Rehoboth Historical Commission Scenic Roads Act (MGL Chapter 40 Section 15C)

Any city or town in the Commonwealth can designate a road in that municipality as a scenic road except state highways or numbered routes, if the length of the numbered route is contained within the municipality boundaries and no part is owned or maintained by the Commonwealth. With a scenic roads bylaw in place, the “cutting or removal of trees, or the tearing down or destruction of stone walls, or portions thereof” that lie within the road right-of-way is forbidden without prior consent of the planning board.

The Scenic Roads Act and MGL Chapter 266

Section 94, which prohibits the destruction of property markers - are statutes which specifically mention stone walls. But in general, compliance with certain laws and regulations may only be employed to protect stone features when they are listed as contributing elements of a larger district or protected by a local bylaw including local historic or national register districts, the Community Preservation Act, vista protection bylaws, scenic overlay districts, great estates bylaws, easements and conservation restrictions.

The Massachusetts General Laws in conjunction with our own town bylaw, which was passed at the Fall 2022 Rehoboth Town Meeting. (See attached bylaw) both spell out the specific details of the protection of stone walls on “scenic or historic roadways” to be enforced by the municipality’s PLANNING BOARD.

Why is it that in the Town of Rehoboth the current MGL and Town of Rehoboth Bylaws are not being followed or enforced? The details of which are clearly spelled out, along with the ramifications of violations. This is not limited to the protection of stone walls, but also trees. The Rehoboth planning board has proven to be negligent in its enforcement of the MGL and the Town of Rehoboth bylaw. To whom does the Historical Commission appeal, since the planning board is clearly not interested in upholding and enforcing the laws that are on the books? Do we play favorites in this town, who’s who and so on??? Why is nothing being done? Please note just a couple of examples of destruction that taken place in the development of the former Rehoboth Country Club (former Goff Dair Farm) on Perryville Road, where stone walls were decimated and ancient trees were removed from the roadsides, or Summer Street where yet again stone walls were cut, way beyond the allowed length of a driveway cut. It seems there is a lack of oversight or concern on the part of certain commissions.

The purpose of this letter is to make it known that the Rehoboth Historical Commission is simply attempting to uphold the historic character of our town and its roads and byways. If we do nothing to protect and preserve the beauty and character of our town and its past, we might as well disband the commission and let anything go. Let the town become the City of Rehoboth and erase all our town’s history and charm. Our end goal here is to uphold and enforce the current bylaws and MGL as they pertain to “scenic and historic” roads.

Please refer to the Terra Firma article put out by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Historic Landscape Preservation Initiative. This article is very well executed and explains the purpose of the preservation of historic roads, stonewalls, trees and historic features throughout the Commonwealth.