Did you know that the CPA legislation was amended three times in the legislative session that just ended? The changes clarified that CPA funds can be used to preserve historic documents, added the word ?acquisition? to the allowable uses for community housing, and allowed for citizens living in buildings with a co-op form of ownership to apply for CPA exemptions.

Under CPA, all rehabilitation work on historic resources must comply with the Standards for Rehabilitation as laid out in the United States Secretary of the Interior?s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (?the Standards?). This regulation is outlined in the definition of ?rehabilitation? at the beginning of the CPA legislation, which says:

?With respect to historic resources, rehabilitation shall have the additional meaning of work to comply with the Standards for Rehabilitation stated in the United States Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties codified in 36 C.F.R. Part 68.?

So what are these Standards, where can they be found, and what does this mean for your Community Preservation Committee?

CPA communities looking for different ideas on affordable housing programs may be interested in Newton?s pilot program for the development of affordable accessory apartments, called the Accessory Apartment Incentive Program (AAIP.)

The program offers grants or loans of $90,000 to homeowners wishing to develop an accessory apartment in their home for rental income, or to bring existing accessory apartments units up to code. The CPA grant funds can also be used to cover costs associated with developing new accessory apartments, such as design, surveying, and construction. The program began in August of 2006, and will run through December of 2007, at which point it will be evaluated by the community to see if it should be continued.

The volume of newspaper articles and letters-to-the-editor on CPA continues to grow statewide. Periodically we?ll share with you particularly interesting or informative press clips. This month we highlight a letter written to the local newspaper showing support for the CPA in Wareham. Resident Martha Maguire found a unique way to show her support for CPA!

Each issue of CPA Update will feature a CPA project photo at the top, so feel free to send along photos of your projects! The photos featured above and to the right are a CPA historic preservation project at Sheep Hill in Williamstown. The applicant was the non-profit Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, which purchased this 50-acre former dairy farm in 2000. The project includes the restoration of a dairy barn and horse barn dating to the 1810-1830 period, and the relocation of a historic barrel-stave silo from a neighboring property to replace an identical one that collapsed. The barns and silo will be used as space for cultural and natural history educational programs for adults and children. Funding from Williamstown?s CPA paid for just over three-quarters of the cost of this project.