Hopedale Local Historic District

Hopedale property owners question impact of local historic districts

By Christopher Gavin Daily News Staff

Posted May 15, 2018 at 10:05 PM Updated May 15, 2018 at 10:05 PM

HOPEDALE – The owner of the vacant

Draper Corp

. factory on Hopedale Street and several other properties

being considered for local historic districts told a study committee Tuesday night that he supports historic

restoration but is strongly opposed to the inclusion of his properties, that are hard to preserve, in current

proposals.

Philip Shwachman, principal of Hopedale Properties, LLC, and Hopedale Industrial Canter, LLC - which owns

a total of more than 55 acres of land across three proposed historic districts - said he has great working

relationships with town officials.

Since he purchased the vacant one-million-square-foot building nearly 30 years ago, he has poured millions

of dollars into cleaning up the site, from asbestos to contamination problems over the years, he said.

Hopedale is unique, he said, but the inclusion of the former factory and his other properties will hurt the ability

to sell and redevelop the sites that have sat unused for decades.

“It is a huge, huge overreach to include these buildings within this district and it’s a huge overreach to include

any vacant land anywhere in the town in any of these districts,” Shwachman told a standing-room-only crowd

in the

Town Hall

’s Draper Room.

“For the record, we oppose all of our properties, vacant land and buildings being included in any of these

districts, and should they be included, it is the final nail in the coffin of anything ever happening to those

buildings,” he added.

Shwachman’s remarks were among the questions and concerns the Local Historic District Study Committee

collected, fielded and worked to quell from residents and property owners wondering what forming potentially

eight districts could mean for their homes and properties.

Committee members emphasized that should special Town Meeting members vote next month to approve

any of the districts, regulations would primarily seek to preserve each building’s architecture as they are seen

from public ways.

“We, in our proposals, have chosen to be very liberal in what we’re proposing for oversight,” Chairwoman

Suzan Ciaramicoli said.

Building design elements such as paint and windows, nor changes within a building or to the back of a

structure, would be regulated, members said.

Ciaramicoli pointed to the reuse of the former Draper Corp. offices at 25 Hopedale St. as the Atria Draper

Place assisted living facility as a good example of what the districts strive to achieve.

The proposal spans eight districts: The Hopedale Center district;

district;

district;

district;

district;

district;

. district; and the

Hopedale Pond and Parklands

district.

Each will be proposed in a separate article at the June 19 special Town Meeting, committee members said.

“There is always going to be somebody that doesn’t agree with it and we understand that,” committee

member Walter Swift said. “It’s up to the town to make the final decision.”

A second public hearing is scheduled for June 12.

Residents Tuesday questioned how the districts could impact future economic growth on commercial

properties, property values and how the Local Historic District Commission – the group that would later

oversee any proposed changes to historic properties – would function.

Resident Michael Costanza said he understands the points of view of both concerned residents and the

committee, but wondered how the future commission would handle deciding whether changes to properties

fit the character of a district – which the group would be tasked with deciding.

“It’s just very tough for us to buy into it if you guys aren’t going to make the decisions and we don’t know who is

going to make the decisions,” Costanza said.

Ciaramicoli said the intent of the future commission would be to work with property owners on their proposed

changes.

“It isn’t the goal to say no,” she said. “The goal is to work with the property owner to make something that fits

in with the character of the area.”

Mary Feeney, an attorney representing Shwachman, said the commission could have authority that extends

beyond local zoning bylaws. The group could potentially end up regulating what’s built on vacant space

included in districts, she said.

“There’s no zoning bylaw, there’s no dimensional controls,” Feeney said. “You don’t know what you have to

build ... until you design it and the historical commission can turn you down. And you don’t have a lot of appeal

rights either.”

Schwachman thinks the town should form at least one historic district with town buildings to start with before

considering others, he said.

“Once the commission is established, once there are guidelines that people can read and see ... then I think

you can add other districts. I think to start off with 235 properties is a huge overreach.”

Christopher Gavin can be reached at 508 634-7582

Hopedale historic district committee to reconsider proposal

By Christopher Gavin Daily News Staff

Posted May 21, 2018 at 11:08 PM

HOPEDALE – Following mixed opinions from residents over the potential impact local historic districts could

have on their properties, Local Historic District Study Chairwoman Suzan Ciaramicoli believes the group will

reconsider its proposal, she told selectmen Monday.

Discussing the committee’s next steps in proposing the eight districts, selectmen said they support the group’

s work but articulated their own concerns that the districts, in some areas of town, could run against efforts to

grow Hopedale’s commercial tax base.

