Please see below draft excerpts from the Shulman+Associates et al study focused on historic district resiliency & adaptation guidelines. Please note: this study is a DRAFT and has not yet been adopted, nor has enabling legislation been implemented.

The excerpt is 111 pages with many ideas and illustrations. The major concepts for mid- and long-term resiliency are:

1. Adapt in Place

This consists of fortifying buildings exactly where they are and adding resiliency features to help prolong the viability of the buildings. In addition, in the mid- and long-term this would include elevating floor plates to a higher level while keeping the outside shell in place

2. Raise the building

In addition to the mid- and long-term options above, there are also many ideas recommended as general adaptation strategies. You can learn more on each in the excerpt on pages 84 and 85.

The general adaptation strategies focus on: Building & System, Green Infrastructure, Stormwater Management Strategies, and Future Proofing

You can view a video of Allan Shulman’s presentation to the Historic Preservation Board below:

This is a 2-hour video — for those who are really interested in the specifics, I would highly recommend watching if you missed the meeting in October. It goes through the draft document and is a useful aide in reviewing the guidelines proposed.

There are many other ideas discussed in this study, including road raising strategies, possibility of additional FAR to incentivize resiliency, and more.

All ideas should be studied further so that the community has all the information and property owners can be educated.

At the Wednesday Commission meeting, 11am, Allan will present this study to the commissioners and get their recommendation. The Historic Preservation Board already approved this plan for further study at a prior meeting.

Thank you and we will keep you posted as we plan our 4th annual Historic Properties Resiliency Workshop – where many of the ideas included in this study first originated.