The Struggle for Historic Districts in Cotuit: Lessons Learned

Photo by The Register, 12/86

In December 1986 the Cotuit Inn was demolished to make way for ten new condominiums. The building came down despite the best efforts of a group of villagers who banded together as the Cotuit Inn Appeal Group who hired a lawyer to challenge the Zoning Board of Appeals’ approval of the project. Ultimately the permit to convert the 150-year old inn into residential apartments was upheld by Barnstable Superior Court and finally, by the state Appeals Court. When the building was found to be in disrepair with no viable foundation, the demolition was approved.

That battle to save the old inn kicked off a movement in the village to preserve Cotuit’s remaining open space and historical character. It was a movement of both conservation and preservation that sparked the founding of the Barnstable Land Trust, and the saving of Crocker Neck and Bell Farm. It also inspired the political activism of several villagers, four of whom went on to represent Cotuit on the newly formed town council. It also sparked an effort in 1987 by local historians to inventory Cotuit’s historic homes and place them on the National Register of Historic Places.

The threatened loss of the inn also revived the moribund Cotuit-Santuit Civic Association.

The Register: February 28, 1985, page 17

If at first you don’t succeed

In April 1985, the Barnstable board of selectmen appointed seven members to a Cotuit-Santuit historic study committee. In all probability that study committee was the basis of the 1987 inventory of the village’s historic homes that led to their inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The members were:

• Paul Noonan, chairman
• Paul Grover, representing the Cape Cod Board of Realtors
• Harriet Ropes Cabot. a professional architectural historian
• Frederic Claussen, Barnstable County Registrar of Deeds
• Anne Lloyd,
• Beatrice K. Williams, president of the Historical Society of Santuit and Cotuit
• Henry Walcott, former president of the HSSC
• John Klimm was the board of selectmen’s representative to the committee.

In July of 1986, the Barnstable Patriot reported the board of selectmen had “renamed…members of the Cotuit Historic District study committee.” The outcome of that committee’s work is unclear. It was the first of many historic study committees to take a swing at persuading the village of the benefits of a Local Historic District.

1991

The purpose and fate of the 1986 group is unknown but in July of 1991 the town council approved the formation of a new Cotuit local historic study committee:

The Register, August 1, 1991 p. 9

1992

Less than a year later in March, 1992, at a public meeting convened at Freedom Hall, the study group, chaired by Edson Scudder, went down in flames when “A straw vote held at the end of the evening to give an indication to the amount of support, or lack of, gained all but a few opposed and no more than five registering in favor.”

Carol Lyall, a member of the study committee said, “If it’s going to create divisiveness in the community, it’s not going to go much further … the study committee isn’t interested in fighting it out.”

The Patriot wrote that the formation of the study group was “based on a positive response to a 1988 survey indicating a desire for the formation of a historic district.” Later the paper would report the initiative failed because “no guidelines were prepared and people had no idea what was being considered.

The village’s two town councilors — Jaci Barton and Paul Noonan — were split on the idea (Barton for/Noonan opposed), leading the Patriot to write: “With the two from Cotuit cancelling each other out, the decision would be left to other councilors not associated with the village.”

1993-1996: The study group regroups

After quickly going down in flames in 1992, the historic district study group added new members, “two of whom had been very opposed to the initial presentation.” In 1993 the revived study group convened a similar public meeting, one that “met with a much more favorable response…..paving the way for the study committee to draft up formal guidelines for a district” (BP 1996.08.01).

In 1995, the study committee seemed to be making progress. The Patriot’s David Still II wrote on January 19, 1995: “In stark contrast to the overwhelming opposition voice to the idea three years ago, the give and take at the Santuit/Cotuit Civic Association on a proposed historic district for that village raised concerns that the study committee had not gone far enough.”

“The plan discussed Tuesday night focused on the village center and left untouched the Route 28 corridor, which many in attendance at Freedom Hall considered a major oversight.”

Around this time I was named to the study group, invited to join by Jim Gould.

In 1996 the study committee held two public meetings. Committee member Carol Lyall told the Patriot, “that there were three general attitudes toward the district: those who want it, those who agree with the concept but have concerns about the details, and those against it.”

The committee created some literature about the proposal, trying to head off some of the most hot-headed opponents by saying a district would increase property values, decrease the involvement of the Cape Cod Commission on historic issues, and place control of the village in the hands of the villagers.

