Amendments Add Another Voice to Articles Before Special Town Meeting

The house on 15 Oakley St. is a nice, solid structure, the sort of residence that fits nicely in Belmont, a "Town of Homes." 

But is it "significant"? 

That's a question that Town Meeting member Bob McGaw will be asking the approximately 290 representatives when the Special Town Meeting is called to order by Town Moderator Michael Widmer a few minutes past 7 p.m. tonight, Monday, Nov. 4, in the Chenery Middle School auditorium. 

The town's legislative body will take up four major articles that propose to create three bylaws and approve the funding of a major infrastructure project. 

The proposed bylaw articles will place limitations on yard sales, cleaning snow from your sidewalk and delaying the demolition of historically important residential homes.

There will also be a vote to approve a financing plan for a new synthetic "turf" surface at the high school's Harris Field.

But even before the reps will get to say "aye" or "nye" on the articles (other then the Harris Field refinancing), they will be asked to consider one of several amendments to the language of the proposed bylaws. 

(You can read the articles and amendments by visiting the Belmont Town Clerk's web site.)

While a number of the changes in the amendments are minor – clarifications on the yard sale amendment, for instance – while others will substantially alter the workings of a measure.

That's where McGaw comes into the picture. The Louise Road resident is sponsoring an amendment that would turn the article on its head on how a residence is placed or stays on a list of protected homes. 

The Demolition Delay article, sponsored by the Belmont Historical District , is in its fourth (if not fifth) variation since it was first proposed to reps more than two-and-a-half years ago. 

The current proposed bylaw will delay for up to six months the razing of more than 150 houses from a list compiled by the town's Historic District Commission. 

In September, the Planning Board voted to support the article as long as Town Meeting representatives receives the list of homes under the bylaw's protection before the Nov. 4 meeting.

The article, which is sponsored by the Commission, has been changed significantly since it was first proposed more than two years ago. Owners of homes on the list will be able to appeal to the Selectmen for their residence to be removed. In addition, the delay will now be six month rather than a year as the Commission had wanted. And the number of structures to be protected has dropped from 215 to 150 as houses in historic districts, commercial properties and in the McLean campus  have been removed. 

The bylaw also has a sunset clause that takes effect on June 30, 2016.

But bringing together the concerns of the Historic District Commission, the Planning Board, Board of Selectmen and the Bylaw Review Committee in a single article required compromises and back-room talks akin to negotiating nuclear disarmament treaties between the US and the former Soviet Union.

Disagreements on aspects of the article scuttled attempts at two previous Town Meetings and nearly saw competing demolition delay measures brought to the representatives this June.

But for McGaw, the article is an unnecessary burden placed on homeowners who happen to live in what is are being called "significant" homes, either by the architectural or historical value. He has pointed to a number of homes to ask the simple questions: are they really "significant"? Who should determine the value of a home as to that arbitrary "value?" 

In McGaw's view, that decision should be left to the homeowner's discretion. His article will allow each of the 150 owners to "opt out" of the Commission's list within the first 60 days of the enactment of the bylaw. 

Following a similar line, Jim Aylward's amendment would allow the Historic District Commission to appeal to the Board of Selectmen an owner's opting out from the list
by providing evidence of the structure's significance, placing the burden on the Historic District Commission.

While the amendments to alter the demo delay article in favor of the homeowner, they are unlikely to find a sympathetic ear from the officials who constructed the bylaw. At a recent Board of Selectmen meeting, Chair Mark Paolillo said an opt out clause "would make [the article] meaningless" and said he hopes the Board and others will oppose the measure.