HomeMy WebLinkAbout25-A099 55 Route 6A Lisa Grady Public CommentsLisa True Grady
415 Route 6A Yarmouth Port
JUL 1 6 2025
Old King's Highway
Historic District
I believe that preservation and climate change can work hand in
hand and I'm tired of solar advocates portraying historic districts as
the major obstacle to advancing their initiatives.
I often wonder how many of the applicants we've seen have
investigated other ways to retrofit their homes for energy efficiency.
Historic New England did a valuable zoom presentation on this
subject. Do you know where solar panels fell? To the bottom of the
list. Or, how many consider the longterm consequences of
maintenance, of dealing with a growing list of solar companies who
have left the business, of putting their home on the market with
aging panels and finding that buyers do not want to be encumbered
by the sellers lease terms or maintenance contracts. Your neighbor
may be fine with where you want to install panels, but the next
person who considers living there may not and will decide to
purchase elsewhere.
see the Starkey's have just had their 10t" anniversary of buying their
home. We purchased ours 9 years ago, but we understood the
assignment, being that the Old King's Highway Act was written and
adopted by election for the protection and preservation of the
history and character of our historic district. Along with many
others who live here, we cherish these protections and don't want to
see them diluted. Having been in real estate for 45 years, I liken the
Act to condo documents being reviewed prior to signing a purchase
and sales agreement. If the bylaws don't suit your philosophy or
plans, you move on and purchase somewhere else, you don't kick
down the door trying to make the association bend to your rules.
For those of us who want to do our part in bearing responsibility to
climate change, I have witnessed creative use of panels on non
visible areas of homes, the use of ground panel installations, as well
as homeowners seeking solutions by participating in area solar
collectives, because they wouldn't dream of ruining the aesthetic of
their antique home or neighborhood.
The solar industry seems to be treating this legislation as if it
provides them carte blanche. It does not. There is nothing in the
legislation signed by Governor Healey that demands abdication of
the responsibilities of members in any historic districts throughout
Massachusetts. Nothing. These applications, especially where
antique homes are concerned, are still subject to reasonable
restrictions. And, prior to Healey's signature, historic districts along
the Old King's Highway were already granting exemptions and giving
"substantial weight" to solar applications by their example of a 92-
94% approval rate.
For the last several hearings on this property, I have witnessed a
committee trying to find alternatives for the 4 solar panels facing
Willow Street. 4 panels. But, each time, the applicant has come
back with the same plan.
Good stewards who value the historic district work to overcome
objections to visible solar panels, not, as Liz Argo has advocated at
several public meetings, by using their application as a "test case".
I will end with a comment made by a committee member during the
last hearing on this application in November:
"Until the government tells us we have to approve solar panels
everywhere, we have to be selective. If the committee approves
panels on this house, we have lost all credibility."
ask that you once again deny this application.