NEWBURYPORT — An organization opposed to the creation of a Local Historic District will be sending out written material to close to 2,700 residents in coming days, indicating that it is accelerating its effort to block creation of the district.
The group, "Say No to LHD," is directing a mailing to "the same homeowners who received the original survey from the Historic District Study Committee." Leaders say they will also be distributing bumper stickers and lawn signs.
The city's Local Historic District Study Committee is in its final months of creating a report to the council, which will include a proposed ordinance to create a district commission. The commission would have oversight regarding construction and renovations in the district, but the specifics of its powers have not been fully defined, in part because the City Council will have final say on all wording. The district would include High Street from Atkinson Common to Marlboro Street and the "downtown" from Federal Street to Winter Street. About 770 buildings are in the district.
There are no hard dates on when the study committee will send its recommendations to the council, or when the council will act.
City officials will review the recommendations and have the option to finalize a new ordinance. A super-majority of eight votes (out of 11) is needed to pass an ordinance creating the LHD.
Members of the five-member study committee, appointed about four years ago by the mayor, have said that they will be completing their report in "late spring."
They have scheduled public meetings on March 19 and March 26 to present the final plan and to acquire feedback from residents.
The opponents' letter to residents states that the "Say No to LHD" backers are not opposed to historic preservation.
Dick Hordon, chairman of the group, said in the letter, "We believe Newburyport residents for over 300 years have done a remarkable job of maintaining and preserving their private homes which is why there are so many of them in exceptional condition still remaining."
Opponents feel an LHD would create another level of government, and thus limit the rights of homeowners.
In a flyer titled "What they aren't telling you about the LHD," opponents say, "The LHD commission members will be appointed by the mayor with only two members required to be residents."
This claim is disputed by study committee members, who say all commission members will be from Newburyport. Municipal law appears to state that members of city boards and commissions must be residents of the community.
In addition, "This (the LHD) can reduce the value of your home while increasing the cost of owning a home." Members of the study committee, in general terms, dispute this assumption.
Lyndi Lanphear, a High Street resident and an organizer of the opposition, says she has collected written remarks from several homeowners in the would-be district whose plans were delayed and/or altered by zoning and planning boards.
Lanphear said that in one instance, an individual's plan to renovate a carriage barn was stymied in part because the Historical Commission "gave input" on her plans.
She said this individual spent thousands of dollars on lawyers and consultants, and finally "abandoned her project after almost a year of frustration being batted back and forth, and listening to self-acclaimed experts opine on what my carriage barn should look like."
Members of the study committee have not commented on the opponents' new initiative, as they have not seen the mailing.
But they appear united in the belief that there is much misinformation about their mission.
"We are making progress," said Sarah White, chairwoman of the study committee. "As we listen to residents we learn, and there can be changes in our draft that will be posted on the website at the end of February or early March.
"My hope is that the information in this debate is factual and correct, and we are working to inform residents of what we are doing."
Mary Eaton, a backer of the LHD who sometimes blogs on the subject, said, "I'd like to see the facts become known, and perhaps that will happen during sessions with the committee and also public hearings in front of the City Council."
Opponents have been vocal, but there is reason to believe that the LHD has support.
Online petitions representing those who are for and those against on Tuesday reflected that 287 signed a petition in favor of the LHD and 24 signed the petition against.
Such numbers do not dismay the opponents.
"Many people who are against the LHD don't want to come out in public about it; they live here and don't want repercussions," said Kevin Lanphear, another organizer and husband of Lyndi Lanphear. "But we know that many are opposed."
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