Is historic district boundary in the middle of the Connecticut River?

Proposed revisions to a Middle Haddam Historic District ordinance will come before the Town Council again at the Feb. 9 meeting.

The purpose of the revisions is to bring the ordinance in line with state statutes and to more clearly define the boundaries of the district.

Previous discussion in January focused on two points of disagreement: whether or not to include a list of the original property owners (Attachment 211) included in the district as part of the revised ordinance, and whether one of the district’s boundary lines lies in the middle of the Connecticut River - or not.

In a memo to the Town Council, Town Manager Jeffery O’Keefe argues that the list of property owners “was NEVER an exhibit or attachment referenced in the original 1977 Ordinance that was adopted on May 11, 1977.”

He also notes that not including the list will not have the effect the values of the homes currently listed as within the district. In fact, including the list would require ongoing updates of the ordinance as the list changes.

O’Keefe also argues that the map that was part of the original ordinance shows a boundary line along the shoreline of the Connecticut River - not in the middle of the river. And if the ordinance should include a boundary in the middle of the river, the state would have to become involved in additional hearings on the ordinance because the river is by statute regulated by the state.

While reference to the mid-river boundary line is mentioned in a Middle Haddam Historic District Study Committee report, O’Keefe notes that, “there is no ordinance on record anywhere in the Town Clerk files that this Middle Haddam Historic District Committee report was ever enacted in its entirety by a Town Ordinance.”

The continued public hearing on this ordinance is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at the Town Hall, to be followed by the Town Council’s regular meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Posted Feb. 9, 2010

[Note: a copy of the proposed ordinance and revised map can be viewed on the town's Web site by clicking on Minutes & Agendas, then agendas for the Town Council, 02-09-2010 and Meeting Packet-Part 1. The packet material is in PDF format, which requires the Acrobat Reader program to be read.]