NORTHAMPTON — Two years after receiving an initial presentation, the Northampton Planning Board has officially adopted the Historic Preservation Plan Element into the city’s Sustainable Comprehensive Plan.
In his August newsletter, City Council President Alex Jarrett announced that the board officially approved the element during its June 27 regular meeting. According to Jarrett, the Historic Preservation Plan Element provides a history of the development of Northampton through different historical periods, a history of preservation planning in Northampton, an inventory of the city’s neighborhoods and some historic properties, an overview of the issues and challenges the city faces and recommendations for future action.
“It’s been a long process, and there’s been a lot of public process,” said Planning and Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch, when speaking on the element’s development over the past couple of years.
The Northampton Planning Board received an initial presentation about the Historic Preservation Element process in 2022 by Barrett Planning Group, a community development organization from Hingham and a consultant throughout the process of adding this element to the Sustainable Comprehensive Plan.
The city then conducted a few public forums and facilitated a survey to the community that asked residents, stakeholders and business owners to help identify specific policies and actions for preservation efforts in the next decade-plus.
“This plan has certain purposes that we have tried to achieve, and I think the most important one is to support the Historical Commission’s work in advocacy and public education and preservation,” said Judy Barrett, the planning director, owner and operating manager of Barrett Planning. “We needed to look at preservation needs within the context of [the Sustainable Comprehensive] Plan and think about ways things that the city can do that will reinforce and support that plan and not conflict with it.”
The plan includes recommendations to expand and update the inventory of historic properties, determining National Register of Historic Places and Local Historic District priorities, expanding public awareness of preservation and updating the city’s bylaws and ordinances, like character-based zoning or making improvements to the city’s demolition delay ordinance.
According to the document, Barrett Planning Group also recommends improving certain municipal policies and protecting public investment in preservation restrictions.
“I think this is going to be a great resource, not only for the city, but anybody interested in the history of Northampton and preservation of items,” said Planning Board chair George Kohout during the June 27 meeting.
Martha Lyon, the chair of the Historical Commission — which approved this element in October — told the board on June 27 that the Historic Preservation Element has been over 10 years in the making.
At that point in time, the Historical Commission merged with the city’s Historic District Commission and recognized the need for a guiding document that would help the commission in the future.
“This is document really spells out for the commission what we need to do to act as responsible stewards of the historic resources of the city,” Lyon said. “And that’s our job. And so now we have 21 different goals that we need to work on … I think it’s it really puts us in the right track.”
The new element does not institute or amend any specific ordinances in the city or create any legislative changes. Rather, the adoption of the plan means the city now has a resource they can use for any future action it takes relating to historic preservation.
“We’re not endorsing anything at this point other than the spirit and overall goals and objectives of the plan,” Kohout said.
Readers can peruse the plan and its contents by visiting the Northampton website: Historic Preservation Plan element added to city’s Sustainable Northampton Plan.
