For a landowner wishing to demolish and then to develop and improve property within the Exeter Historic District, the required reviews before the Heritage Commission, Historic District Commission and Planning Board are like running the gauntlet. It is a time consuming and costly process, albeit necessary given New Hampshire laws and local regulations adopted and created by the Town of Exeter. Here we'll use owner Al Lampert's current quest to build apartments and a commercial space for a restaurant within the Historic District at 1 Franklin Street.
First Al and his architects must meet in open session with the Heritage Commission where they have the authority to review his plan for demolition of the existing structure. It is here that these Commission members use their subjective judgment to provide him with "suggestions" on what they wish saved, if anything. The Heritage Commission then sends their "recommendations"to the Historic District Commission.
From this point on Al must satisfy both the Historic Distict Commission (HDC) and the Planning Board which each have different responsibilities, at least on paper.
The HDC will now expand the review from just the demolition issue, but also the architectural design of what will replace it, the new building. Al and his architects must decide how to respond to these suggestions because they need the Commission to grant approval of the project or it is dead as a doornail. In addition to what to save, now the HDC starts on review of what will be replaced or added to improve the site. Buildings, landscaping, signage, color, architectural style, etc.
The HDC in open session will review the demolition permit and will then either approve, disapprove, request mitigation or changes. They will also then review the proposed new structure for architectural compliance with "Guidelines" that could be viewed as subjective in nature. Again, approval by the HDC is required, thus Al and his architects must seriously consider their suggestions and requirements. In this particular case the HDC want him to consider saving a portion of the building's facade, if commercially feasible, and an "L" shaped wall within the building allegedly constructed of the first Portland cement blocks used for such a purpose. Al suggested a shadow box to display historic relics as a means of compromising with the Commission.
Running simultaneously with this activity is site plan approval by the Planning Board who can also provide architectural input since the development will also include a business. It is during this simultaneous process that Al can receive conflicting input. This can be a costly step as Al moves back and forth between the Boards and as reiteration after reiteration is rendered by the architect to receive final approval. While there is a 45 day limit on the Planning Board commencing with acceptance of Al's application with the Board, this is not usually the case for approvals in Exeter. If Al were to demand a decision within the statutory time frame, the probable result would be a rejection. Most developers, to keep the process going waive the time limit. We'll see what happens here in Al's case.
This should give the reader a pretty good idea of the time and cost to a land owner/developer to obtain the necessary approvals to proceed with his/her plan. No one is saying that there is not a need for a process to guide in the development of the Historic District. It is the subjective nature and the individual views that make it costly and frustrating. It is near impossible for a prospective developer to anticipate the impact of this process given its large subjective component.
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