August 23, 2022 By Carol Britton Meyer
Last May, First Parish/Old Ship Church entered into a purchase and sale agreement -- not yet finalized -- for the 1867 Parish House located across the street at 107 Main St. with Medfield Real Estate developer Matthew Smith.
At that time, Board of Trustees President Janet Asnes told the Hingham Anchor that the understanding was that Smith "intends to renovate the property for single residence use." Since that time, Smith has gone before the Planning Board with a couple of requests/applications.
From the time the property was put on the market, lawn signs advocating "Save the Parish House" have sprouted up in the neighborhood.
The 10,824-square-foot building is situated on 2.75 acres located in a Residence A zoning district in the heart of Downtown Hingham.
Because the building is located in the Downtown Hingham Historic District, any proposed changes will be required to conform to Historic Districts Commission regulations.
During a remote meeting on June 28, the Planning Board reviewed subdivision plans presented by Smith for the Parish House property. The Planning Board denied those applications.
At that time, the board determined that the plan proposed by Smith was not entitled to endorsement as an ANR ("approval not required") proposal under the Subdivision Control Law for the property. The applicant had 20 days to appeal the decision if he wished to do so.
On Aug. 2, a Form A application was submitted to the Planning Board stating that the proposed plan for the property does not constitute a subdivision within the meaning of the Subdivision Control Law. The application proposed the creation of one additional building lot at 107 Main St.
The subsequent hearing planned for Aug. 8 was continued until Aug. 22 (last night) pending clarification of certain information.
During the Planning Board's remote meeting that evening, Planning Board Chair Judith Sneath noted that Smith was not present and indicated that a request to withdraw his latest plan -- which would have been considered that night -- had been made to the board, which unanimously accepted his request.
Looking back, in a letter to Community Planning Director Emily Wentworth dated Aug. 9, Smith said he was withdrawing the previous application form "in light of the concerns regarding the application" expressed by the Planning Board on Aug. 8.
He indicated that "the Parish House and their attorney will be signing a NEW application and it will be submitted to the Town Clerk" referencing the Aug. 2 Form A for the "two-lot ANR" -- which Smith indicated he would submit the following day. To date, a new application has not been submitted.
Next steps are unclear at this time.
The two ANR applications submitted by the developer in June were denied by the Planning Board because they did not meet the required criteria. The developer has since filed a claim against the Town at Land Court to appeal the Planning Board’s determination. The developer filed a third ANR application to the Planning Board at the beginning of August, which was found to have an unauthorized and incorrect signature by the President of the Old Ship Church Board of Trustees. The President of the Board of Trustees had changed since the first two ANR applications were filed, and the unauthorized signature on the third application was that of the prior President, which was incorrect. The Planning Board corresponded with both the former and current Presidents of the Board of Trustees about the signature and was informed that the signature was not theirs and the individual was not aware of the application (see the public record correspondence between the Planning Board and the past and current President of the Board of Trustees, link below from the Planning Board website.) The problem with the signature was discussed at the August 8 Planning Board meeting and prevented the Planning Board from reviewing the application at that time. The next day the developer submitted a request to withdraw that application. He has not yet resubmitted that application with an authorized signature from Old Ship Church as he stated he would do in his withdrawal request. The Planning Board meeting last night (8/22) was to officially approve the withdrawal of the unauthorized third ANR application.
https://www.hingham-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14880/Old-Ship-Email-Re-Application-Signature?bidId=