgartown on April 14, 1987, pursuant to the Commonwealth’s Historic Districts Act, G.L.c. 40C. The Edgartown Historic District bylaw essentially tracks the language of c. 40C and, as a consequence, provides in relevant part as follows:

SECTION 1 — PURPOSE
The purpose of this by-law is to promote the educational, cultural, economic and general welfare of the inhabitants and property owners of the Town of Edgartown through the preservation and protection of the distinctive characteristics of buildings and places of historical significance to the Town or the architecture of such buildings and places, and through the maintenance and improvement of settings for such buildings and places and the encouragement of design compatible therewith.
SECTION5— CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS, NONAPPLICABILITY OR HARDSHIP
Except as this by-law may otherwise provide in accordance with Section 8 or Section 9, no building or structure within the historic district shall be constructed or altered in any way that affects exterior architectural features unless the commission [213]*213shall first have issued a certificate of appropriateness, a certificate of nonapplicability, or a certificate of hardship with respect to such construction or alteration. Any person who desires to obtain a certificate from the commission shall file with the commission an application ... in such form as the commission may reasonably determine together with such plans, elevations, specifications, material and other information ... as may be reasonably deemed necessary by the commission . . .
SECTION 6 — STANDARDS OF REVIEW
In passing upon matters before it, the commission shall strive to advance the purposes of this by-law, and shall consider, among other things, the historical and architectural value and significance of the site, building or structure, the general design, arrangement, proportions, texture, material and color of the features involved, the relation of such features to similar features of buildings and structures in the surrounding area, and the position of such buildings or structures in relation to the public streets, public ways, public parks or public bodies of water in the surrounding area . . .
SECTION 7 — STANDARDS OF REVIEW
. . . While the commission shall encourage owners of buildings and structures in the historic district to use historically authentic materials whenever reasonable for any construction or alteration, the use of any particular material shall not be prohibited based upon its composition alone. It is not the intent of this by-law to require that buildings and structures in the historic district be maintained as historic artifacts. Rather, the commission is required to apply the standards set forth herein . . . in order to protect and preserve the general flavor, and the distinctive characteristics and architecture of the historic district.
SECTION 10 — COMMISSION POWERS, FUNCTIONS & DUTIES
The commission shall have the following additional powers, functions and duties:
(a)If the commission determines that the construction or alteration for which an application for a certificate or appropriateness has been filed will be appropriate for and compatible with the preservation or protection of the historic district, the commission shall cause a certificate of appropriateness to be issued to the applicant. In the case of a disapproval, the commission shall place upon its records the reasons for such [d]etermination, and shall forthwith cause a notice of its determination, accompanied by a copy of the reasons therefor as set forth in its records, to be issued to the applicant, and the commission may make recommendations to the applicant with respect to appropriateness of design, arrangement; texture, material and similar features . . .
(b) . . .
(c) If the construction or alteration for which an application for a certificate of appropriateness has been filed shall be determined to be inappropriate, or in the event of an application for a certificate of hardship, the commission shall determine whether, owning to conditions especially affecting the building or structure involved, but not affecting the historic district generally, failure to approve an application will involve a substantial hardship . . . and whether such application may be approved without substantial detriment to the public welfare and without substantial derogation from the intent and purposes of this by-law and the Historic Districts Act. . .
(f) The commission shall file with the Town Clerk ... a copy or notice of all certificates and determinations of disapproval issued by it.
SECTION 12 — PROCEDURE IN DECISION MAKING
As soon as convenient after such public hearing, but in any event within sixty (60) days after the filing of the application . . . the commission shall make a determination on the application. If the commission shall fail to make a determination within such period of time, the commission shall thereupon issue a certificate of hardship.

See generally G.L.c. 40C, §§2, 6, 7, 10 & ll.1

In October of 1993, the Church2 applied to the Commission for permission to make certain renovations to the Parish House that would bring the house into conformity with the current building code and would add to it a second story. The second story, in turn, would add approximately ten to fifteen percent to the building’s total square footage. The Commission approved the application without difficulty on October 8, 1993.

Approval in hand, the Church solicited bids for the renovations.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Gumley v. Board of Selectmen of Nantucket
358 N.E.2d 1011 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1977)
Zuckerman v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Greenfield
477 N.E.2d 132 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1985)
Prudential Insurance Co. of America v. City of Boston
340 N.E.2d 858 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1976)
McNeil v. Commissioner of Correction
633 N.E.2d 399 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1994)
Commissioner of Revenue v. AMIWoodbroke, Inc.
634 N.E.2d 114 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1994)
Capone v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Fitchburg
451 N.E.2d 1141 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1983)
O'KANE v. Board of Appeals of Hingham
478 N.E.2d 962 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1985)
Anderson v. Old King's Highway Regional Historic District Commission
397 Mass. 609 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1986)
Bay State Gas Co. v. Local No. 273, Utility Workers Union of America
611 N.E.2d 249 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1993)
Sleeper v. Old King's Highway Regional Historic District Commission
417 N.E.2d 987 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1981)
DeMello v. Board of Appeals
489 N.E.2d 1027 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1986)
Mantoni v. Board of Appeals
609 N.E.2d 502 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 Mass. L. Rptr. 212, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federated-church-v-historic-district-commission-masssuperct-1995.