Moratorium,

or more of the same?

While the Standish Town Council needs to be praised for taking some action regarding the controversial historic district ordinance, its action Tuesday night leaves much to be desired. In fact, Tuesday’s vote to issue a 180-day moratorium may leave historic district residents less able to manage their properties as they wish.

The current ordinance, approved in 2003, allows the owners of the six homes within the historic district to make as many internal changes as they want. If they want to dismantle the kitchen cabinetry, for example, they can. But when a homeowner wants to make an exterior alteration (e.g. installing new siding, a new roof, or new windows), they must make an application to the Standish Historic Commission which can approve or reject the proposal. The application fee is $200.

The moratorium is aimed at relieving a dispute that questions the wisdom of such an ordinance. Tuesday night’s action temporarily freezes the historic district ordinance. The moratorium gives a committee made up of Standish residents familiar with the ordinance, as well as unbiased parties, 180 days to review the current ordinance. At the end of the six-month “ceasefire,” homeowners will have a new set of rules to follow, based on the recommendations of the committee charged with reviewing the ordinance.

While it’s admirable the council has responded to the frustrations of those in town who believe the historic district ordinance has flaws, it’s unfortunate the council missed the opportunity to suspend the ordinance altogether. Instead, homeowners will have even more stringent conditions for the next six months. Before the moratorium, homeowners could pay a fee and apply to make exterior changes to their homes. Yes, they had to lay down several hundred dollars, but there was hope they could make the exterior improvements they so desired. Now, with the moratorium in place, homeowners can’t do anything to their homes until the middle of May 2007.

There are a few good aspects of the council’s moratorium that shouldn’t be ignored. The homeowners will have the chance to sell their homes. That’s good news for at least one property owner, Robert Higgins, who has been embroiled in a lawsuit with the town after wanting to sell his historic home last year.

Last year, Higgins was trying to alter his property by moving a building, which would have allowed the sale to go through. Instead, defenders of the historic district sued Higgins to keep the district’s integrity intact. The lawsuit was based on principle and wasn’t personal against Higgins. The struggles of Higgins, and the feelings of many in town that Higgins’ property dispute exemplifies the flaws of the district, is what drove the council to approve the moratorium on Tuesday.

The other succor for homeowners of the six-property district is the cold, hard fact that winter is coming. The next six months are going to be cold, and outside construction work probably is less likely to take place. Even if they wanted to do some upgrades, the snowdrifts will probably demand otherwise.

Standish historic district supporters will say they are right to want to save tangible Standish history. And, of course, we agree with their thesis. There are many cases in which the benefits to society legitimately outweigh an individual’s rights, especially when physical or financial harm results. But society must respect people’s right to use their properties as they see fit. And, as written, the historic district ordinance benefits the collective much more than the individual. It’s the ordinance review committee’s opportunity and responsibility to rewrite the ordinance so property rights are respected once again in Standish.

-John Balentine, editor