The committee, Ciaramicoli said, will be reviewing input Tuesday that it received from residents and property

owners at a public hearing last week.

“I anticipate there will be much discussion at tomorrow’s meeting and we will have to have one or two

followup meetings to fine tune the proposal,” she said.

On the proposal are eight local historic districts the committee says could put the town within the boundaries

of the new Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park.

Although selectmen noted Monday they originally asked the committee to consider public buildings at least for

the initial district, private properties were added to the group’s proposal based off public input it received

throughout the planning process, Ciaramicoli said.

But selectmen, echoing concerns raised at last week’s meeting, said they worry the regulations attached to

preserving local architecture could discourage development on commercial properties that fall within

proposed districts.

Selectman Louis Arcudi III, who was elected chairman Monday, said he wants to make sure officials at least

maintain their original goal to get one district made up of public buildings on the map.

As for private properties, he wants to understand what impact a district could pose, he said.

“It’s just some of these other things, with zoning and potential commercial viability, just so we understand,

does that and how does that limit some of these buildings from future use?”

Selectman Brian Keyes is concerned certain districts could reverse the town’s efforts to bolster future

commercial and economic development, he said.

“My point was it lowers the number of suitors attracted to that commercial property ... I didn’t want that to

happen.”

Philip Shwachman, who owns the former Draper Corp. factory, asked the committee last week to remove all of

his properties from the proposal.

Collectively, Shwachman owns more than 55 acres of land – most of which is vacant – being considered for

inclusion in some districts.

Shwachman, through his attorney, argued the proposal as is would give a Local Historic District Commission

control over what could be built on undeveloped land.

Regulations, such as preserving the architecture of buildings in each district, he said, would also hurt his

ability to sell and redevelop the former factory, which Shwachman has owned for almost 30 years.

Selectmen raised concerns that including the Draper Corp. factory in a district could mean preserving an

unsafe building.

“I think there’s a lot more at least with that parcel of land that needs to be thought through,” Arcudi said. “We’re

not saying we don’t want it, I think we just want to have some additional time to think about that particular

piece of property.”

Ciaramicoli said districts do not prohibit demolition of properties, but instead maintain that new developments

keep with the general character of the historic buildings that preceded them.

The committee will discuss the inclusion of the Draper factory at its Tuesday meeting, she said.

“We will be discussing that public hearing and that was a big part of the discussion that evening ... we would

be irresponsible not to,” she said.

Hopedale committee amends historic district proposal

By Christopher Gavin Daily News Staff

Posted May 31, 2018 at 6:03 PM Updated May 31, 2018 at 6:03 PM

HOPEDALE - After facing backlash from the owner of the former Draper Corp. factory, the Local Historic

District Study Committee has removed the property from its historic district proposal. The switch is one of a

few changes made in light of feedback the group received from residents and selectmen.

A new proposal reduces the number of local historic districts from eight to six, making three of them each

contain a single structure and another three a composition of multiple buildings, committee members said

Thursday.

“We knew we had to reconsider based on the feedback from the hearing, so with that in mind we made some

changes,” committee Chairwoman Suzan Ciaramicoli said. “It’s a very involved process that we went through

and what you do is you reach for what you would like and you scale back based on what we think might be

more successful going through Town Meeting.”

Instead of including the massive vacant Draper Corp. factory, the committee opted to make the former Draper

Corp. headquarters - the building that’s now the

Atria Draper Place

assisted living facility, at 25 Hopedale St. -

a standalone district, according to a letter from Ciaramicoli to selectmen dated May 31.

The committee has also reduced the Harmony Hall-Green Store proposed district to contain solely the

Community Bible Chapel at 405 South Main St., committee member Beverly Carver said.

The Lake Point and Hopedale Pond and Parklands historic districts were removed, Ciaramicoli’s letter

indicates.

Carver said the committee’s intent is to try to have as many districts approved for inclusion in the Blackstone

River Valley National Historic Park at the June 19 Special Town Meeting as possible.

The town could ultimately consider additional districts in the future after the initial ones are created.

“We don’t want to create a controversy,” Carver said. “We want this to be a positive impact on the town and its

residents.”

Last month, Philip Shwachman, who owns more than 55 acres of land including the Draper factory that was

included in the original proposal, asked the committee to remove his properties from consideration, citing

concern local historic districts would hurt his ability to sell and redevelop the sites.

Selectmen also worried that the districts, in certain areas, would inhibit efforts to expand the town’s

commercial tax base.

