Proposed Elm Hill Avenue–Georgia Street–Cheney Street Historic District
LEGAL NOTICE
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH
WILLIAM FRANCIS GALVIN
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MA 02125
NOTICE OF NOMINATION TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES, Boston, MA: Proposed Elm Hill Avenue–Georgia Street–Cheney Street Historic District. The proposed district includes properties on Elm Hill Avenue, Cheney Street, Georgia Street, Hartwell Street, Homestead Street, Maple Street, Montana Street, Pleasanton Street, and Ruthven Street in Roxbury.
A virtual public informational meeting, hosted by the Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC), at which the proposed nomination will be discussed will be held on May 31, 2023 at 6:00 pm. The meeting link is https://zoom.us/j/95505475156, meeting ID: 955 0547 5156. Directions on how to attend may also be found on the BLC’s online calendar no later than 10 days before the meeting date.
The National Register of Historic Places is the federal government’s official list of historic properties worthy of preservation.
EFFECTS TO HISTORIC PROPERTIES
*consideration in the planning for federally assisted projects
*eligibility for certain Federal tax benefits
* consideration of historic values in the decision to issue a surface coal mining permit where coal is located
* qualification for federal grants for historic preservation when funds are available
RIGHT TO OBJECT TO LISTING
Owners of private properties nominated to the National Register of Historic Places have an opportunity to concur with or object to listing in accord with the National Historic Preservation Act and 36 CFR Part 60. These regulations require that owner objections be notarized. However, Section 1746 of Title 28 of the U.S. Code provides a generally applicable alternative to these notarization requirements. Accordingly, the NPS must consider objections made under penalty of perjury consistent with 28 U.S.C. § 1746 to be valid objections, even if they are not notarized, if those objections otherwise comply with the requirements in the NPS’s regulations. To comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1746, the objection must state one of the following:
- If executed without the United States: “I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on (date). (Signature)”.
- If executed within the United States, its territories, possessions, or commonwealths: “I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on (date). (Signature).”
For a single privately owned property with one owner, the property will not be listed if the owner objects. For a district with multiple ownership, or for a single property with multiple owners, the district or property will not be listed if a majority of the owners objects. Each owner or partial owner of private property has one vote regardless of how many properties or what part of the property that party owns. If the property cannot be listed because the owner or majority of owners objects prior to the submission of a nomination to the Keeper of the National Register by the State, the State Historic Preservation Officer may submit the nomination to the Keeper for a determination of the eligibility of the property for inclusion in the National Register. If the property is then determined eligible for listing although not formally listed, federal agencies will be required to allow the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation an opportunity to comment before the agency may fund, license, or assist a project that will affect the property.
Listing in the National Register, or the determination of a property’s eligibility by the Keeper of the National Register, automatically brings with it inclusion in the State Register of Historic Places. The State Register provides for review of state funded, licensed, or permitted projects. If a property is listed in the National and State Registers, the owner may do anything with it that he/she wishes, unless state or federal funds, permits, or licensing are used, or unless some other regional and/or local ordinance or policy is in effect.
If an owner wishes to object to the listing of a property, an objection must be submitted to Brona Simon, State Historic Preservation Officer, Massachusetts Historical Commission, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts, 02125, by June 14, 2023.
Inclusion in the National and State Registers of Historic Places does not guarantee that cultural resources will be preserved. Rather, it ensures that the historic value of listed properties will be considered during the planning stages of any federally or state sponsored project.
The nomination will be considered by the State Review Board of the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) on Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 1:00 pm. Details on how to attend will be posted on the MHC’s website closer to the meeting date (www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc). A copy of the nomination, and the criteria under which properties are evaluated, are available from the Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library.
