BERLIN – Members of the town’s historic district commission will spend the coming months researching potential improvements to the downtown historic district.
During this week’s meeting, members of the Berlin Historic District Commission (HDC) agreed to study Salisbury’s historic regulations to see if there were any changes that could be implemented in Berlin. They also discussed the possibility of meeting with certain homeowners this winter to gauge interest in an expansion of the district.
“People come to this town because it’s designated a historic town,” HDC member Robert Poli said. “Our historic district is in effect shrinking because the size of the town is expanding. Somehow we have to figure out a way to take some of these old homes and designate them historic homes.”
Poli expressed similar concerns at last month’s meeting. While Carol Rose, chair of the commission, also wants to see more historic homes added to the district, she said Wednesday she had already heard from some North Main Street residents who were not interested in having their homes included.
“I heard today that some people that live on the street are upset we’re even talking about doing it,” she said. “My intent is certainly not to upset anybody. It’s just the fact that someone could buy one of those homes and tear it down. That would break my heart.”
Rose said she was still interested in holding a meeting this winter to discuss a potential expansion with homeowners. Poli said he believed an expansion of the district was important to the town’s future.
“If we don’t do this, or if the town doesn’t agree to this, we’re going to lose tourism,” he said.
Along with the need to support preservation of the town’s oldest homes, commission members also discussed ways to improve the existing historic district. Rose asked Poli to take the lead on researching Salisbury’s historic regulations to see if there were any that should be in place in Berlin.
“They have quite a large historic area,” Rose said. “They’ve broken it into three pieces … There are some useful sections there. It might be something we can discuss moving forward.”
What inspired Rose to survey Salisbury’s regulations was the fact that the nearby city files a property affidavit with each deed. That way, individuals buying a piece of property are advised when they buy it if it is within a historic district. Rose wants to see a similar program implemented in Berlin so that new homebuyers aren’t surprised when they find out their property is within the historic district and subject to certain regulations.
She told the commission she’d mentioned the issue to town officials.
“They’re interested in knowing more about it,” she said.
Dave Engelhart, the town’s planning director, said he was looking into ways the town could incorporate the program in Berlin.
“We’re going to try to come up with some process where when a property gets sold the new owner is notified,” he said.
