Historic Districts Commission should drop its ‘imperious’ approach to trail markers project
The subjective opinions of five individuals hold hostage a vitally important initiative for the town.
I’ve closely followed the last two meetings of the Historic District Commission and have been impressed by the commissioners’ diligence in ensuring, for example, that an applicant’s proposed choice of paint color for a home in the historic district conforms to period norms. The question of whether a given paint color was available 100 years ago is an objectively verifiable question which the commissioners are well qualified to address.
This is decidedly not the case, however, when they weigh in on the markers for the proposed Black Heritage Trail. The appropriate dimensions of the trail markers is an entirely subjective judgment — one that is inseparable from the contents of the markers, and one that the commissioners are no more qualified to determine than the project’s many supporters among the public.
I urge the commissioners to acknowledge this distinction and adopt an appropriately humble posture in place of the imperious micromanagerial approach that has characterized their last two meetings. It’s one thing to objectively verify historical paint colors, but quite another for the subjective opinions of five individuals to hold hostage a vitally important initiative for the town.
Having raised two biracial children in Acton, I wish that this project had been achieved years ago. It’s not too late for the HDC to do the right thing.
Steven Block
Cambridge Turnpike
