For more than a year, an all-volunteer group has worked to create a Preliminary Study Report proposing a Local Historic District (LHD) for Newton Highlands. This proposal has received approval by the Newton Historical Commission and, just this week, by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, as well.
The next step will be a public hearing in late April, followed by consideration and final vote by the Newton City Council. In the meantime, the group has been conducting extensive outreach to each property owner in the proposed LHD, and this will continue.
You can review the Preliminary Study Report (Part I and Part II) and register your own opinions, suggestions, questions, etc. in the comments below.
The Newton Highlands Local Historic District Study Group includes Rodney Barker (Chair), Bob Burke, Carol Clark, Mildred Hutchinson, Nathaniel Lichtin, Ron Mauri, Srdj Ndeljkovic, Diane Pruente, Bill Roesner, Barbara Smiley, and Amy Wayne. The group emphasizes these key points that about the proposed LHD:
- The proposed LHD of more than 200 distinctly designed homes is unique within Newton because it also includes a vibrant commercial village center and square that has been preserved in its current form for more than a century. As Bob Burke notes, “The blending of homes and businesses is what makes this part of Newton Highlands unique and attractive to those who live here and those who come to shop, dine, or just walk the pleasant neighborhood.”
- While the proposed LHD includes more than a hundred stately old Victorian homes, for which the Highlands is most famous, it also includes older and newer styles, from a pre-Civil War Greek Revival to a unique Frank Lloyd Wright-style house constructed in 2010 (which is too new to be considered historic, but give it time).
- The proposed LHD is seen not as a “museum” but rather as a “dynamic and evolving entity that allows for growth while preserving the physical character of what is here now.”
- The proposed LHD is compatible with opportunities for high-density development in areas adjacent to the LHD that are within easy walking distance of the Village Center and public transportation.
Sounds like a wonderful project.
I have never been a fan of these historic districts. In effect, a LHD is basically snob zoning isn’t it? I’m not aware of any widespread support for this
LHD, and I don’t see the need for these status symbols in general. I find them a very slippery slope. It appears to me that a
LHD would allow the NHNAC to act as a mini condo association. Is this really “The Newton That We Want?”
What I find particularly rich, and galling, is that at the same time the NHNAC is seeking a LHD designation on the north side of route 9 in the Highlands they have supported large scale development
(Avalon Bay) on the south side of route 9 in the Highlands,
and for years their president has
been pushing the reopening of the rail line from Needham through Newton via Needham St, a pet project that they rarely mention, but are still trying sell despite zero support for the idea.
I don’t trust this group one bit, even less so now that Brian Yates threw his support behind the Newton Villages Alliance – (aka the KKG NIMBY group) during
the last election cycle. A historical walking tour of the Highlands, seriously? Give me a break.
This designation would set a bad precedent. I would rather see each homeowner determine how they choose to celebrate and highlight their unique property rather than a group of overreaching busy bodies.
If working to preserve and insure the Historic Character of the city I have called home for the past 47 years, makes me a snob, please count me in !!!
@blueprintbill-
How about this idea – a mandatory requirement that any ward, or precinct that is granted a LHD designation is also automatically chosen as the next immediate site for an affordable housing development. How does that sound?
My guess is that the trend to create these restrictive historic districts would be stopped dead in its tracks.
I just heard that this was in some sort of final approval stage. Has anyone in the proposed district even been notified that they may be a part of it?
Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting, May 8th, City Hall @ 7:45pm