To the Editor,
As long term (50 years +) residents of Marion’s historic village, we wholeheartedly endorse the proposed historic district to be voted on at the spring Town Meeting. Of the 350 towns in MA, there are over 200 local historic districts including neighboring towns of Rochester, Wareham, Westport, and Dartmouth.
If you carefully review the by-law (available on the town website) you will see that it is very light in what it covers and allows. The intention is to preserve the character and historic nature of the village without being too burdensome on the property owner.
People say that they moved to Marion because of its historic seaside New England heritage, which everyone values a great deal. That heritage can be threatened by demolition, new building, and additions not in character or scale with their neighborhood. This is happening already, and the question is how to protect against that.
We own our houses for only a short time in their history and will pass that history on to owners in the future. Let’s protect our historic village for many generations to come.
Sincerely,
Michael and Margie Baldwin, 3Marion
John and Merry Conway, Marion
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