Carver said the conversation surrounding the Draper Corp. factory cast a shadow over the proposed local

historic districts - an impact the committee sought to avoid.

“We need this to be a positive thing and sometimes you have to make adjustments accordingly,” Ciaramicoli

said.

According to the new proposal, districts being presented for Town Meeting consideration include the

Hopedale Center, Seven Sisters and Bancroft Park districts.

Three districts that are single buildings are the Little Red Shop Museum, at 12 Hopedale St.; the Community

Bible Chapel; and

Atria Draper Place

The committee voted on the revised proposal on May 22.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 13 in Hopedale Town Hall’s Draper Room.

Hopedale selectmen seek to further tweak proposal including Draper Building

By Christopher Gavin Daily News Staff

Posted at 9:55 AM June 7, 2018 Updated at 9:56 AM June 7, 2018

HOPEDALE - Selectmen favor an additional tweak to the town’s amended local historic district proposal to

remove two properties owned by Hopedale Properties LLC from a district considered for the Bancroft Park

neighborhood.

The board supported removing properties at 80 Bancroft Park and 12 Rear Bancroft Park - both of which are

vacant - from a proposal this week upon concern that their inclusion could impact whether the area is

accepted by voters as a district, Chairman Lou Arcudi said Wednesday.

The proposal, with the two properties included, risks the possibility of being rejected at the June 19 Special

Town Meeting despite support from residents, Arcudi said.

Philip Shwachman, principal of Hopedale Properties LLC, asked town officials last month to remove all of his

properties from plans.

But of the 105 other properties included, Local Historic District Study Committee member Beverly Carver said

officials have received support from many residents.

The two properties owned by Hopedale Properties are in the proposal because if the sites were to change,

new development could alter the character of the neighborhood, which the local historic district seeks to

preserve, she said.

“The feedback out of Bancroft Park has been extremely positive,” she told selectmen Monday. “That’s why (the

area) was included.”

Arcudi said not removing the properties could mean the proposal, even with interest from other property

owners, could face potential opposition.

“If they don’t get enough votes, then everybody loses,” he said.

Selectmen will now opt to offer an addendum to the motion to create the district on the floor of Special Town

Meeting to ensure it will include all properties except the two owned by Shwachman, if voters approve the

proposal.

“Personally, I would be inclined to modify them off the list because number one, they’re empty and two, if they

are zoned industrial ... I would not be inclined to have them included,” Selectman Brian Keyes said during

Monday’s board meeting.

The anticipated changes follow other amendments to the proposal made by the study committee late last

month.

Those alterations changed the number of districts from eight to six and significantly reduced the size of the

proposed Draper Corp. local historic district by removing the massive, former Draper Corp. factory, in light of

objections by Shwachman, who also owns that property.

Last month, Shwachman said the inclusion of his properties in local historic districts would hurt his ability to

sell and develop them.

His attorney, Mary Feeney, expressed concern to the study committee that the proposed Local Historic District

Commission could potentially regulate what is built on vacant or undeveloped land if those kinds of sites

were included.

On Monday, Arcudi said the board may want to consider breaking the proposed Hopedale Center Local

Historic District into two Town Meeting proposals in order to avoid a potential issue similar to that

surrounding the Bancroft Park proposal.

The Hopedale Center district spans a mix of private and publicly owned properties.

Arcudi, who said Wednesday he needs more consensus from fellow selectmen on the idea, proposed

separating the district by public and private land.

“I just don’t want the whole motion to get knocked down when I do believe parts of this stuff in this downtown

area (we) actually ... need to make sure that’s in it,” he told the board Monday.

A public hearing led by the study committee on all proposals is set for 7 p.m. next Wednesday at Town Hall,

78 Hopedale St.

Hopedale historic districts proposed for Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park

By Christopher Gavin Daily News Staff

Posted Apr 1, 2018 at 12:01 PM Updated Apr 7, 2018 at 8:24 PM

HOPEDALE - After many hours spent in meetings since last June, the Hopedale Local Historic District Study

Committee put forth a proposal that could put the town’s signature properties, quite literally, on the map.

From the houses built for Draper Corporation employees to the factory where they worked, and from the town

buildings company executives built to Hopedale’s beloved parklands, each are among consideration for

inclusion in the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park.

The proposal, which spans eight historic districts, comes as officials and residents decide whether the town

sites should be part of the boundaries of the park, established in 2014.

A Town Meeting vote on the plans is scheduled for May 22.

The designation aims to preserve the architecture of each one, particularly as the town juggles the balance

between saving its past for posterity and the need for new, commercial development.