Around the State: New London

             After being approved by a vote of property owners, a new local historic district went down to defeat at the hands of the city council.

            The proposed district was located in the Pequot Colony neighborhood, which is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood was originally developed as a summer resort with cottages clustered around a large hotel. In the 20th century the hotel burned, the cottages became year-round residences, and new houses were added to the community. As a result, the district contains an eclectic mix of houses ranging from small gingerbread cottages to postwar split-levels.

Designation as a local historic district would add architectural controls to the largely honorary National Register status. Any new construction or alterations visible from a public right-of-way would have to be approved by a local commission.

State law requires that local historic districts be approved by a two-thirds vote of affected property owners before adoption by the municipal legislative body. The Pequot Colony district is only the second in Connecticut history to by rejected after it was approved by the property owners. (The other was in Waterford, where citizens subsequently elected a new council that passed the district.)

Some residents objected to the district on the grounds that its regulations would impinge on their rights as property owners. As much as possible the study committee tried to exclude them from the district. It is not uncommon for study committees to draw district boundaries to exclude owners who don’t want to be in a local historic district. In New London that attempt led to accusations of gerrymandering, when three prominent properties were included even though their owners objected. Sandra Kersten Chalke, the executive director of New London Landmarks, who consulted with the study committee, said, “We would have been laughed out of town if we tried to create a local historic district and left those three homes out.”