Report on Durham Historic Preservation Program
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Durham Historic Preserva on Program: Review and Recommenda ons
A Report Prepared for the Southwest Bend Historic District Commission By George Thebarge AICP, Town Planner August 2022
TOWN PLANNER KEY FINDINGS
RECOMMENDATIONS □The 2018 Comprehensive Plan called for im-
1. Dissolve the Southwest Bend Historic District proved coordination between the Code Officer,
and its duplicative administrative process and Planning Board, and Historic District Commis-
complicated review standards and focus on the sion in incorporating information provided by
10 historic properties throughout Town. the Maine Historic Preservation Commission
into the permit review process.
2. Reduce the jurisdiction of the Code Officer and
Planning Board from review of projects within □The Town’s long-range Plan also recommended
1500 feet of the historic properties to directly amending the Ordinance to make it apply to all
abutting properties. listed structures in Durham, both those inside
and outside the Historic District.
3. Revise the role of the Historic District Commis-
sion from a quasi-judicial authority like the
Planning Board to an advisory Committee.
□There are two competing programs in the Land
Use Ordinance, one administered by the His-
4. Simplify and clarify the standards to improve toric District Commission for properties in the
interpretation and application of historic District (Article 12), and another applied by the
preservation standards. Code Officer and Planning Board to properties
across Town (Sect. 5.14).
5. Tap into the expertise available to the Code Of-
ficer and Planning Board through the Maine
Historic Preservation Commission staff. □Durham’s Historic District program (Article 12)
was copied and pasted from regulations in com-
munities with large historic districts containing
entire neighborhoods of historic structures.
□Durham has less than a dozen officially recog-
nized historic properties that are scattered
COMMISSION REQUEST FOR TOWN PLANNER ASSISTANCE throughout the community. Only 3 are in the
Historic District.
In January of 2021, former Historic District
Commission Chair Candy Decsipkes requested the as- □Historic preservation is an extremely compli-
sistance of the Town Planner in implementing recom- cated and expensive program for the Town to
administer and for property owners affected by
mendations of the 2018 Comprehensive Plan related the regulations to comply with.
to historic preservation. Over the past year the Plan-
ner met with the Commission on multiple occasions in □Durham lacks the necessary resources and
technical expertise to effectively conduct a pro-
honoring this request for assistance. gram based on historic districts.
2018 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS
□The review for compliance with Interior De-
The two recommendations of particular inter- partment standards for historic preservation
could be more effectively conducted by the
est to the Commission were: Code Officer with input from the Maine Histor-
ic Preservation Commission, which has profes-
3.3 Develop or modify checklists for all permit sional staff with specialized expertise.
application reviews (building, demolition, sub-
division, conditional use) to address historic □The Land Use Ordinance should be amended to
reorganize the roles and responsibilities of the
and/or archaeological preservation applicabil- Commission and Code Officer and refocus the
ity and review criteria. program from the Southwest Bend Historic
District to the 10 individual historic properties
3.4 Improve coordination between the Code across Town identified by the Maine Historic
Officer, Planning Board, and Historic District Preservation Commission and their abutting
properties.
Commission in incorporating information pro-
vided by the Maine Historic Preservation Com- □The historic preservation standards should be
mission into the permit review process. simplified to make them easier to administer
and comply with.DURHAM HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAMS REPORT AUG 2022 PAGE 1
In addition to theses important administrative CURRENT HISTORIC PRESERVATION REGULATIONS issues, the Town’s long range plan also observed that Per the request of the Historic District Com- the majority of official historic properties are located mission, the Town Planner conducted research on the outside the Southwest Bend Historic District, some- current Durham Land Use Ordinance provisions for thing that had been discussed by the Commission for historic preservation. He identified two separate and several years. The Comprehensive Plan recommends overlapping programs contained in Article 5 of the the following action to address this disconnect be- Land Use Ordinance and in Article 12. Section 5.14 of tween the locations of the Town’s historic properties Article 5 applies to all properties within Durham and outside the limited Historic District and the requires all properties that are listed on the National regulations: Register of Historic Places or are considered eligible 4.1 Amend the Historic District Ordinance to for listing to be reviewed for compliance with Interior make it a Historic Protection Ordinance that Department preservation standards. These eligibility applies to all listed structures in Durham, both determinations are made by staff at the Maine those inside and outside of the current Histor- Historic Preservation Commission in Augusta (shown ic Preservation District. in diagram below).
Southwest Bend Historic District
NOTE: #7 & #8 IN THE LIST ABOVE HAVE BEEN DETERMINED TO LACK ADEQUATE DOCUMENTATION TO ESTALISH ELIGIBILITY AND HAVE BEEN REMOVED IN THE UPDATED LIST AND MAP
DURHAM HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAMS REPORT AUG 2022 PAGE 2
Section 5.14 is administered by the Code En- Planning Board for “compatibility” of development
forcement Officer and states that no structure listed on the within 1500 feet of a designated historic property and
National Register or eligible for listing will be torn down or its by the Historic District Commission for
exterior façade altered except to restore it in accordance “appropriateness” of any construction activity within
with standards of the Secretary of the Interior. The current the Southwest Bend District are similarly vague and
regulations also require any project within 1500 feet of these subject to broad interpretation:
officially designated properties to
1. A property will be used as it was historically, or be
be “compatible with such historic properties in terms
given a new use that maximizes the retention of
of mass, scale, design, building materials, and height.”
