Chap. 624.          AN ACT RELATIVE TO  THE  BACK  BAY  RESIDEN-
TIAL DISTRICT IN THE CITY OF BOSTON.
Be  it enacted,   etc.,   as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 625 of the acts of 1966 is hereby amended by striking out section 1, as amended by section 1 of chapter 463 of the acts of 1974, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 1 . Purposes. The purposes of this act are as follows: (a) to promote the economic, cultural, educational and general welfare of the public through high standards of design throughout the Back Bay and through the preservation of the residential portion of the Back Bay area in the city of Boston; (b) to safeguard the heritage of the city of Boston by preventing the despoliation of a district in that city which reflects important elements of its cultural, social, economic and political history; (c) to stabilize and strengthen residential property values in such area; (d) to foster civic beauty and (e) to strengthen the economy of the commonwealth and the city of Boston.
SECTION 2. The first paragraph of section 3 of said chapter 625 is hereby amended by striking out the definition "Exterior architectural feature" and inserting in place thereof the following definition: -
"Exterior architectural feature", the architectural style and general arrangement of the exterior of a structure or any portion of it including but not limited to kind, color and texture of the building material, type and design of all windows, doors, lights, signs, and other fixtures, the location and adequacy of vehicular access, if any, type and design of landscaping, fences and walls, and the location and treatment of any parking space for motor vehicles.
SECTION 3. Section 4 of said chapter 625, as most recently amended by section 4 of chapter 463 of the acts of 1974, is hereby further amended by inserting after the first sentence the following sentence:- The terms of the commission members and alternates nominated by the Boston Society of Architects, and their successors, shall terminate in nineteen hundred and eighty, nineteen hundred and eighty-five, and every five years thereafter.
SECTION 4. Said chapter 625 is hereby further amended by striking out section 8, as most recently amended by section 11 of said chapter 463, and inserting in place thereof the following section: -
Section 8. Certificate of Appropriateness. No person shall construct any exterior architectural feature in the Back Bay Architectural District, or reconstruct, alter, change, except as hereafter provided, the exterior color of, or demolish, any such feature now or hereafter in said area, until such person shall have filed in duplicate with the secretary of the commission an application for a certificate of appropriateness in such form and with such plans, specifications and other material as the commission may from time to time prescribe and a certificate of appropriateness shall have been issued as hereafter provided in this section. The commission shall retain one copy of the application and transmit the other to the board.
Within eight days after the filing of an application for a certificate of appropriateness, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays excluded, the commission or such member or employee as the commission may from time to time designate so to do shall determine the properties deemed by it to be materially affected by such application and, unless a public hearing on such application  is  waived  in  writing  by  all  persons  entitled to notice thereof,
shall forthwith cause its secretary to give by mail, postage prepaid, to the applicant, to the owners of all such properties as they appear on the then most recent real estate tax list, and to any person filing written request for notice of hearings, such request to be renewed yearly in December, reasonable notice of a public hearing on such application to be held not sooner than fourteen days after the date on which the copy of the application was transmitted to the board. The public hearing may be conducted by the commission itself or by such member or members or employee or employees as the board may from time to time designate; provided, however, that if such public hearing is not conducted by the commission itself, the person or persons so conducting it shall transmit a written report and recommendation thereon forthwith to the commission. There shall be available at such public hearing a report and recommendation from the board, together with material, plans or drawings to aid the commission in reaching its decision. The commission shall not render any decision until such report and recommendation has been received and considered, provided that if no such report and recommendation has been received by the time of the public hearing, the commission may render its decision without such report and recommendation.
As soon as conveniently may be after such public hearing or the waiver thereof, but in all events within fifty calendar days after the filing of the application for the certificate of appropriateness or within such further time as the applicant may in writing allow, the commission shall determine whether the proposed construction, reconstruction, alteration, change in exterior color or demolition of the exterior architectural feature involved will be appropriate to the preservation of the Back Bay Architectural District for the purposes of this act, and whether, notwithstanding that it may be inappropriate, owing to conditions especially affecting the structure involved, but not affecting the Back Bay Architectural District generally, failure to issue a certificate of appropriateness will involve a substantial hardship to the applicant and such a certificate may be issued without substantial detriment to the public welfare and without substantial derogation from the intent and purposes of this act. In passing upon appropriateness, the commission shall consider, (a) the historical and architectural value and significance of the structure and its relationship to the surrounding area; (b) the relationship of the exterior architectural features of such structure to the rest of the structure and to the surrounding area and to exterior  architectural   features   of  other   structures   in   the
neighborhood: (c) architectural style, general design, compatibility with neighboring structures, arrangement, texture, materials and colors of the original structure and of the proposed change or addition; (d) any landscaping features proposed by the applicant; and (e) any aesthetic or other factor which it deems to be pertinent.
The commission shall pass only on the exterior architectural features of a structure and shall not consider interior arrangements nor the use to be made of the structure. It is the intent of this act that the commission be strict in its judgment of plans involving substantial new construction or for structures deemed to be valuable according to studies performed on behalf of the city, the board or the commission for said area to determine which structures are of architectural value. It is also the intent of this act that the commission shall be lenient in its judgment of plans for structures of little architectural value, except where such plans would seriously impair the architectural value of surrounding structures or the surrounding area. It is also the intent of this act that the commission construe more liberally proposals respecting structures within those sections of the Back Bay Architectural District which may be zoned for local or general business uses than with those proposals within those sections of the district which may be zoned for residential uses, to the end that conversions of structures to business uses will not be unreasonably prevented.
If the commission determines that the proposed construction, reconstruction, alteration, change in exterior architectural feature involved will be appropriate or, although inappropriate, owing to conditions as aforesaid, failure to issue a certificate of appropriateness will involve substantial hardship to the applicant and issuance thereof may be made without substantial detriment or derogation as aforesaid, or if the commission fails to make a determination within the time hereinbefore prescribed, the secretary of the commission shall forthwith issue to the applicant a certificate of appropriateness. In approving an application the commission may impose conditions which, if the certificate of appropriateness or the permit for demolition or removal is acted upon, shall be binding upon the applicant, the owner of the property and his successors in title. Any such condition may subsequently be modified or removed by the commission. Prior to approving an application subject to condition, the commission may notify the applicant of its proposed action and permit the applicant to express his opinion thereon. If the commission determines that a  certificate of appropriateness   should   not   issue,
the commission shall forthwith spread upon its records the reasons for such determination and may include recommendations respecting the proposed construction, reconstruction, alteration, change in exterior color or demolition. Upon the making of any such determination the secretary of the commission shall forthwith by mail, postage prepaid, give notice of such determination to the applicant and to every person filing written request for such notice, transmitting therewith an attested copy of the reasons and recommendations, if any, spread upon the records of the commission.
The exterior color of any building or structure or portions thereof within the Back Bay Architectural District may, without the filing of an application for, or the issuance of, a certificate of appropriateness, be changed to any color or combination of colors which the commission, in accordance with written guidelines published from time to time, determines may be so used without substantial derogation from the intent and purposes of this act.
The installation of storm windows in any location and the paving of areas visible only from the public alleys within the Back Bay Architectural District may, without the filing of an application for, or the issuance of, a certificate of appropriateness, be carried out in any manner which the commission shall determine in accordance with written guidelines published from time to time.
Approved   December   11,   1981.