In Groton, A Battle Over Historic Preservation

Nancy Mitchell said she tries to be nice, even if she’s telling someone no.

Mitchell is a member of the Historic District Commission, a group that was accused last week of treating the historic area like a “museum” and making unreasonable and costly demands on homeowners.

Six architects who work in the district wrote a letter to the town council asking for the immediate resignation of the commissioners.

Mitchell said Friday she does not understand why they are angry.

“We’re not nasty people. That’s just not the way we operate,” she said. “We try to be as nice as possible to everyone that comes.”

She said she understands that not everyone feels as strongly about preserving historic buildings as she does. They want, for example, aluminum windows and vinyl siding.

“If you’re in a room with a bunch of golfers that love golf and you don’t play or love golf, you say, ‘What’s wrong with these people?’” she said.

Most requests approved

The six architects, including two past commissioners and two authors of the architectural guidelines for the town of Stonington, said they banded together because the commission is imposing “severe financial and psychological hardship on district property owners.”

In one case, the architects said the commission refused to approve work on a house, causing a sale to fall through and the bank to foreclose on the property owner.

Mitchell said she’s not sure what they're referring to, but believes it was a house that was later purchased. The commission approved subsequent changes, she said.

Mitchell has served on the commission for the last 15 years and was on the group for about a dozen years earlier.  She said more than 90 percent of requests it receives are approved.

“Anytime they are not granted, we tell the person why.  We don’t just say no,” she said.

"Onerous" demands

Bob Mercer, an architect who with his partner, has done 33 projects in the historic district, said the level of detail the commission wants has become “onerous.” If a homeowner wants to install a garage, for example, the commission will comment on door style and the "shadow line" of the garage, he said.

“One client ended up crying at one point,’” Mercer said. He said the client had to appear before the commission five times.

Mercer said it’s gotten to the point that if a homeowner asked for a project in the historic district, he’d think twice about it, depending on his workload.

“It shouldn’t be this bad,” he said.

Aggravation for homeowners

Some neighbors said rules are so rigidly enforced that people just ignore them; they install aluminum clad windows, stainless steel pipes and skylights. Then they cover them so no one sees.

Steve Barnes said he appeared before the commission in the mid 1980s, and it was tough then. He said he had to go from shingles to clapboard and redraw plans.

“Personalities get involved, telling me what I have to have,” he said. “I said, 'You pay for it, and I’ll put it in'.”

Barnes, who built two houses on High Street, said the effect is to discourage investment because people don’t want the aggravation.

“I did an old house in North Stonington, and they were so appreciative. They gave me a tax break,” he said. “You think they’d do that here?”

A 'gray' commission

Mitchell said the commission has preferences, such as those about vinyl siding and aluminum windows, and people are aware of them. The group also has a handbook of recommendations, although they’re less defined than those in planning or zoning, she said.

“We are somewhat of a gray commission, so it is more difficult either for people to understand us or to perhaps even accept us,” she said.

Sometimes resolving an issue is more expensive than a quick and easy fix, she said. But she believes it is still important.

“The applicant is there representing themselves and their personal needs,” she said. “We, on the other hand, represent the structure in the historic district. I’m there to represent the house.”

She said she cringes when she sees wood replaced with vinyl and wood frame windows replaced with aluminum, even if they look beautiful to other people.

“Once you take those buildings away, they’re gone,” she said. “You take out all those windows and take them down to the dump, they’re gone forever. You’ll never get them back.”

Commission upheld

Gregory Farmer, circuit rider for the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, said the state regulation that enables towns to set up historic commissions does not allow communities to dissolve them.

Commissioners could not be replaced in one swoop unless they chose to resign at once, he said. Farmer added that there's an inherent friction between historic commissions and property owners, so there are always complaints.

He said two property owners challenged their cases in court and the Groton commission prevailed.

“If the court system has twice looked at the procedures and upheld them, I don’t see what the issue is,” he said.

The architects said the appeals process is part of the issue: commission appeals are limited to procedural matters and are a costly undertaking.

Original intent

Bob Leeney, one of the neighbors who in the 1970s discussed forming a commission, said the group was intended to help homeowners preserve historic buildings.

“The historic commission was done to help people keep the area historic. Not to say ‘You can,’ or ‘You can’t’, “ he said.

Leeney, who lives in a house that was built in 1860, said he recently attended a hearing for man on Clift Street who wanted to make changes to the property.

“It was like pulling teeth because they were nitpiking,” Leeney said.  “All of the sudden, the light bulb went on and I said, ‘This was not what the historic commission was made for.’”

The ground rules have changed, he said.

“I wouldn’t have been in the pre-group that was going to get it formed, if I knew it was going to end up like this.”