AMHERST — With a report in hand outlining the important buildings in Amherst’s original town center, the Local Historic District Commission is advancing the idea of creating a new local historic district for East Amherst that would safeguard the look of the properties and the existing streetscape.
At a July 17 meeting in which the commission was presented a draft report from Chris Skelly, a historic preservationist, members agreed to have the document submitted to the Massachusetts Historical Commission for review. This would set the stage for a public hearing on the concept and then a vote by the Town Council on adopting the town’s third local historic district.
Previously, Town Meeting in 2012 adopted such a district for properties near the Emily Dickinson Museum on Main Street and in 2017 for the North Prospect-Lincoln-Sunset neighborhoods.
The newest district would include 46 properties, centered on the intersection of Main, North East and South East streets, where many of the buildings were built before the Civil War and some date to the 1700s.
Commission member Bruce Coldham said Skelly’s report, funded through the town’s Community Preservation Act account, is valuable in showing why the town is pursuing this.
“It does seem to make a very strong case,” Coldham said. “It’s very deserving and seemingly quite appropriate.”
Skelly walked members through the report, showing that the lower Main Street area contains many intact early homes and “lots and lots of significant properties.”
The state commission, he said, will have 60 days to review the document and will determine if the preliminary study report is complete.
Already, the commission and Planning Department staff have done outreach to all property owners, though there has been a limited response, about equally divided in support and opposition, said Walker Powell, a town planner.
But commission member Steve Bloom, who has led previous efforts to create local historic districts, anticipates that this will be contentious, especially when it gets to Town Council and has to clear a two-thirds majority.
The second local historic district was created by a 172-19 vote by Town Meeting, he said, but according to official records posted on the town website, one current councilor voted against the measure, while others who championed the change in government to a Town Council also voted no.
Bloom said if the district moves forward, it will likely get pushback from residential property owners, many of whom rent to college students and will make their appeals to councilors.
“I’m expecting a battle, and I don’t think the Town Council is as representative of the town as Town Meeting was,” Bloom said.
But Nancy Ratner, who chairs the commission, said she hopes that now that a process is in place for reviewing projects, there will be more understanding of what it means to be in a local district, and that it doesn’t stop development, but rather guides it so it is appropriate. Within the past year, for instance, an historic worker cottage was torn down on McClellan Street, which is part of a local historic district, and replaced by a colonial reproduction that fits the aesthetic of the street.
Bloom said this is not a case of “not in my back yard,” that no members of the commission live in the proposed district, and that there is no hidden agenda, such as trying to inhibit development, but rather to honor Amherst’s unique architectural heritage
Skelly noted that East Amherst is on the National Register of Historic Places, but that is largely an honorary recognition, as opposed to preserving historic resources like the other districts do.
“Other areas of Amherst, such as East Amherst, have very little protection from alterations, demolition and incompatible development,” Skelly said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.