“You can still paint your front door purple,” said consultant Eric Dray, who has been helping the Marion Historic District Study Committee prepare a Historic District Draft Bylaw that the committee hopes to put before voters at the Annual Town Meeting in May 2025.
The committee met on Monday to discuss Dray’s final tweaks but relented from voting a final approval of the document until those changes are digested by the committee members, Margie Baldwin, Dan Crete, George Morton, Stephen Swain and Chairman Will Tifft.
A September 8 meeting with Dray, advisor Meg Steinberg of the town’s Historical Commission and Town Counsel left Tifft in a positive frame of mind where it concerns the goal of “trying to create a much less restrictive bylaw than what had been done in the state to date.”
“Eric and Meg and I came away almost flabbergasted with how well it went,” said Tifft, also a member of the town’s Historical Commission.
Assuming the committee approves Dray’s draft, the task of achieving a Historic District Draft Bylaw will henceforth focus on strategy.
Strategy has taken the shape of an 80-page pamphlet designed by John DeSalvo that details the issues being addressed by the soon-to-come draft bylaw.
The Sippican Historical Society has printed 1,000 copies that are available outside the society office on Front Street, the Town House, Mimi’s and the General Store.
Steinberg agreed to include the pamphlet with Form B mailings to nondistrict addresses. It was also suggested the pamphlets be distributed at the Cushing Community Center and made available on the community board near Barden’s Boats at Island Wharf.
Digesting an 80-page pamphlet is a challenge, and to that end the committee discussed strategy for sharing the essence of going “district light,” a trend happening in Cambridge and other Massachusetts communities.
“In the past, you always start with what is exempt,” said Dray. “District light, we need to keep that as a banner headline everywhere. … You just have to repeat things.”
Tifft suggested taking the 80-page pamphlet and dividing it up into sections that could be printed as separate, little “mini-articles to distribute in various ways” addressing why have this bylaw, Marion’s history and frequently asked questions.
Crete considers an information campaign essential because “95 percent of the people are going to walk in with a few paragraphs and have to make a decision at (Town Meeting).”
Committee member George Morton opened a discussion regarding the relationship the committee will have with some of the town’s commissions and boards, citing common interests or jurisdictions. “They’re going to have ordinances that they will be upholding as a result of this. Do we need to be including that in FAQ’s?” he asked.
Gray said that the committee and the bylaw would exist in “utter and separate and distinct from those commissions. It would be up to the Town Planner to sequence that. I think the only point to be made is that they’re not conflicting.”
Tifft noted as a member of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals that it is not unusual for boards and committees to seek comment from other boards and committees.
Dray, Steinberg and Tifft are scheduled to meet with the Marion Planning Board on October 21. Despite the need to present an approved draft bylaw for the Planning Board’s consumption, Dray suggested that the committee hold off on voting its own approval until all the members have reviews his most recent edits. He said he will send out a final draft and that the committee should take a vote at its next meeting.
Dray pointed to Section 4 for historical significance.
Swain said he likes the one-page introduction, which outlines the goal of the local historic district.
Tifft suggested as part of an information campaign that committee members write some opinions to be shared publicly on particular aspects of the draft bylaw once approved.
“We need to start getting out there and selling this a little bit,” he said.
Dray suggested getting a copy of the pamphlet onto the town website (marionma.gov).
Tifft said it’s important to enact a marketing strategy before the holidays pushed the matter to the back burner. An informational meeting at the Music Hall will be organized.
Dray clarified that such an effort will not be designed “to get their endorsement but to get their questions answered. The important thing is to get them to understand what we’re doing so they don’t come to Town Meeting confused.”
In other business, Morton noted interested new residents in the committee. Tifft was encouraged by a recent meeting.
The next meeting of the Marion Historic District Study Committee is scheduled for Monday, October 14.
Marion Historic District Study Committee
By Mick Colageo