distinctive materials, features, spaces and spatial
The Town Planner sought and received confir- relationships. Where a treatment and use have not
mation from Maine Municipal Association legal staff been identified, a property will be protected and, if
that the Code Officer has authority and responsibility necessary, stabilized until additional work may be
to apply the Secretary of Interior standards to all pro- undertaken.
jects within 1500 feet of officially designated proper-
2. The historic character of a property will be re-
ties. He also contacted the Maine Historic Preserva-
tained and preserved. The replacement of intact or
tion Commission staff to get a list of the properties in
repairable historic materials or alteration of fea-
Durham that are currently listed or determined by the
tures, spaces and spatial relationships that charac-
Commission to be eligible for listing.
terize a property will be avoided.
Under Article 6 and Article 7 of the Land Use
3. Each property will be recognized as a physical rec-
Ordinance, the Planning Board also must consider
ord of its time, place and use. Work needed to sta-
compliance with all Durham regulations in issuing
bilize, consolidate and conserve existing historic
conditional use or subdivision approvals, including the
materials and features will be physically and visu-
provisions of Section 5.14 for historic preservation
ally compatible, identifiable upon close inspection
and must require applicants for Planning Board per-
and properly documented for future research.
mits to inventory any historic resources on properties
proposed for development. 4. Changes to a property that have acquired historic
significance in their own right will be retained and
A third potentially competing authority on
preserved.
historic preservation is vested by Article 12 with the
Southwest Bend Historic District, which contains 3 of 5. Distinctive materials, features, finishes and con-
the 10 designated historic places in Durham. Under struction techniques or examples of craftsmanship
Article 12, the Historic District Commission must re- that characterize a property will be preserved.
view all permits issued by the Code Officer for demoli- 6. The existing condition of historic features will be
tion, alteration, or construction on any property with- evaluated to determine the appropriate level of
in the District and issue a “certificate of appropriate- intervention needed. Where the severity of deterio-
ness.” ration requires repair or limited replacement of a
VAGUENESS & NEED FOR TECHNICAL EXPERTISE distinctive feature, the new material will match the
old in composition, design, color and texture.
Another problem with administration of the Durham
historic preservation standards is their 7. Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate,
vagueness and difficulty of achieving consistency in will be undertaken using the gentlest means possi-
the treatment of all applicants, a legal requirement of ble. Treatments that cause damage to historic ma-
land use regulation. The Secretary of Interior stand- terials will not be used.
ards that must be applied by the Code Officer and 8. Archeological resources will be protected and pre-DURHAM HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAMS REPORT AUG 2022 PAGE 3
served in place. If such resources must be dis- of projects within 1500 feet of historic properties
turbed, mitigation measures will be undertaken. to those that directly abut listed or eligible for
Regulation of historic properties involves listing properties identified by the Maine Historic
highly technical understanding and expertise in multi- Preservation Commission.
ple disciplines. That is why Section 12.2 A.2 indicates 3. Revise the role of the Historic District Commission
that the Historic District Commission “should include from a quasi-judicial authority with responsibility
professionals in the disciplines of architecture, histo- to issue certificates of appropriateness to an advi-
ry, architectural history, planning, archaeology, urban sory Committee offering support to the Code
design or other related fields as well as a builder and Officer and Planning Board in their regulatory
two owners of property within the Historic District.” functions that affect historic properties.
Historically, the only Commission members meeting
4. Simplify and clarify the standards in Section 5.14
any of the stated qualifications have been owners of
to improve interpretation and application of his-
property in the District.
toric preservation standards to development activ-
If the Town cannot find citizens in the requi- ities affecting the Town’s historic properties.
site fields willing to volunteer to serve on the Com-
5. Tap into the expertise available to the Code Officer
mission, it should consider hiring professional historic
and Planning Board through the Maine Historic
preservation staff to provide technical assistance. The
Preservation Commission staff.
other option is to engage a consultant, such as a an
architect or engineer with historic preservation exper-
tise.TOWN PLANNER RECOMMENDATIONS
Both the limited number of historic properties in Durham and its limited financial resources may warrant an alternative approach to implementing the Town’s historic preservation goals. Following the Comprehensive recommendation to expand and refo- cus the Town’s regulatory program away from the Southwest Bend District toward the 10 individual listed or eligible properties while simplifying and clari- fying the requirements would better match the Town’s capacity to do effective historic preservation. Over the past year, the Town Planner has met on multiple occasions with the Historic District Com- mission to outline the existing weaknesses of the pro- gram and to offer suggestions for improvement. Those recommendations included:
1. Dissolve the overlapping Southwest Bend Historic District and its duplicative administrative process and needlessly complicated review criteria and standards.
2. Revise Section 5.14 to reduce the jurisdiction of the Code Officer and Planning Board from review
DURHAM HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAMS REPORT AUG 2022 PAGE 4
Source: historic-preservation-program-report-2022.pdf on durhammaine.gov. Text extracted with pdftotext; no wording has been corrected.