Old Towne Expanded to Match Historic Site

Old Towne grew a bit along the edges when city officials adjusted boundaries so the mile-square historic district precisely matched the area placed on the National Register of Historic Places last year.

The change last week also will make any building project subject to an environmental review to consider its effect on the district.

City Council members agreed to include some of Cambridge, Lemon, Harwood, Waverly and Pine streets and some of Walnut, Palm, Chapman and Almond avenues in the district.

The change was made so the same rules and regulations apply to all of the city’s historic buildings on the national register, planning officials said.

The homes added to the district already were subject to stringent design rules because they are on the national register, but their inclusion in Old Towne will make clear they also must comply with zoning laws and the district’s design standards, officials said.

Since the historic district was listed on the register in July 1997, the city has tightened its review process for projects in the area.

Previously, most projects needed approval from the Design Review Board, a group of architects and other professionals who made sure that architectural standards were followed. Now, the Planning Commission must take final action.

Not everyone was pleased with the changes.

James C. Buchanan, who lives on Cambridge Street, wrote to the council that he did not want to be included in the district.

“This ‘historic’ stuff is the silliest but most destructive item I have seen since we came in 1958,” he wrote. “If there is any way I can take part in dismantling it, I will do it.”