Because one opponent had stood up at a public meeting and defiantly proclaimed he’d paint his house pink just to exercise his First Amendment right to free expression, the committee’s literature stated:

Our concern isn’t if a house is painted pink or where the tulips are planted, but what happens to a house when it changes hands. For that’s when houses get torn down.”

Then your’s truly gets quoted by the newspaper talking out of both sides of my mouth:

Committee member David Churbuck, who was opposed to the historic district concept back in 1993, said that the issue of houses being torn down seems to be one of the major issues. On whether or not a historic district comes to pass in Cotuit, Churbuck says he remains ambivalent, but he is reserving judgement on the proposed guidelines until he has more of an opportunity to discuss them with his fellow committee members.

Barnstable Patriot, August 1, 1996, page 8

A week after that story was published — in the August 8, 1996 edition of the Patriot — came the news that the study committee had pulled the plug on the idea and was disbanding.

Barnstable Patriot, August 8, 1996

The Aftermath

With no Local Historic District, the village has depended on the Town of Barnstable Historical Commission and the Cape Cod Commission to preserve the village’s historic homes. The results have been mixed.

Cotuit Parsonage

In 2005 the Cape Cod Commission approved the demolition of the first Cotuit Parsonage, built in the early 1800s (located across the street from the Historical Society of Santuit and Cotuit at 1151 Main Street), after the Souza family made the case for a hardship exemption to demolish the structure due to the deleterious impact of moisture trapped by vinyl siding. Both the town and the CCC approved the request with the request that the new building conform to mid-19th century architectural styles.

Hezekiah Coleman House

In 2006, the Hezekiah Coleman House at 756 Main Street (across from the east end of Coolidge Lane), was declared a “development of regional impact” by the Cape Cod Commission. The original building was mostly demolished. The CCC’s decision is worth reading to gain a sense of what factors the Commission takes into account when handling a demolition or major renovation of a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Josiah Handy House

Located at 35 Little River Road, this classic example of a Cape was slated to be demolished in 2009, but after a six-month demolition delay was imposed by the Barnstable Historic Commission, the house was saved by the new owners.

Bonnie Haven

In 2012, the new owners of “Bonnie Haven” applied for a permit to demolish the former home of whaling Captain Seth Nickerson. Jr., preferring to build a contemporary home overlooking Nantucket Sound.

Jim Gould wrote about the history of the building on his blog.

“BONNIE HAVEN
Barnstable Historical Commission has received an application to demolish a Cotuit landmark known as Bonnie Haven, one of the last surviving homes of Cotuit whaling captains. Bonnie Haven is on lower Main Street below Loop Beach, overlooking Nantucket Sound. It was built in 1837, probably by the village housewright Quaker Samuel Dottridge, whose home houses the Historical Society of Santuit and Cotuit. At the core, Bonnie Haven is a classic Cape Cod cottage, which was expanded to accommodate the growing family. The well-preserved house is an excellent survival of vernacular architecture of the early nineteenth century.”

It appears the buyer of the property reconsidered demolition in the face of village opposition and went before the Historical Commission with a plan to move the old building elsewhere on the property.

The caption of a August, 3, 2012 Barnstable Patriot photo of then-chairperson Jessica Rapp-Grassetti holding a photo of the building reads :

The buyer in a purchase and sales agreement sought a certificate from the commission to demolish the house, but returned to the board on July 30 with a plan to save a major portion and relocate it on the same site, where it would be more visible from the road, and use it as a guest house. The buyer plans to build a new house on the original site, and the separation of the longstanding home from its original location saddened some members. Others appeared to consider it an acceptable compromise.

The future

I doubt Cotuit can ever enact a local historic district, even one crafted with the most lenient bylaws and standards. Every time the village gets up in arms over a tragedy like the Cotuit Inn, Bonnie Haven, or some other venerable home overlooking the water, the same question gets asked: “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

A lot of people have tried to do something and weren’t capable of enacting a local historic district. That’s not say the village is powerless. When neighbors fought the Harborview Club pier in the 1960s, they succeeded in having the 150-foot pier demolished. A few years later, when the village fought the Sobin pier, it failed and the pier was built. After that fiasco, the late Rick Barry — Cotuit’s former town councilor — battled the pro-development/real estate lobby and was able to impose a dock-moratorium (zoning overlay) over much of Cotuit’s shoreline. That didn’t stop a waterfront property owner from trying to build a new one, but that effort was blocked.

