If the quest to renovate Town Hall were a board game, it might consist of a serpentine path that winds its way past brightly colored squares marked “Wait Here,” a deck of “Chance” cards containing one that directs players to “Return to Start,” and a final box labeled, “The End (Month and Year To Be Determined.)”
By that measure, players pushing an imaginary plastic counter representing the current Town Hall design would be stuck today somewhere in the middle of the board, on a square marked “ZBA,” hoping to draw a card labeled “Special permit and two variances,” but prepared to roll the dice and follow an alternative path, one that leads past a square marked “Town Meeting.”
But the question of whether the planned restoration of Harvard’s deteriorating 1870s era seat of government can begin this spring won’t be determined by a roll of the dice, but depends instead on the judgments of real committees and citizens, including the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), the Planning Board, the Historical Commission, and the town’s roughly 4,000 active registered voters.
The ZBA must decide soon whether to waive the setback and height requirements of Harvard’s protective bylaw and grant the town’s request for the special permit Harvard needs to begin construction. And at Town Meeting, voters will be given an opportunity to bypass Harvard’s protective bylaw entirely by agreeing to exempt all town-owned buildings in the center of town—from Hildreth House to the schools to the beach house on Bare Hill Pond—from its provisions.
The zoning board was widely expected to make its decision this week, on Thursday, March 21, following two public hearings, the first held in February and the second a week ago Wednesday, March 13. (Check “Breaking News” at the Harvard Press website for results.) Town Meeting will convene two weeks from now, on April 6.
Planning Board votes
The vote at Town Meeting will come on a citizen petition organized by Stu Sklar of Scott Road and others to exempt any structure “owned or occupied by an Institutional use” within 2500 feet of the flashing red light in the center of town from “any and all provisions of the Protective Bylaw.” The petition appears as Article 42 in the Town Meeting warrant. (For complete wording, see sidebar: Article 42: Citizen Petition – Zoning Bylaw Amendment.”)
The five-member Planning Board must hold a hearing on any changes to the bylaw, even those it does not sponsor, and is expected to report its recommendation at Town Meeting.
That hearing took place on Monday, March 18, with the minimum three members present: Chairman Peter Brooks and members Joe Hutchinson and Tim Schmoyer. Member Rich Marcello was absent, and one seat has remained unfilled since last year. Petition organizer Sklar spoke on behalf of the amendment, with support from Selectman Tim Clark. Hutchinson seemed prepared to recommend the bylaw change without modification, and moved that the board do so. But Schmoyer worried that the definition of institutional use was too broad and should be limited to town-owned buildings. In a question and answer exchange with Schmoyer, Sklar said that if it were offered, his group would accept such an amendment at Town Meeting.
Planning Board chairman Brooks said that he objected to either form of the amendment because it would dispense with any oversight by the planning or zoning boards and leave decisions entirely in the hands of the selectmen and Town Meeting. “That’s just too much power,” he said. He added that he thought the matter could have been handled simply by establishing a special overlay zone for Town Hall and its site to exempt both from the bylaw.
Support for an amended amendment
When it came time to vote, Hutchinson moved to recommend the bylaw change as written, but failed to get a second. Schmoyer then proposed that the amendment be narrowed to exempt only town-owned buildings. Hutchinson seconded the motion, which passed 2-1.
The hearing was attended by Selectmen Lucy Wallace, Clark, and Bill Johnson, School Committee member Keith Cheveralls, and Planning Board candidates Chris Ashley and Jim Breslauer. But only Clark spoke. According to Land Use Administrator Liz Allard, the board received no letters from citizens for or against the amendment prior to the hearing.
Following their vote, the three members agreed that Hutchinson will present the board’s recommendation at Town Meeting, but Brooks said he would speak against it as a private citizen.
The selectmen had been expected to discuss this week whether to take a position on the amendment, but the meeting was cancelled due to a late winter storm.
