Why a Preservation of Historic Buildings Bylaw is Important to Holliston

{photo caption} Circa 1900. Holliston’s downtown has remained remarkably unchanged over the past century or more, with many of the buildings still recognizable today. The Historical Commission is asking for the Town’s help to make sure we can do more than just “remember this place” in another 100 years!

What’s the first thing that comes to mind as you drive down Washington Street through the center of Holliston? Is it the antique homes and the New England village atmosphere, or is it “gee, I wish we had another strip mall?”

In Massachusetts, historic preservation is a crucial aspect of maintaining the Commonwealth’s rich architectural and cultural heritage, and the economic opportunities that go along with it. One key tool used by many cities and towns to help protect historic structures from overly hasty destruction are preservation bylaws, sometime known as demolition delay bylaws, that help protect historically significant buildings from being demolished without careful consideration and input from the local community.

Individual municipalities have the authority to adopt historic preservation bylaws tailored to fit the needs of their community, and many, including Holliston, have done so to help safeguard the community’s historic character. While the specifics vary by town or city, most bylaws apply to buildings that meet established criteria for age and historical significance. In most cases, the bylaws apply only to a building’s exterior and avoid hot button issues like choice of paint color or type of siding used. The intention is not to tell a property owner what they can do with their property but to help ensure that future generations also get the chance to appreciate and enjoy the contribution a building makes to each community’s distinct character.

To give a community time to work with a property owner to try to arrive at a solution that makes sense for everyone, a typical historic preservation bylaw will temporarily halt the demolition of historically or architecturally significant building for periods ranging from six to eighteen months. This is where the “Demolition Delay” name comes from. But an effective bylaw is about a lot more than just delaying demolition. The purpose of the delay period is to allow the local historical commission time to work with the building’s owner to assess the building’s significance, document existing conditions, and explore alternatives to demolition, such as preservation, adaptive reuse, or relocation.

{photo caption} Circa 1915. First cars and telephone wires. Notice the trolley car tracks in the right foreground!

Holliston adopted its current bylaw in 2006. Much has changed in the past nineteen years regarding best practices for historic preservation bylaws. Our current bylaw, known as the “Demolition Delay Bylaw”, applies to all buildings 75 years of age or older. That means that as of March 2025, the bylaw could potentially apply to any structure built prior to 1950. This impacts about 20% of the homes in Holliston. However, more than 40% of Holliston’s housing stock was constructed between 1950 and 1969. This means that if we do nothing, as time goes by the bylaw will impact more and more properties, eventually affecting over 60% of the town’s housing stock and placing a real burden on both homeowners and town government.

The Holliston Historical Commission is charged with administering our bylaw. We have become increasingly aware of the need to update and modernize our current bylaw so that it protects our most important historic buildings without placing an unnecessary burden on owners of more modern homes. Our proposed updates are based on experience both in Holliston and in other communities and include making the process more efficient, excluding properties that were built after 1950, and extending the time the Commission has to find equitable solutions to preserve important historic properties. We believe these changes are in the interests of residents while still meeting our mission of protecting the town’s historic resources. With this in mind, we are proposing specific changes to our current bylaw that will:

Update the bylaw so that it would only apply to homes built prior to 1950
Create an application process that makes the process easier for both the owner and Building Department.
Shorten the review period to expedite decisions for property owners.
Expand the delay period (only if imposed) to allow more time to find equitable solutions. Note that the delay period can be terminated at any time by the Commission if a satisfactory preservation agreement is reached.
Help document existing conditions. This means that even if a property owner ultimately decides to proceed with demolition, the Town will be able to keep a record of what is currently there.

We are also proposing a name change for the bylaw. We feel that “Demolition Delay” doesn’t tell the whole story of this bylaw’s purpose. We think that “Preservation of Historic Buildings Bylaw” is a far better description of what the town is trying to accomplish here.

The new bylaw will be presented at Spring Town Meeting, May 7, 2025. We hope that you will join us in supporting the new bylaw, which is a vital tool for historic preservation in Holliston. It ensures that the destruction of significant buildings is not rushed or done without careful consideration. By providing time for evaluation, discussion, and potential alternatives, we believe our updated bylaw will help us balance growth with caring for our heritage.