The demolition of the Cotuit Inn was the match that ignited a wave of pro-preservation/pro-open space conservation in the village. The good that came out of that tragedy in the mid-1980s was that it did a huge amount to preserve Cotuit and led to the formation of the Barnstable Land Trust, the saving of Crocker Neck, and revival of the civic association.

So why did the historic district study committees fail over the past 40 years? I think several factors doomed the efforts. None of which are unique to Cotuit because remember, Centerville also tried to enact a local historic district in the 1990s and the study group also backed off in the face of opposition. In its place Centerville persuaded Cape Cod Commission to declare the village a District of Critical Planning Concern (DCPC) and slapped a total moratorium of new development.

1. Local historic districts have a bad reputation as a bureaucracy of picky neighbors empowered to judge paint color, lighting fixtures, and landscaping. They can turn into imperious fiefdoms. On the positive side they are very effective in preserving historical culture and put prospective buyers on notice that they will have a fight on their hands if they decide they’d like a skylight on their roof.
2. The 80/20 rule. I would estimate 70 to 80% of the people in Cotuit who would be affected by a historic district — those of us who actually live in old houses — would be in favor of some bylaw that would deter new arrivals from tearing down antiques to they can build something better suited to New Seabury or the Hamptons. The killers of the concept are the vocal 20 percent who oppose any new government regulation as a violation of their god-granted libertarian rights to do whatever they want. Cotuit is too nice. In the mid-90s we could have restricted public comment to only those people affected by the proposed district, but instead we were inclusive and tried to achieve a village-wide consensus that was impossible to reach.
3. The power of a Real Estate Economy. The Cape’s year-round economy is dominated by the building trades and a broad web of realtors, attorneys, architects, engineering firms, banks, lumberyards, surveyors, house cleaners, landscapers, septic installers — all who need to make a living in a saturated market. Ever wonder why a dozen landscaping trucks are parked on the village sidewalks every Friday afternoon making you slalom around them praying you don’t take out a dog walker or a kid on a bike? If there are no new houses to build, then you put down your hammer and pick up a leaf blower. If you can’t build on open land, then tear down an existing home and build a new one.
4. Growth is Good and infinite. The town is a business that benefits from rising property values, transaction fees, and the cascade of cash from beach stickers, dump stickers, dinghy stickers, mooring stickers that help the town avoid Proposition 2 1/2 overrides…… Realtors want inventory. Now that the Rape the Cape era of subdivisions is finished, we’ve entered the Teardown Era as the affluent are priced out of Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, the Hamptons and have come to Cotuit looking for a waterview where they can build a trophy temple to their success. Now that the era of quarter-acre subdivisions is over, expect the town to bless more and more four-story grey apartment/condos. Town leadership has a tradition of selling its soul for revenue. The notion that we’ve reached capacity offends them.
5. All things must pass. Not to be a nihilist, but very few houses last forever, and of those that do, who would want to live in one? Ever visit the Hoxie House in Sandwich (c. 1675) or tour the Richard Sparrow House in Plymouth? (1640) and think “Wow, what an awesome pad! I wish I lived here”? I live in a house that is nearly two centuries old and it looks nothing like it did in 1830. It’s been added on and modified to the point where the original house is almost completely concealed by dormers, wings, bay windows, outdoor showers, decks, and old boat sheds and sail lofts. Owning it is an honor because my family has owned it since 1860 and I’ll don’t want to be the guy who sells it or tears it down. I’m a caretaker more than an owner. The floors creak, the roof leaks, but it’s my heritage and I’m proud of it. I would never presume a new arrival in the village to move into a house of similar vintage to have the same irrational reverence for the past that I do. Central air and new appliances, like modern dentistry, are good things.

In closing, change is constant and inevitable. We’re a village filled with old houses that were dismantled in Nantucket and reassembled here. The norm in Cape Cod architecture is to keep adding on and on. Cotuit hasn’t changed as much as most of the Cape, but change it will.

Sometimes change is for the good, sometimes not. If you want to save something, then say something. Be vigilant and be paranoid. Read the public meeting notices, show up at meetings, send letters, tell other people …. but whatever you do, don’t wring your hands for the good old days and expect a return to the past. Throw your hat in the ring and get appointed to a town committee. Let the politicians and committee members know your feelings. And every time a house changes hands in the old part of the village, assume the new owner bought it expecting to move it or tear it down. You won’t be surprised when they do.